This morning, our Board Secretary, Dr. Caitlin Ryus, joined Mayor Justin Elicker and Amistad Catholic Worker House’s Mark Coville and Suki Godek on WNPR’s Where We Live to discuss new models for providing temporary shelter, as well as the health challenges faced by unhoused people. It’s a robust and moving discussion, with Dr. Ryus’s interview toward the end (starting at 37:20). Listen to the whole interview here.
The number of people who became unhoused in Connecticut increased by 13 percent between 2021 and last year.
And in most places around the country, cities rely on shelters to accommodate people who are unhoused. But those who’ve lived there say this model isn’t working. Families are separated. There’s a 90-day stay limit. There’s little to no security for personal belongings. And at dawn, everyone’s asked to leave, rain or shine.
Today on Where We Live, we hear from the founder of Rosette Village, a transitional housing community on Rosette Street in New Haven. It’s a housing model where people live together with their families and stay for as long as they need to, which can improve health outcomes for unhoused people.
Their tents are provided with electricity. Everyone has lockers for personal belongings. And they say their health has improved. Residents are hoping to live in prefabricated tiny homes set up on site so they can live safely.
Later, we talk about the health impact on people without housing.
GUESTS:
- Suki Godek: an unhoused activist living at Rosette Village
- Mark Colville: the housing activist behind Rosette Village
- New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker
- Dr. Caitlin Ryus: Instructor in Emergency Medicine and the Co-Director of the Yale Emergency Scholars Fellowship