New Haven Independent

Advocates like Kate Kelly (pictured) are trying to combat homelessness in the state not just through traditional short-term shelters, but through long-term complexes with services onsite to help previously or potentially homeless people stay off the streets for good.

That’s called “supportive housing,” a concept catching on in Connecticut. Thursday advocates gathered at one new model supportive housing complex — “Whalley Terrace” near New Haven’s Edgewood Park — for an update on the quest to bolster federal funding for a program that pays for substance abuse and mental health treatment in such locations.

With the help of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, $21.4 million for these health-care programs for the homeless was added in a recently passed House appropriations bill. The programs are administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

However the money does not appear in the Senate version of the bill. And President Bush, who originally proposed cutting the budget for the programs, has vowed a veto to any increases.

DeLauro showed up at the Thursday event to encourage the advocates present to keep pushing for the increase, through op-eds and letters to federal offices.

“It’s not a done deal,” she said. “We’re going to have to keep fighting.”

DeLauro reported that there’s a “good environment” in the Democratic-controlled Senate for including the money when the two versions of the appropriations bill are reconciled.

But she also reported that there’s little chance the final bill will pass in the upcoming final three weeks of the legislative session. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, she said: Bush would probably veto the increase anyway.

So she and other proponents of the hike will press forward to support the increase, but probably wait until January or February to push for a final vote on an increase. At that time, she said, a sympathetic president (read: Democratic; read: Barack Obama) will be in office then and would sign it. In the meantime, the Democrats who control both houses of Congress could pass continuing resolutions to fund the programs short-term.

“We are reluctant to engage with the current administration in a budget battle that we stand to lose,” DeLauro said.

Before DeLauro spoke, Kate Kelly praised her for her leadership on the issue. Kelly, who manages the “Reaching Home Campaign” for Connecticut’s Partnership for Strong Communities, reported that the number of homeless families in the state increased by 13 percent this past year. The high cost of housing is the number-one reason.

On the other hand, the state saw a “slight drop” in the number of “chronically homeless.” Supportive housing complexes like Whalley Terrace are helping, she said.

The director of New Haven’s Columbus House shelter, Alison Cunningham, said she fears that “75 to 100 men will be on the streets” during cold nights this winter. The reason: for the first time in “over 20 years” Columbus House will no longer have an “overflow shelter” opening in October for the winter months. The city cut the funding because of a budget shortfall.

“I’m concerned that people will freeze to death” this winter in Connecticut, DeLauro said. “Homeless has been forgotten and ignored for too long in this country… Silence is not an option.”