Today, the Connecticut General Assembly’s Housing Committee held their first ever public hearing on homelessness!  DESK’s Executive Director, Steve Werlin, joined our partners from across the state to offer testimony in-person for H.B. No. 6554, “An Act Appropriating Funds for Certain Homelessness Response Programs,” and DESK’s DRC Manager, Evan Serio, submitted written testimony.  Included in this $50 million bill is funding for increased wages for front-line workers, improving our coordinated access networks, and permanent (“annualized”) funding for cold weather programming — like DESK’s overnight warming center this winter.

Take three minutes to watch Steve’s testimony in Hartford (below), and then consider some next steps so YOU can support H.B. No. 6554, too:

• Familiarize yourself with the Legislative Agenda for the CT Coalition to End Homelessness, which breaks down all the specific asks in the bill (in two pages!).
• Find your legislator and reach out by phone or email: Tell them you support the items in H.B. 6554 because it is an ethical imperative.
• Advertise your good work on social media so you can encourage others to do the same, and don’t forget to tag DESK!