April 13, 2006…(GALES FERRY,CT) With a 70-person partnership, consensus can be difficult, but not so with the Southeastern Connecticut Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness. The one thing they all agree on is the first of their guiding principles “No one should be homeless.” A lofty principle, but one based on a deep commitment to the rights of all people. And when you consider that there are 2,300 homeless individuals annually in Southeastern Connecticut, with approximately 479 homeless on any given night, that principle becomes a call-to-action.

The Southeastern Connecticut partnership publicly launched their commitment on Thursday, April 13 at the offices of United Way of Southeastern Connecticut. Attendees represented corporate and community leaders, social service providers, residents and legislators.

Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness lauded the committee and inspired attendees to address the crisis of chronic homelessness. Appointed to his current role by President Bush in 2002, Mangano is touted by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker Magazine as being “the leading exponent for the power-law theory of homelessness.” Under his leadership, the Interagency Council on Homelessness has forwarded a strategy of intra-agency, interagency, intra-governmental, intergovernmental, and intercommunity collaborations to end homelessness. The Council has prioritized prevention as a theme of homelessness policy and more than 200 cities and counties have answered their rallying cry by developing their own Ten-Year plans.

The purpose of the 10-year plan to end homelessness is to develop and implement an action oriented/performance based plan to end homelessness that has input from all key community stakeholders (business and corporations, faith and community based organizations, educational institutions, charitable and philanthropic organizations, etc) and is endorsed by the Chief Executive of the city. The completed plan will put the community in the best possible position to access resources from the full range of funding opportunities available (federal, state and private).

Here in Southeastern Connecticut, the multi-step process will begin with an in-depth study of the homelessness crisis funded through the generosity of TVCCA, Dime Bank and Bank of America.

In New England, the jurisdictional CEO’s of 30 communities have developed or have agreed to develop 10-year plans to end homelessness.

Connecticut:

• Bridgeport
• Danbury
• Hartford
• New Britain
• New Haven
• Norwalk
• Southeastern CT
• Norwich
• Groton
• New London
• Stamford

Massachusetts:

• Boston
• Brockton
• Cambridge
• Cape Cod and The Islands
• Fall River
• Framingham
• North Central Massachusetts
• Regional Plan Fitchburg
• Leominster
• Gardner
• Lawrence
• Lowell
• Lynn
• New Bedford
• Quincy
• Pittsfield/Berkshire County
• Somerville
• Springfield
• Worcester

New Hampshire:

• Manchester
• Nashua

Rhode Island

• Providence
• Warwick

Vermont:

• Burlington

Bold indicates a completed plan.

“Given the vast resources that exist not only in the United States but in Southeastern Connecticut, it is very possible to end homelessness,” says Mike Rosenkrantz, facilitator of the Partnership to End Homelessness.  “If we can save a sub base we can certainly create enough housing to end homelessness for anyone that would like to be housed.”