After years of asking for more funding to help Connecticut’s homeless population, shelter providers have grown frustrated with what they see as a lack of response from state leaders. They say it’s become a matter of life or death. At a press conference Friday, homelessness service providers and lawmakers appealed to the legislature and Gov. Ned Lamont to add $33.5 million to next year’s budget. The funding would cover a range of programs including eviction prevention, case management and additional cold weather emergency shelters. Most of the request is for annual, recurring funding with adjustments for inflation. Providers said Friday they need more resources to respond to the state’s rising homeless population and help people find places to live. “Our shelters are overflowing,” said Kellyann Day, chief executive officer at New Reach, a shelter in New Haven. “We have hundreds of individuals sleeping on the streets. What’s even more concerning is the increased number of people experiencing homelessness for the very first time.”  Homelessness increased by about 13% from 2023 to 2024, and recent data from the state’s response system shows more than 5,000 people are experiencing homelessness. More senior citizens and families with children have lost their homes recently due to rising rental prices, providers said. And for the past few years, requests for more financial help for the state’s homeless shelters have gone unmet. “I am not going to talk very long because, frankly, I’m getting annoyed that we keep having to do these press conferences,” said Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, D-Avon. Kavros DeGraw chairs the Planning and Development Committee. Lawmakers also addressed the limits Lamont has placed on spending, hinting at a coming battle over Connecticut’s approach to its budget. “Look, we have $33 million,” said Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown. “We’ve got a lot more than that in the state’s resources, but we are up against the fiscal constraints, and we have to decide whether or not those are going to remain in place.” Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror The governor has touted those spending constraints, commonly referred to as the state’s “fiscal guardrails,” as a way to check spending and pay down debt. Critics have said they are starving social services. The Lamont administration has directed millions of dollars toward building new housing, encouraging homeownership and improving existing housing, among other projects. In a statement, spokesperson Julia Bergman said Lamont intends to prioritize housing availability and homelessness during this year’s legislative session, which began Wednesday. “Governor Lamont believes that everyone should have access to a safe, warm place to call home, and his administration is committed to working with our partners to ensure that resources are available so that fewer people face the possibility of becoming homeless,” Bergman said. The governor is expected to release his budget proposal in early February. Lawmakers will also develop their own budget proposal and negotiate with Lamont’s staff over the coming months of session. “On Feb. 5, the governor does present his budget,” Kavros DeGraw said. “We are a co- equal branch of government, and we will be presenting ours.” The providers’ request includes $7.8 million for prevention, including legal and social services for people facing eviction, and flexible funding for things like rent aid, utility bills or other expenses that could help keep people housed. It also seeks $19.5 in crisis response, which includes annual funding for cold weather emergencies, a one-time $9 million boost to the overall response system and annual allocations for services hubs in the Coordinated Access Network. The hubs launched in 2023 and were funded with federal COVID relief money. They’re places where thousands of people each year come to access services and get warm. Without more funding, providers fear the centers will close. “We are the safety net for the state of Connecticut, and we’re looking at massive cuts for hubs and diversion because we’re falling off a fiscal cliff of federal funding,” said Kara Capone, chief executive officer at Community Housing Advocates in Hartford. Sarah Fox, chief executive of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, urged the legislature to offer alternatives to ticketing and fines for people sleeping or camping in public spaces and offer tax incentives to landlords who house people experiencing homelessness. Fox said the coalition also wants the state's interagency council, which Lamont established last year, to be codified into law so it can live on after the current administration. Speakers Friday said whatever state leaders decide about the budget will be a reflection of Connecticut’s values. “In parking lots, there are the families in there, three, four living out of the car,” said Rep. Geraldo Reyes, D-Waterbury. “That's a sin in one of the richest states in the union. Rep. Geraldo Reyes, D-Waterbury Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror “I, too, will send a message out to Gov. Lamont, please, please. We need to find a moral compass for this state,” Reyes said. Service providers told stories about nights people had been forced to sleep in the cold because there wasn’t enough room in shelters. Carmen Colon, chief officer at the Pacific House shelter in Stamford, said because of a 10% cut to cold-weather funding this year, she’d seen places shut their doors. “Many of our institutions shut the doors down to the people who need us most,” Colon said. “When I was driving by a center … I saw our folks sitting out on the streets.” Many direct care workers are also struggling with low wages, providers said. Some are facing homelessness themselves without more pay. Lawmakers told the crowd of well over 100 people about members of their communities who are experiencing homelessness. One woman, in her 70s, lost her home in Windsor. A man in Norwalk shoplifts so that he can get arrested and stay somewhere warm. And two families with young children live in an unheated garage in Middletown. “We live in Connecticut. We have billionaires. We have millionaires. What are we talking about today?,” said Rep. Kadeem Roberts, D-Norwalk. He added that he thinks the request should be bigger, up to $40 million. Housing co-chair Rep. Antonio Felipe, D-Bridgeport, said this year’s request is different because of how much homelessness has grown. After years of underfunding, the system is suffering, he said.