Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Beyond Shelter: A CEO’s Story
21 Plays9 days ago
☕ In this Something’s Brewing episode, I sit down with Sarah Fox, who shares a powerful journey from experiencing homelessness as a child to becoming the CEO of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, a nonprofit dedicated to ending it. With lived experience at the core of her leadership, Sarah opens up about the challenges of survival, the pivotal moments that shifted her path, and how those experiences fuel her mission today. I have witnessed the daily drive that Sarah has, losing sleep over this mission, and was humbled by the true nature of what we all fail to see on the day-to-day.
We explored the realities of homelessness, the mental health challenges and stigma that surround it, and the urgent need for systemic change. This conversation is not only about resilience—it’s about turning pain into purpose and building hope for others still searching for stability. Having lived this life herself, Sarah’s mission is deeply personal—and her dedication is nothing short of extraordinary. Every day, she leads with empathy and determination, fighting to house as many people as she can. Her favorite moments are seeing someone’s face light up as they hold the key to their new home for the very first time.
You won’t want to miss this episode. Reach out to the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH) to see how you can support their work—and don’t forget to listen, comment, and share to help spread the message.
https://cceh.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Guest Background
00:00:00
Speaker
Day in the Life of Sarah Fox. Yeah. All right. What do you got for me? I'm welcoming you to my podcast of Something's Brewing, and I'm really happy that you're here with me, and I'm excited for our conversation. So if you want to just start by introducing yourself, and then if you have a drink near you, it's always what's in your cup.
00:00:18
Speaker
Oh, should I have a drink near me? You don't have to, but if you did, what would it be? Um, Well, so my name is Sarah Fox. I'm the CEO of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness. And in my cup, it sometimes has milk, but a lot of times it's like strong, black, no frills.
00:00:38
Speaker
I need a lot of clarity and energy for the work that my job demands. You do. You do. And I understand that. And I hope to shed some light on that today so that you can get the floor for sharing all of the great work that you do, but I know it's not an easy job either.
Personal Experience with Homelessness
00:00:55
Speaker
So what first drew you into the homelessness space? Well, um I experienced homelessness as a youth. We were housing insecure and lived in deep poverty.
00:01:07
Speaker
um i have family members who have experienced homelessness. And it was just, you know, sometimes you fall into things and you don't exactly expect that that's where things are going to go. so You know, i experienced really tough stuff as a as a kid and a youth, didn't know I was going to go to college and found my way there during community college. And someone said I was smart and that propelled me there, got into transfer to Cornell after that um and went there for nonprofit development. And after that, I worked in um domestic violence services where housing insecurity and homelessness was just part of
00:01:45
Speaker
what people who are experiencing domestic violence live with every day. and I, after that, I worked with people who lived with um chronic mental health conditions and substance abuse, um many who were homeless and outside and encampments and many who were housed. um And I actually, at that point in time, um was doing a lot of state level advocacy work.
00:02:07
Speaker
with Keep the Promise and with NAMI, with people. um And I ran an advocacy group at Fellowship Place in downtown New Haven. And I did a photographic journey to recovery on permanent supportive housing and the critical importance of housing. And I had people who were outside in tents taking pictures of Lighthouse Point in downtown New Haven and talking about how difficult it is when you are going to go apply for a job and you're going to go for that interview and that's where you have to get ready in the morning.
00:02:36
Speaker
You know, and there were so many stories like that of really resilient people facing really, really hard times. So then I went to social work school and and I started at the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness in 2011. So I've been doing this for a very long time.
00:02:53
Speaker
You have. And I've known you for, what, two years now? And I did not know any of that background. So forgive me on not asking the right questions. i feel like when we met, we kind of just jumped into what you were doing now and how to work on that. So kudos to that impressive background. What would you say something that like you had faced as a young child?
00:03:15
Speaker
How was that experience? And how did you find your way to even community college? I mean, Growing up was really, really, really hard. um There's not any two ways about it. When you are deeply poor, when you're growing up with other challenges like mental health issues in your family, you know it's when you're not secure, it's hard to be secure.
00:03:38
Speaker
When you don't have what you feel like is a home, it's hard to think about your future. And so it was there were just so many moments where things could have gone a totally different direction.
00:03:52
Speaker
Right. Um, I made some decisions and they were the right decisions, but I always think, you know, it's really, but before the grace of God go i because there are any number of turning points or pivotal moments where it was just so hard, where I had no faith, where I would look at my, sorry, I'm getting emotional, but where I would look at my twin sister and I would just, I would know when she would know just how hard it was.
00:04:20
Speaker
um But then there was also books and there was beauty outside and there were other moments. And, you know, and I survived. And I think that that's, you know, when you think about resilience and you think about mental health, there is something about being able to have the clarity. And you don't even know what's clarity at the time, but to wake up, to get moving and keep moving, even when you're going through really hard stuff.
00:04:48
Speaker
And to understand that tomorrow's probably going to be better. um and i And, you know, even today, I have to carry that with me every day because I think that's today. um There's so many hard things that are happening.
00:05:00
Speaker
And, you know, and so you wake up, you you yeah go and you figure things out. And sometimes you make mistakes and you fall on your face and then you get back up. Life lessons, honestly, and kudos to you for that. Because, you know, as somebody who deals with mental health issues, I can resonate with that not having been homeless before, but having the mental health issues and waking up every day and reminding yourself that today's another day.
00:05:26
Speaker
Put one foot in front of the other and some days are easier than others. so um But your background is nothing short of impressive for somebody who describes it to be as difficult as it was. So what do you feel is most um misunderstood about homelessness?
Misconceptions and Systemic Issues in Homelessness
00:05:43
Speaker
Well, I think a lot of people feel like we're always going to have homelessness. Um, And a lot of people feel like it is that if I'm outside, then it's my fault and I must be doing something wrong.
00:05:57
Speaker
And I think that's an easy way to look at it. I think it's easy because then you're not that person. Then you don't have to fix anything. You have no responsibility whatsoever. And you can say, well, you know, that guy's fallen on tough times. So sorry for him.
00:06:12
Speaker
um When you step back and you understand that these are policy decisions, This is about political will. This is about building community.
00:06:23
Speaker
And that today, so many people are homeless who are working full time. Really? There are caught kids in cars. There are grandmas who work their whole life sleeping in their car because they can't afford rent or, and can't make it on social security because of the cost of housing today.
00:06:44
Speaker
It's a different landscape. However, I've seen us work magic. I have seen the state of Connecticut um lead the work on veteran homelessness. And really um that was a huge proof point because together with resources, with the right interventions, we saw homelessness amongst veterans decreased to the point where we have a system to house them when they are identified.
00:07:09
Speaker
no We also made, you know, Incredible progress. We had chronic homelessness dropped by 73% over the course of four years. And that is because we had interventions brought to scale and we had public will and resources.
00:07:26
Speaker
And so a lot of this is about building public will, building public understanding that homelessness is a result of structural failings and about, it's about resources and particularly housing resources um and the cost of living.
00:07:44
Speaker
And some of these things we have to think about a little bit differently. And so with the right political will, with the right interventions brought to scale, I think we can get there.
00:07:55
Speaker
And our community depends on that. Our neighbors depend on that because not being housed is untenable and no child should be outside.
00:08:06
Speaker
No individual, no. grandfather, no grandmother, no brother or sister. It's a really um untenable situation for anyone experiencing it. Now, that sounds like a complicated process to get so many people on board.
Impact of Pandemic on Homelessness Rates
00:08:21
Speaker
And I'm assuming that that's what you deal with every single day. So what does it look like for that process of veterans having homes or over the past four years, what has been put in place to have that incredible draw? Just to make sure. So that was a few years ago okay today the data is much different okay today so pre-pandemic things were moving along we were closing shelters because we had enough housing um and we were people were not moving into shelter at the same rates and we were seeing a decline in homelessness okay um homelessness has increased 40 percent over the last four years and that is due to um
00:09:05
Speaker
inflation. We're in a national affordable housing crisis. right um So everybody is feeling this pinch. This isn't just people experiencing homelessness. right You know, um you know, I have many friends who are living in basements in their parents' house because they can't find a place to move to that they can afford.
00:09:27
Speaker
i know of many people who are sharing housing because that's all you can afford. And so, you know, and a lot of these people I'm talking about are considered middle income.
00:09:39
Speaker
Right. Yeah. i mean, my mom's looking to sell her house. And the first thing she says is I have no idea where I would go for what I can afford. Yeah. And it does. And that is across all income levels.
00:09:49
Speaker
Right. So, but if you are living in poverty more, so if you don't know where your meal next meal is going to come from, And you're having problems paying any of the bills, like let alone the renewed student loan payments, the, you know, it goes on and not the, you know, just buying a carton of eggs for God's sakes.
00:10:08
Speaker
You know, life is expensive right now. And now you couple that with your housing expense. And so we know in the state, we are lacking around 90,000 extremely affordable units for the people who need them.
00:10:24
Speaker
Wow. We also know um that while we saw a 40% increase this year, we've seen some of the investments are working. um While across the nation, homelessness increased 18% in 2024, our annual point in time count, which took place january in January of 2025, showed a 9.5% increase. So we're bending the curve. So we're still increasing, but not at the same dramatic rate that the nation is. Right.
00:10:54
Speaker
And we also know that we've had and we're having impact with family homelessness. So key and targeted investments are working to get people housed. We've seen a 10% reduction in inflow into our system, um which is really positive on the flip side of this, however, and especially when it pertains to mental health.
00:11:13
Speaker
right um We have seen 45% increase in unsheltered homelessness. And so unsheltered homelessness, when, when I say that, I mean, so there's a couple of things for people who don't like live in this world of acronyms with me, um, or a language that's all just like homeless policy wonks.
00:11:33
Speaker
So there's literal homelessness and that is when a person is literally homeless. So they're homeless and they have no other place to go outside of shelter. um They're connected with our system and some light touch resources,
00:11:48
Speaker
um aren't keeping them from coming into the homeless response system. for those who that we can shelter, we do. However, we have waiting lists again to get into shelter.
00:12:00
Speaker
So if your mom, your uncle becomes homeless, the chances are they're not going to get into shelter. ah Less than half of the people who actually need shelter get shelter.
00:12:12
Speaker
What does that process look like for somebody who's like, so people call into, um, two one, one, which is sort of the the statewide call center, or there are 14 can hubs across the state and can hubs, a new intervention by the department of housing commissioner, Salem, Oscar, Bruno. Um, they are local places where if you're in housing crisis, you can go and you can show up and, and you can ask for help and you can get help.
00:12:38
Speaker
um It doesn't mean you're getting housing tonight, but you're going to get connected to some resources that may help you and your family. Okay.
Resources for Housing Crises
00:12:45
Speaker
And what are examples of those resources? um I will share with you just so you have it.
00:12:51
Speaker
Okay, cool. Well, so, I mean, so I'll see share with you the list of the CAN hubs. It's on the Department of Housing website. um But ah resources could be flexible funding and assistance. So oftentimes we know, so the best way to end homelessness is not to have it happen.
00:13:08
Speaker
So providing families with even light touch resources like flexible assistance can keep them housed. So, you know, when you're a doubt, when you're having a rough time, um sometimes all you need is someone to help pay gas money so you can get where you need to go.
00:13:25
Speaker
or you know, is it food that you need to provide um someone so you can stay at their place? Like these, you know, we, it's, it's so much better to think about the natural resources people have and to build on those than to sort of think, well, okay, so let's have them come into the homeless response system where you're not going to get into shelter. You're probably going to be outside. It's probably going to be awful and horrible.
00:13:48
Speaker
So what can we do? How do we sort of think about this and a really proactive response to homelessness instead of a reactive response? So homelessness and housing insecurity, we need to really like,
00:14:01
Speaker
help shore people up where they are and recognize that if possible, no one should be coming into the homeless response system. And if I have it my way, this doesn't have to be my job. We can stop the flow and get everyone else housed. But if you are imminently homeless and you're literally homeless and you're on the streets and you're in um outside unsheltered in a place not fit for human habitation, that's technically unsheltered.
00:14:30
Speaker
And we've seen a 45% increase in unsheltered homelessness over the past year in our annual point in time count. It could be part and parcel with better data collection, but it does mark what you're seeing outside, which is we're seeing a lot more people in tents in our communities, on our town greens, and across the state.
00:14:50
Speaker
Beyond that, since the pandemic, unsheltered homelessness has almost doubled. So, Again, that's what I was speaking to before. These are tough situations for so many people. It's people living in tents. It's people living in cars behind Lowe's, behind Walmart, um right in our communities, in every single community across our state.
00:15:12
Speaker
um And everybody has a different story and everyone has different needs, but housing is central to all of them. Yeah, I think there's a lot of stigma that goes around people who are homeless um in the sense of, you know, we've been in New Haven where some people are can borderline harassment or some people are like, well, you know, they they got themselves there, right? Or who actually wants the help? Is that something that you deal with where you have to there a way to determine who's actually seeking the help versus not, even though you know that everybody out there needs the help?
Mental Health and Homelessness
00:15:47
Speaker
So it's a good question. feel like ah it pairs with mental health too, where some of it is substance use, some of it is, and this is a generalization, not, you know, and a fact, but where that's what they're used to.
00:15:58
Speaker
right? So how do you show them a different norm? And how do you get, you know, I know you and I know how altruistic you are. And I know how passionate you are about all of this stuff. And if you had it your way, nobody would be on the street. And then there's some people who would say, well, this person looks like they're, they're used to it, and they're okay with it versus other people who are desperately seeking the support.
00:16:18
Speaker
You know, I think there are a lot of root causes here. And so oftentimes, we look at the person and it is looked at and I said this earlier, but we look at it as a personal failure.
00:16:32
Speaker
know But I would say to anyone, you know, go sleep outside for a night. See where your mental health is by morning. Right. See how much, you know, after, after a period of time, you know you've been trying to get into shelter.
00:16:48
Speaker
You've been trying to call all these resources. You're hopeless. There's no place to go. You might be working, you might have other family stressors. You can have any number of things going on in your life.
00:17:00
Speaker
The one thing we do know about mental health is many, many people, like I'd say a huge majority of people across this nation live with mental health issues.
00:17:11
Speaker
yeah Have real hard, awful struggles that they're working through. yeah And the majority of those people are housed. The common denominator here is in mental health, it's access to housing and resources.
00:17:28
Speaker
And what makes people being outside a little bit different is that they have the trauma day after day, night after night of facing the cold, of living in a world where there's many, many, you know, last week, I mean,
00:17:47
Speaker
We'll just talk about some current events. um Last week, a very, you know, on Fox News, someone said that for people who are outside and who are unsheltered and living with mental health issues, they should be involuntarily, lethally injected. Wow.
00:18:08
Speaker
So that's on our national news. And he apologized. But that's part of our national dialogue. right It's easy to think that the people outside are sex offenders or criminals or everybody's living with mental health issues. That is the easy thing to do. It's a lot more difficult to actually say, you know, what we're going to invest in our community.
00:18:32
Speaker
We're going to make it so no one has to deal with this. Like, imagine how great Connecticut, the nation would be if we really thought about housing policy when it comes to that child, the child living in shelter tonight and the stress that her mom is enduring, trying to figure out what to do, you know?
00:18:49
Speaker
So we make it, we make it awful, but the truth is there's so many ways to provide amazing, beautiful hope to people. And when that happens, you change lives. So for example, my mother, she lives in, um, section eight housing.
00:19:07
Speaker
Um, She experienced homelessness when she was in housing crisis. That's all I thought about. There was, there was no like mobility for me.
00:19:19
Speaker
i was stuck. And so for every person that we get housed, you create a ripple effect. Right. That ripple ah pertains to their family, to the other families, to the neighbors, to the communities, to the towns, to the state.
00:19:35
Speaker
um Because that is that's how we build thriving communities. We invest in our people. We offer opportunities. And housing is a pivotal opportunity. And I'll just give you, when we talk about a child's mental health or when we talk about a child's ability to learn, when they enter into shelter, their mental health, it's been found, depreciates 50%.
00:19:55
Speaker
um look crap How do we expect that baby to learn? How do we expect that family to grow? And so these are things that I think we're not talking about.
00:20:06
Speaker
It's to- not to mention the effect of the on the family, right? That they then can't put resources back into the child that then comes back to that, right? It's just completely the family's trying to fend for themselves while the child has to fend for him or herself at an age that they're not supposed to be doing that.
00:20:27
Speaker
And so- The answer is housing. The investments, it's it's all, yeah yeah, it's like it's dollars, but these are choices that we're making. And these are real lives that depend on it. And I think I've met so many people with so much beauty, like, you know, um this guy, Glenn, met him a long time ago.
Stories of Transformation Through Housing
00:20:48
Speaker
He had a tent and he was part of my advocacy group and he was so sad. For all of the people who didn't, who weren't fortunate enough to have tents like he had.
00:21:00
Speaker
You know, this guy Joe, he was in the woods for five years before we were able to bring him inside and he was a veteran. um And everyone said he be housed. And then he showed me his house and he said, you know, my day starts, my life starts now.
00:21:16
Speaker
Wow. He reconnected with his family. Everything got underway. And that's because housing begets opportunities. um I've also heard so many stories, and I spoke to this earlier, about people whose mental health just deteriorated and the impact and the day after day after day impact of that. Yeah, I can only imagine.
00:21:37
Speaker
And I imagine that this is at a, it's not state level completely. it's Is it town by town, county by county that you have to then attack some sort of system like this?
00:21:49
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's, um well, first there are towns that don't believe that housing insecurity or homelessness exists there, but they also don't want to see it. um And so at the state level, we have, so the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, we work with all of our partners and there are seven coordinated access networks.
00:22:06
Speaker
Okay. And then they work in every single town across the state. And... You know, and we're working with mayors and a lot of times mayors want to do the right thing. They don't have resources and they want more assistance with mental health and have to have the tools needed. um This past year, the Supreme Court basically made it legal to arrest people who are outside and have no place to go. And so we've been working on a lot of policy, trying to figure out a strong,
00:22:40
Speaker
way forward with our mayors and our municipalities so that no one gets arrested for not having a safe place to sleep and no one gets ticketed or fined because that's happening as well.
00:22:52
Speaker
Are there any places that are succeeding in this effort in your eyes? In Connecticut or? in the country. I mean, so there's like Finland has done an amazing job.
00:23:06
Speaker
Well, in the US. First. um I mean, there are places that have been able to bring a lot more housing to scale more quickly. And that has been really, really impactful.
00:23:20
Speaker
And so like Houston, Houston has dramatically decreased homelessness over the years. But they've also had huge influxes of housing resources. So we know, I mean, one of the catchphrases that we use is is housing solves homelessness. Yeah.
00:23:35
Speaker
Housing does. Like it's it's beautiful. But yeah, all you see are these like luxurious condo associations being built everywhere that nobody can afford with a bunch of amenities and there's new construction everywhere, you know? And that's where, that's where our dollars are going when no one can afford those things.
00:23:56
Speaker
Well, when you see a base, so, you know, what I would love to see across the state and like, if I were to like paint the picture of my, like, The world that I would love to see it's housing would, we'd have access to housing in the same way we have fundamental access to water and to those types of critical
Housing as a Fundamental Right
00:24:18
Speaker
things that we need. Water, sewer, housing is one of those things that every person should have the ability to access.
00:24:27
Speaker
We have made it into a commodity. Mm-hmm. And we have outpriced the commodity and we have allowed other nations to come in and purchase this really necessary good for high prices.
00:24:39
Speaker
um And it's really gotten away from this resource that every community needs. You know, we should be able to age in place. We should have these options as You know, as citizens of this wonderful country, it should be something that we have the ability to access, our family can access.
00:24:56
Speaker
And yet we have made this about ah like housing is a luxury. it And the fortunate, and I'm putting air quotes there, are able to get housed.
00:25:08
Speaker
um And those that are unworthy don't. And then it's really easy not to care about them. So invest in housing. Build healthy neighborhoods.
00:25:19
Speaker
That's why we elect people. That's what we need to do. Yeah. I mean, we're, it feels like so far from the basics of those things and that's what you fight every single day. What does a typical day look like for you? i mean, I'm sure nothing is the same, but at all.
00:25:33
Speaker
No day is the same. That's where it gets back to that cup of coffee. Probably use one right now. Yeah. um You know, no day's the same. And, you know, I work a lot with our state agency partners and the administration.
00:25:47
Speaker
And these are a lot of tough conversations. They're conversations about what's happening at the national level. um
00:25:55
Speaker
Conversations about, you know, people's basic needs and how we meet them um and about how we show up to our neighbors.
00:26:04
Speaker
So now I'm going to go into your favorite topic, which is you. how How do you... keep yourself balanced and well and like keep going in a space that's so emotionally draining, heavy, complex, personal.
00:26:22
Speaker
What does that look like for you? I have an awesome family. i have friends. Um, you make me laugh with really bad jokes. Um, I have a wonderful team and, you know, I'm balanced.
00:26:35
Speaker
It's always in the works. Like, you know, you wake up. Yeah. I really, you know, I have to say I'm still doing a lot of the things that got me here. um I, I'm just continuously trying. Cause you know, even as a CEO of a small nonprofit, you know, I, I fall on my face like about five times a day. This is, you know, it's really you're thinking hard to lead and it's humbling.
00:27:03
Speaker
yeah And, um and I'm, you know, and when you're trying to figure things out, like, you know, it it just takes a lot of grit because, you know, today there's a lot of things we don't know and a lot and of uncertainty. And so the best way to sort of like see through that and to live through it is to sort of say, okay, so what do I can control what do i control today?
00:27:25
Speaker
How do I respond? What's the best response now? And that's pretty much, you know, my MO. But it's not, you know And I can laugh and then sometimes I cry. And that's okay too.
00:27:38
Speaker
it's you know We're talking about life or death here. We're talking about people. you know we're It's September 25th. um It's I think 70 degrees outside right now, but it's rainy.
00:27:50
Speaker
And you're like, you got the Milford Beach I think right behind you. um i do. But it puts this all into perspective, honestly, where we're quote unquote privileged people who have a roof over our heads clean water to drink, ah you know, all of the resources that some people would see as amenities at this point.
00:28:11
Speaker
And we wake up every day without all of this on our mind. I'll speak for myself. And I know that you're the complete opposite. And you have now, right, a roof over your head and a family and things like that. But It's something that's not front and center for me, but something that as you speak about it, I can only feel such almost like shame that I'm not doing something to help.
00:28:37
Speaker
um So if somebody were like in my position, where could somebody start to even help with this type of work and give back?
00:28:50
Speaker
I mean, um it's a good question. um You can go to my website, which is www.cch.org and sort of find out about all the work. So that's the Connecticut Coalition on Homelessness, www.cch.org,
00:29:05
Speaker
and find out about some of the work that's taking place. But there's also like in your community, in every community across the state. um i recognize that this spans beyond the state, but in in your community today, there are places where you can help.
00:29:20
Speaker
And what I would encourage you to do is, you know, socks are great, but look at organizations that are really trying to figure out the pipeline to housing. Look, okay look at when you're thinking about shelters, help provide meals, help, you know, help, you know, think beyond just, you know, so oftentimes it's like, all right, well, I gave socks.
00:29:39
Speaker
You know, this homelessness is, it's real, it's in our communities and it's, you know, For me, it's like, it's so easy to give to, you know people really open up their pocketbooks for like, for, I'm going to say things that this is going to make people instantly hate me, but for like animals and in shelter.
00:30:00
Speaker
um But it's so much more difficult sometimes to raise funds for people who are in housing insecurity. So think about like donating, you know, right help helping with fundraising.
00:30:11
Speaker
How do you assist and how do you provide your talent to somebody? Maybe it's an organization, a shelter, a statewide organization like CCH who needs your special talents to sort of like move the needle.
00:30:23
Speaker
So helping, helping across the board. And then, you know, elections matter. And so what's what is what's your candidate's sort of lens on housing? Thinking about that.
00:30:33
Speaker
and And where, you know, where are they, what's their vision? So whether it's your local mayor, whether it's a council person, whether it's um a congressional candidate, whether it's your governor, whether it's the president,
00:30:45
Speaker
Um, whether it's, you know, your Congress person you know, what are, what's their vision for preventing and solving homelessness? How are they going to help turn this needle? What are they going to do? Get involved there. Like they, so these are just some, some easy things. they're not true I just think about the people that I mean, it's great. It's, it's, I'm sitting here trying to one, like trying to think how I can,
00:31:07
Speaker
you know, or how my family can give back when we're so focused on our day to day and in our own tunnel vision of what we're doing, losing sight of people in such desperate need out there. um You know, I know we participated in the walk with you last year and we'll do that again, but there's much more that we can be doing um to really shed light on this issue. I mean, we see it across the country, at least to live in California and it's rampant.
00:31:35
Speaker
you know, even even more so there. um You know, in New Haven, I know you're in Hartford and there's a lot a lot of issues across the state. So paying more attention is something that I'm taking away from this conversation for sure.
00:31:48
Speaker
Is there anything that you feel is the consistent thing that you're continuing to repeat? Like as we start to close out here, if there's something that like most people just misunderstand about the entire system of homelessness,
00:32:05
Speaker
Does it go back to just that housing is
Housing as the Solution to Homelessness
00:32:07
Speaker
the answer? No. Yeah. I think, you know, it's like if you go to a doctor and you have a health issue they prescribe you as medicine. Right.
00:32:21
Speaker
Housing, whether it's, you know, and whether it's like the flexible dollars to just help someone out um in the short term, whether it's really making sure our homeless response system functions at the ability and has staff paid and the organizations are healthy to meet people's needs immediately and ensure everybody's inside.
00:32:43
Speaker
um or whether it's housing and making sure that we have housing, it's available, it meets people's needs, it helps them stabilize, they can be healthy.
00:32:54
Speaker
Like, like what better prescriptions are there than that? and So instead of sort of saying, well, that's not me, it's like, all right, so how do we build that world? How do we how do we paint that picture?
00:33:06
Speaker
It doesn't feel so much better to think about it. um So housing is a prescription to homelessness, um because that's the only way to solve it. I love that, though. and And that's great.
00:33:18
Speaker
but We'll end on um a little bit more of a ah a lighter note. What is one story? What's one story of just like complete transformation resilience that stands out to you as like, you know, you'll never forget.
00:33:36
Speaker
i mean, I think, and I, you know, there are just
00:33:42
Speaker
so many. That's why I do this job. Like it's literally, um it's like drinking a Kool-Aid once you, Well, i I don't know what type of Kool-Aid I'm talking about, but um it's a good kind. and But like, honestly, like it feels like, you know, when a person gets their keys, that is a moment of joy.
00:34:04
Speaker
When you help someone, it opens like a whole bunch of different worlds. like it is so beautiful. and ah And people do this work. So there are many more people like me, probably more than anybody even notices, who have also like really believe in this. And fundamentally, like it is deep.
00:34:23
Speaker
um And the commitment is real. um And it is because of the beauty that exists in that moment of help. And then the sparks that you see thereafter.
00:34:34
Speaker
So like when, you know, I sit and I listen to a mom who's been housed through a headstart in housing program um and she was hopeless and now she, and she was moving from place to place to place and now she's housed and her kids are thriving in school.
00:34:50
Speaker
um Like, voila, like, you know, it doesn't mean that the whole world's going to be like rosy or amazing, but that's a problem solved. That's like, really that's like tangible on the ground problem solving, making differences.
00:35:03
Speaker
And so there's just that time and time and time and time and time again, which it's beautiful. And it speaks to what we can do when we all work together, we collaborate, we think differently, and we have some investments to utilize. And that is like that.
00:35:20
Speaker
That's something I can sign up for. That's something you cheers to at the end of the day.
Conclusion and Commitment
00:35:27
Speaker
I love it. Well, thank you so much for sharing everything about your job, your background and experience personally with this and what you're doing on the day to day. It's a huge representation of, I think, a very underrepresented thing and something that people need to consider and need to think about more. So I really appreciate you sharing. I'll connect with you for sure to figure out how to better and more consistently support you and your efforts as well.
00:35:52
Speaker
I appreciate that, Laura. Thank you so much.