State Senator Urges CT to be Nation’s First “Right to Housing” State

Aspirational goals are not the everyday currency at the State Capitol, but on the brink of the opening of the first legislative session of the new decade, one State Senator is urging Connecticut to blaze a path for the other 49 states.

Sen. Saud Anwar of South Windsor, co-chair of the General Assembly’s Housing Committee, would like Connecticut to become the nation’s first “Right to Housing” state.  In an opinion article that appeared last week in The Hartford Courant, Anwar said “it is important for our state to have a collective vision for our future — one where we focus our efforts around a common cause.”  He called on the state to address the issue of housing, which, he said, “is intrinsically connected to our daily lives and the future of Connecticut.”

 In describing the “bold initiative,” with the goal of “providing housing for all our state’s residents,” Anwar urged that “by the year of 2030, Connecticut would provide every individual with the right and ability to access safe housing. Having safe homes for our workforce and our youth would better allow for economic development, as well as improvements in well-being and health for our residents. This initiative would protect our vulnerable populations and reduce recidivism and homelessness. Furthermore, it would strengthen our state’s sense of community as a whole.”

Veteran housing advocates in Connecticut are welcoming Anwar’s leadership and expressing concurrence with his objective – one that they have been advancing at the Capitol and in communities across the state.

“As the organization leading the statewide effort to end homelessness, the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH) welcomes and applauds Senator Anwar’s vision to establish a right to housing in Connecticut,” said Richard Cho, Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition.  “We have long known that the solution to homelessness is stable housing, and that if every Connecticut resident were guaranteed access to a safe and stable home, homelessness in our state would not exist. We look forward to working with the Senator to help realize and enact this right.”

The Coalition points out that Connecticut has the 6th highest housing cost in the nation, and that many low-income households hover on the brink of homelessness. More than 4,500 people are homeless on any given night in Connecticut– nearly 1 in 5 are children, they point out. The Coalition website notes that “homelessness is expensive: it costs our public systems (emergency services, hospitals, and schools) more to leave our neighbors homeless than it does to help them secure housing and provide them the supports to keep it.”

Kiley Gosselin, Executive Director at the Partnership for Strong Communities, said “We share Senator Anwar’s positive vision for a future where every Connecticut resident has a safe, stable, place to call home. He is correct that Connecticut has seen tremendous success in reducing the number of residents experiencing homelessness since 2004. This progress is due to successful collaboration between our state legislature, governors, nonprofit leaders, and service providers. During this time, our state has made critical investments in housing resources, including over $2.1 billion in new funding for development and services.”

“However, we have much more to do,” Gosselin emphasized, “especially in the area of providing sufficient affordable housing for all Connecticut residents and will be focused on these efforts again during the upcoming legislative session. We welcome Sen. Anwar’s enthusiasm for and recognition of this critical issue, and we look forward to partnering with him.”

Anwar noted that “we first must understand why people lose their homes and become homeless. It is not a personal failing to become homeless. Numerous variables impact housing, many of them beyond one’s control. Poverty, unemployment, mental health issues, substance use issues, incarceration and illness can all cause homelessness. Further, family issues can lead to housing instability; domestic abuse and homophobia are two examples that can put family members on the streets. Additionally, veterans face these housing challenges far too often, with post-traumatic stress disorder in particular contributing to their plight. Evictions and foreclosures and economic and financial decisions obviously remain an important determinant as well.”

As a former Mayor of South Windsor, Anwar is an elected official who has been on the front lines of municipal government, where the rubber often meets the road in housing decision-making. Prior to being elected to the State Senate in special election last February, he served on the town council since 2011 and was elected as mayor in 2013 and 2017.  He represents South Windsor, Windsor, Ellington and East Hartford - the 3rd Senate District - at the State Capitol and was appointed as Deputy President Pro Tempore.  In addition to serving as Senate Chair of the Housing Committee, he is a member of the Public Health, Veterans’ Affairs, and Insurance & Real Estate Committees.

Anwar suggested that “we can also support our current workers and provide them with additional tools for stable housing. Workforce housing, either through rental support or first-time buyers, would be an easy way to assist the workforce and provide additional layers of safety against housing insecurity in early stages of individuals’ careers. We can achieve this through new policies including workforce housing opportunity zones, workforce housing trusts where tax incentives are provided by the state and towns in collaboration with housing authorities, and/or creating public-private partnerships with the private sector.”

Known for his compassionate leadership, Anwar has been a physician in the state for more than 20 years. He specializes in treating lung diseases and critical care medicine, occupational and environmental medicine. He is Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at Manchester Memorial and Rockville General Hospitals. Dr. Anwar was trained in pulmonary and critical care medicine at, and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health from, Yale University.

“If we have the willpower to embark on this project,” Anwar concluded, “we can lead our nation.”