How One Mom Made It ​“Home For The Holidays”

Zelema Harris is an entrepreneurial, college-educated accountant working a decently paying job, and the mom of three children.

Yet when serious heart ailments followed the birth of her youngest, and then depression and divorce, Harris found herself at times living in her car — while the kids were with the father — and telling the kids that mommy’s just working late and would be home in the morning.

In November she was on the verge of homelessness, because her salary was not quite enough for New Haven’s expensive housing. So she called United Way’s emergency 211 number.

In the old days, she would have been sent to inquire, on her own, if there were room in the area’s few family shelters.

Instead she was diverted to a case worker at the New Reach homeless agency. The worker determined that Harris should get an emergency infusion of about $700 for an apartment deposit and security payment help so she and her girls could move into their own place.

Harris, who on Dec. 1 moved into a tidy and warm Hazel Street apartment, is one of 43 families this year ​“diverted” from entering the homeless shelter system.

On Tuesday morning, before she had to run off to work, Harris opened her home for a brief celebration to mark her having a real home for the holidays.

She invited staffers of New Reach, United Way, and other area nonprofits that are part of the Coordinated Access Network (CAN). CAN’s teamwork and flexible resources are keeping families like hers out of the shelter system.

“A child born [or living] in a shelter is statistically more likely to be homeless in their lifetime,” said New Reach CEO Kellyann Day.

That’s why CAN has been safely diverting families with a modest infusion of cash, such as was the case with Harris; subsidizing transportation, for example, to relatives in another state; or by paying an outstanding bill or two.

In its second year, the CAN-coordinated approach has made strides in ending, first, veterans’ homelessness, then chronic homelessness, and most recently homelessness for families, said United Way Chief Impact Officer Amy Casavina Hall. She said the progress has come despite trends that exacerbate homelessness: the high cost of housing and insufficient wages for working people to keep up with housing and other expenses.

Hundreds of families are on the cusp of homelessness, Casavina Hall said. Those are the ones who benefit most by the ​“diversion” effort.

Men alone typically line up at Columbus House or an emergency shelter. Homeless families are far less visible. They double up living with family members, separate, and come together, and juggle children and other responsibilities.

“Families typically move four times in 18 months before they present at a shelter,” said Day. ​“What concerns us is that every time there’s a move, especially for children under the age of 6, it affects their development.”

New Haven’s homeless families, generally headed by a single mom, have the youngest of kids with them, Casavina Hall reported.

Harris reported that her children, ages 16, 7, and 5, are now thriving both in their schools and at home.

“I let the kids pick the apartment,” Harris said as tears welled up. ​“It’s something we’ve been waiting for. Now we do a lot more together at home. We cook every day [together], we do homework, I have a regular schedule. I’m blessed with amazing kids.”

Casavina Hall said the long-term cure for homelessness is deeply affordable housing, maybe for people who qualify at 20 to 40 percent of the AMI (area median income), not the usual 80 percent.

Telling her story calmly, but with deep emotion, to staffers and to the press, Harris brought such statistics home with moving detail. After health problems and depression and some stints of living in her car made it difficult for her to relate to her girls, a niece urged her to call 211. That’s the United Way emergency number.

“They asked me questions,” Harris recalled as she sat in her comfortable living room surrounded by photos of her family and pillows and wall decorations praising the values of family life. She praised her case manager at New Reach, who connected with her, and saw how a small intervention could make the difference.

“I had found some place, but I didn’t have the security deposit. My job is a good job but doesn’t let me come up with a lump sum. I am so grateful, and my kids are ecstatic.

“Christmas was going to be tough. Things are expensive, and their fathers don’t support. Now we’re here. It’s a blessing.”

In 2017, 300 families were diverted through the program. This year 294 families have been spared entering the homeless system, including about 500 children. Keeping those kids out of the system is the northern star guiding the work of Casavina Hall, Day, and others in the homeless coalition.

Casavina Hall said the goal of our area’s CAN is to create a fund of $100,000. It’s a good place to send an end-of-year-contribution. Here’s where to begin.