by Karla Ciaglo CTNewsJunkieCTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT — As subfreezing temperatures strain shelters and warming centers across Connecticut, state lawmakers and shelter service providers warned that the state’s homelessness system is operating beyond capacity, leaving thousands exposed to life-threatening conditions and prompting calls for expanded housing and prevention funding.
The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness released its 2026 legislative agenda Friday at the Legislative Office Building, seeking roughly $123.9 million annually to expand rental assistance, prevention programs, emergency shelter capacity, and supportive housing services amid federal funding uncertainty.
The proposal comes as homelessness in Connecticut has increased 44% since 2021, with more than 8,000 people experiencing homelessness in 2025, according to data presented by the coalition. About 35% of those residents are unsheltered, living in tents, vehicles, parking lots or wooded areas, making the recent weather a more serious public safety risk.
“For someone with a home, this is an inconvenience. For someone without one, this is life-threatening,” said Sarah Fox, the coalition’s chief executive officer. Fox said outreach teams have encountered people suffering frostbite, hypothermia and severe exposure, including individuals brought indoors with ice forming on their clothing and bodies.
State Rep. Antonio Felipe, D-Bridgeport, co-chair of the Housing Committee and founder of the End Homelessness Caucus, said the increase reflects housing affordability pressures rather than individual failure.
“This is not an agenda. This is a statement of need,” Felipe said.
Carmen Colón, president and CEO of Pacific House in Stamford, speaks to reporters and advocates during a news conference addressing homelessness on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Hartford. Credit: Karla Ciaglo / CTNewsJunkie
Carmen Colón, president and chief executive officer of Pacific House in Stamford, said the homelessness response system has been underfunded for decades, with entry-system caseworkers earning roughly $40,000 to $45,000 annually, making it difficult to recruit and retain staff.
“We cannot hire the staff needed without the resources,” Colón said, calling for a cost-of-living adjustment and expanded funding for Connecticut’s Coordinated Access Network.
The coalition’s proposal prioritizes prevention funding, including $10 million annually for a housing crisis response fund providing rental assistance, mediation, security deposits, and utility payments intended to prevent eviction.
“Doing nothing is the most expensive choice we can make,” said Adriana Negrón, a coordinated homeless prevention Manager for Journey Home CT.
Jered Bruzas, chief impact officer at United Way of Waterbury, speaks to reporters and advocates during a news conference addressing homelessness on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Hartford. Credit: Karla Ciaglo / CTNewsJunkie
Jered Bruzas, chief impact officer at United Way of Waterbury, said the plan includes $50 million to expand Connecticut’s Rental Assistance Program, noting only about one in four eligible households currently receives rental assistance. The proposal includes an additional $32.3 million for case management and supportive housing services intended to stabilize placements.
The coalition is seeking $31.6 million to expand shelter and outreach capacity, including $12.3 million to expand extreme weather shelter funding, $3.5 million to stabilize provider services and $15.8 million to expand staffing within the homelessness response system.
State Rep. Laurie Sweet, D-Hamden, said homelessness should not be treated as a criminal issue as jurisdictions nationwide consider stricter enforcement policies.
“No one is a criminal for not having a home,” said Sweet, who serves as a co-chair of the End Homelessness Caucus. “Housing, not handcuffs.”
The proposal also calls for codifying federal McKinney-Vento education protections into state law to ensure students experiencing homelessness can remain enrolled in their school of origin. More than 5,000 Connecticut students experienced homelessness during the 2022-23 school year, nearly half of which were chronically absent.
Advocates said shelters and warming centers often operate at capacity, leaving some people outdoors in dangerous conditions. They are seeking year-round extreme weather protocols that trigger life-saving operations at 37°F or below, a heat index of 90°F for two hours or 100°F at any time, or during severe weather declared by the National Weather Service.
“We are not asking for charity,” Colón said. “We are asking for commitment.”
Rep. Kadeem Roberts, D-Norwalk, co-chair of the End Homelessness caucus, said that when it gets cold outside it’s clear that the state isn’t allocating the amount of money needed to address the problem.
“It hurts me to see once again we live in a wealthy, wealthy, wealthy state. And we can’t seem to cure this crisis. So I think that, not even think, I know that, this is the year that we stop the crisis,” Roberts said. “8,000 may not seem like a large number of people. That’s fine. But that’s 8,000 funerals you might walk into it. That’s 8,000 people that you could take $2 out your pocket and give them a meal. So, to the advocates in this room, thank you so much for always providing services and going out there and fighting for this cause. But to my colleagues that don’t understand this. I need you to open your eyes and wake up.”
Roberts also pointed out that no matter where anyone lives in Connecticut, there is someone who is homeless nearby.
“I’m from Norwalk, Connecticut. Average studio is $2,800 a month. But I’m also from Norwalk, Connecticut, where a New York person will come in and buy a whole building. And I got an elderly lady that’s 65 on a fixed income,” Roberts said. “Rent was probably $1,600. Now it’s $2,800 because he bought the building. You do the math, it doesn’t add up.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: The original version of this story included the wrong total for the funding sought by the coalition.