Housing Services

_0000s_0004_Programs_PSH.jpgCentral to our commitment to ending homelessness is housing. Through Housing Services, Columbus House staff work with clients to get into housing and access the services they need to stay housed indefinitely.




Supportive Housing - Congregate Sites 

Columbus House serves over 150 people who are living in apartment buildings and duplexes that are dedicated specifically for supportive housing. We provide services as part of six separate supportive housing programs, all with onsite case management.

 

New Haven

  • Cedar Hill – serving people who were chronically homeless.

  • Whalley Terrace – serving men and women over the age of 62 who are either formerly homeless or at-risk.

  • Legion Woods – serving primarily Veterans who were homeless or are at risk.

  • Sojourners Place – serving women who were homeless and are dually-diagnosed, i.e., have a history of both mental illness and substance abuse.

  • Val Macri – serving people who were chronically homeless in the first congregate site that was re-developed and is now owned and operated solely by Columbus House.

  • HOMELESS:HOUSED – serving formerly homeless single adults and small families in five multi-unit buildings owned by Columbus House; built and designed in collaboration with Yale School of Architecture/Jim Vlock Building Project. The first house was completed in the fall of 2017. Learn more

Middletown

  • Shepherd Home – provides 32 units of permanent supportive housing for Veterans experiencing homelessness in a fully restored and preserved historic 1920's nurse's quarters, the former Mary Shepherd Home on the CT Valley Hospital Campus. Columbus House is the developer and St. Vincent de Paul Middletown provides supportive services. Learn more

  • Peterson Properties – provides 27 affordable apartments for families and single adults in five separate homes. Case management is provided by Columbus House staff. The properties are named to honor the legacy of Columbus House's late Chief of Real Estate, Chris Peterson, who's life work was to create affordable housing for those in need.

We also offer case management to people in permanent supportive housing in New Britain as part of a program known as The Jefferson, and in Hamden at Mather Street Apartments.

 

Supportive Housing - Scattered Site

Columbus House serves almost 250 people in individual apartments owned by private landlords, for which the client receives a state or federal housing voucher. Scattered site housing programs encourage clients to become reintegrated into the broader community, while providing the personal space to foster greater independence. Columbus House provides support services for homeless and at risk individuals across New Haven and Middlesex counties, including three population-specific programs:

  • Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) – A federal-funded program providing case management and support for households in which at least one member is living with HIV/AIDS. Columbus House also provides services under a similar state-funded program in Middlesex County.

  • Connecticut Collaborative on Re-Entry (CCR) – Formerly known as “Frequent Users System Engagement (FUSE), CCR provides services for people recently released from prison and at risk of homelessness, all part of the state’s “Second Chance Society” initiative.

  • Social Innovation Fund (SIF) – As part of a federal funding program, Columbus House works with partners across the state to provide case management services and supportive housing to clients who are already accessing healthcare services through federal programs. 

 

Rapid Re-Housing 

As part of the nationally-recognized Housing First approach, Columbus House is committed to getting people into permanent housing as quickly as possible because people are better able to access services effectively after they are housed. Rapid Re-Housing moves people directly from instances of homelessness into their own rental unit by providing short-term financial assistance in form of initial rent, security deposits, and/or utility assistance. Columbus House has been a Housing First agency since 2005, and in 2009, we began offering Rapid Re-Housing. Each year, we help over 150 people get into their own homes in New Haven and Middlesex counties through this program.