As Connecticut residents shovel themselves out after Sunday’s snow storm, the state is doing what it can to assist unhoused residents.
The storm dumped up to 19 inches of snow in some parts of the state, posing a particular risk for Connecticut’s 3,500 homeless residents. It was the largest snow storm Connecticut’s experienced in more than a decade, Hartford Mayor Arunan Aulampalam said.
In Hartford, Aulampalam said city officials are using technology to keep unhoused residents safe.
“We have been working to make sure that all of our homeless population can get indoors,” Arulampalam said. “Our police department sends a drone up with thermal imaging to make sure that there aren't people under bus shelters or highway overpasses that can get everybody indoors and into some sort of shelter, and so far, we've been doing really well as a city.”
However, the city’s warming centers and shelters are full, Arulampalam said.
“They're very full. They've certainly surged in capacity,” Arulampalam said. “On our first night of the cold weather activation, we had almost 200 residents between the city-run shelter and the sheltered Center Church.”
The state’s emergency cold weather protocol was enacted on Friday and will be in place until Feb. 5.
“Because of the cold weather activation, their state dollars allow folks to get into hotels while that cold weather is being activated,” Arulampalam said. “We're triaging that and making sure that people have some place to be on the coldest nights of the year. Our warming shelters are working overtime to make sure that we can keep everybody indoors.”
The state’s cold weather protocol provides additional warming centers and transportation for unhoused residents to reach shelters.
“It is a cold weather protocol. So we don't have anybody sleeping outside. We're making space for people. We have places in all the hotels taking care of people as best we can,” Gov. Ned Lamont said.
On Sunday, the state’s emergency social services hotline, 211, reported there were 221 warming centers in 77 municipalities, according to Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Deputy Commissioner Brenda Bergeron.
“The towns are really coming together to create a system in place, and the Department of Housing works with 211 and the Coordinated Access Network to make sure that there is a place for everyone,” Bergeron said. “Folks can go to the website at 211 to look for those shelters, or they can call 211 if they need transportation.”
