CCEH Newsletter
November 2018
D ear friends,

What a year it has been so far! Our homeless services system is in overdrive pushing to end chronic homelessness, to house 360 families by December 10th, to launch new youth programs through the YHDP grant, to optimize HMIS, to better understand racial inequities, and to end family & youth homelessness by 2020. 

As we work on all of these initiatives, I hope we can take a moment to breathe (self-care is important!) and reflect on all of our remarkable successes to date. Connecticut is a leader in the country because of your work and serves as a model for a well-functioning systematic and collaborative response to homelessness. We've built coordinated entry and exit systems, ended Veteran homelessness, and reduced homelessness by 34% in the past 5 years! And our dashboards are super cool.

So, let's pat each other on the back, compliment our colleagues and co-workers, and give thanks for this incredible privilege to help others and change the world. And remember to breathe.

We are also thrilled to announce that Dr. Richard Cho will be joining CCEH as our new CEO later this month. More on this announcement below.

With much gratitude,

Mary Ann Haley
Deputy Director & Interim CEO
CCEH Names New CEO!
After an extensive national search, we’re pleased to share that Dr. Richard Cho has been selected as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH), effective November 26, 2018. Richard brings 20 years of experience in the housing and homelessness sector, most recently serving as Division Director, Behavioral Health at the Council of State Governments Justice Center. Previously, Richard served as the Deputy Director at the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, and as Director of Innovations and Research at the Corporation for Supportive Housing. He brings a breadth of national and regional experience to the role.  Read More.
Governor's Challenge on Family Homelessness
#familiesneedhomes #kidsneedhomes

Providers across the state continue working to house 360 families by December 10th. The Reaching Home Campaign has been sending out weekly updates on the progress of challenge. They include helpful tips and strategies being used across the state in this challenge. View the Weekly #4 Update . We are keeping track of our progress LIVE on the Family Challenge Dashboard. As of writing this, we’ve housed 78 families so far. That’s 161 children! 

Check out the awesome video where Kimberly Donovan from the Domestic Violence Crisis Center, gave the Fairfield County Coordinated Access Network (CAN) an update on their progress in the challenge! 
You Can Help End Youth Homelessness
Ending Youth Homelessness by 2020 is a challenging goal. One essential element required to meet this goal is to quickly identify youth experiencing homelessness in any area of the state and link them to appropriate services. 

Outreach and identification are core components of our system to address homelessness—from entry to exit—and the Youth Outreach and Count is an example of effectively engaging with youth and collecting important data. The planning and work to get a more comprehensive Youth Outreach and Count occurs year-round so please get involved and volunteer during the week of January 23-29, 2019. Also, join your regional Youth Engagement Team Initiative (YETI) throughout the year to build a stronger system to help homeless youth.    
Don't Forget to Vote Tuesday, November 6th!
Voting information can be found on MY VOTE CT.
Youth Homelessness Demonstration
Program Begins
The HUD Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project (YHDP) grant programs will be coming online this month in the CT Balance of State Continuum of Care regions. The YHDP programs will provide new youth-specific resources including youth navigators, diversion and rapid exit funds, crisis housing, rapid re-housing, and provider training and technical assistance. More details about YHDP.

To help launch these exciting new resources, CCEH will begin training YHDP-funded agencies this month. In addition, CCEH has created a YHDP Resource webpage to explain the programs and give providers support and resources. This page will have information on how to access the diversion and rapid exit funds, resources for program implementation, a password protected provider portal for sensitive information, and more. This webpage will be continually updated with more resources as they become available. 
Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week
(November 10th-18th)
CCEH received 16 grant requests from school districts for projects that call attention to homelessness during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week (Nov 10-18). These schools will join others throughout the state that are working to advance awareness of the challenges of homelessness for youth with activities such as discussion panels, resource drives, and peer educating. These local efforts are supported by using content from our “Ending Youth Homelessness: A Toolkit for Connecticut Schools”, particularly the videos and discussion points about McKinney Vento resources. Contact Carl, [email protected], if you would like support from CCEH to help with your work partnering with schools. Hunger and Homelessness Awareness activities prime your community for a robust Youth Count 2019! 
Volunteer for the Point-In-Time Count!
Homelessness is a solvable problem and we need your help to get there.

There are thousands of individuals and families in shelter at any time, and hundreds more living without shelter in Connec ticut. Only by knowing who, where, and how many people are experiencing homeless in Connecticut can we plan and identify the resources needed to best serve the most vulnerable, and ultimately move families
and individuals into permanent housing.
Welcome New CCEH Team Members!
Elena Simoes
Director of Finance & Administration

Elena Simoes joined the CT Coalition to End Homelessness in October of 2018 as the Director of Finance and Administration. Elena graduated from Sacred Heart University with a BS in Accounting and has 25+ years of finance and accounting experience in the public, non-profit and corporate sectors. She is a US Army Veteran and currently serves on the board/advisory committees of two non-profits.
Stephanie Moise
STICH AmeriCorps Member

Stephanie Moise begin serving as a STICH AmeriCorps member through the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut at CCEH in October 2018. Stephanie was born in Haiti and raised in Connecticut. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Post University and has an Associate’s degree.
Stephanie will be working to further build our state’s homeless response system through partnerships and trainings with an emphasis on working with school-based health centers around youth homelessness.
It’s time to be homeful for the holidays ! 
CCEH just launched Paddington "bear-raiser" kits that give businesses and congregations a fun and easy way to raise money for their local be homeful funds! We also just announced an opportunity for schools to win a visit from Paddington himself by holding a marmalade drive between now and Thanksgiving. Please contact Ryan Beach at (860) 721-7876 x 107 for more information!
Upcoming Trainings & Meetings



Recorded Webinars



Provider Resources: www.cceh.org/resources-library
Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness
(860) 721-7876 |  [email protected]  |  www.cceh.org

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