Today, I write out of both anger and love for my state. I am inspired by the rich, diverse neighborhoods that span all 169 Connecticut towns, but I am deeply disturbed by the contrast between the beauty we celebrate and the immeasurable suffering experienced by our unhoused neighbors.
Each fall, Connecticut transforms into a postcard. New England foliage radiates shades of orange, yellow, and red; families visit orchards and pumpkin patches; and residents welcome the crisp, fresh air. Yet as temperatures drop, what feels refreshing to one resident can become dangerous for another. For Connecticut residents experiencing homelessness, autumn is an urgent awakening to prepare for the harsh conditions ahead.
Matthew Desmond, author of Poverty, by America , writes, “The end of poverty is something to stand for, to march for, to sacrifice for. Because poverty is the dream killer, the capability destroyer, the great waster of human potential.” His words challenge us to recognize poverty and homelessness not as the inevitable conditions of individual failures, but as preventable injustices that demand collective action. In Connecticut, this responsibility becomes especially urgent as decreasing temperatures expose homeless residents to potential life-threatening conditions.
The timing is significant. As our harsh winter approaches, so does the legislative session. Our lawmakers have an opportunity to confront this crisis before another season of tolerance and suffering.
In our legislature’s ivory tower, homelessness is often discussed through estimates, budget proposals, and debates over affordable housing. These conversations are necessary, but they can obscure the immediate reality of surviving without shelter. For someone sleeping outdoors, a cold night is a prolonged period of physical suffering, uncertainty, and, at times, humiliation. People may spend hours at highway exits hoping for enough donations to afford a meal, while others navigate the shame and difficulty of accessing basic needs.
The health consequences are equally troubling. Prolonged exposure to the cold can cause hypothermia, frostbite, and other serious complications. Existing health conditions, especially for elderly homeless individuals, can make an already dangerous situation even more challenging. When daily survival takes precedence, seeking medical attention or managing chronic conditions can become increasingly difficult. Substance abuse and mental health challenges can further increase vulnerability to dangerous weather. As expressed in conversations with homeless residents, illegal substances and alcohol abuse serve as an unfortunate survival mechanism among harsh temperatures and rampant hunger.
Connecticut has taken steps to respond through its Severe Cold Weather Protocol , which coordinates emergency resources when temperatures become dangerously low. For instance, dialing 2-1-1 can provide immediate direction to social services. But these resources cannot protect people who do not know they exist, lack access to a phone, or cannot navigate the process of obtaining assistance alone. Shelter capacity, transportation barriers, and eligibility requirements can further limit access.
In conversations with unhoused residents, I have come to realize that the existence of a service does not guarantee its accessibility. Some people have become so entrenched in the systems of poverty and homelessness that they do not know where to begin with social resources or how to utilize them. Emergency responses are essential, but they should not substitute policies that prevent homelessness and expand access to stable housing statewide. A service is only useful if someone can find it, qualify for it, and apply it.
Furthermore, the scale of Connecticut’s homelessness crisis makes this more than a seasonal concern. The state’s 2026 Point-in-Time Count identified 3,847 people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. Connecticut’s unsheltered population also increased by 45% between 2024 and 2025. Although these counts provide a snapshot of homelessness, they do not account for the true total of unhoused residents. Similarly, this snapshot reveals that too many residents remain without stable housing and may become exposed to harsh winter elements in the coming months.
We must therefore approach homelessness as both an immediate public health and safety concern as well as a long-term policy failure. Poverty and homelessness are shaped by policy decisions. Addressing it requires more than relying on the generosity of Connecticut volunteers, shelters, halfway houses, and nonprofit organizations. Their on-the-ground work is indispensable, but the responsibility cannot fall on them alone.
Connecticut legislators have a duty to consider all residents, not only those who have the privilege to show up to the capital or vote. Legislators should consider the encampments outside of our local grocery store; the hurting men and women who stand in the middle of intersections for hours on end, and the future of our state if homelessness is reduced to an anomaly, rather than a commonly accepted feature of our cities. These immediate interventions must be accompanied by sustained investments in housing developments and affordable housing options, as well as resources that truly help residents secure and maintain stability.
Furthermore, the homeless population is not only forced to sleep outdoors, but they may be arrested or penalized for doing so. Beyond the immediate dangers of residing in the cold, Connecticut must confront the criminalization of homelessness.
In the 2024 decision of City of Grants Pass v. Johnson , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that enforcing public-camping restrictions does not, by itself, violate the Eighth Amendment. This decision gave municipalities greater enforcement opportunities to restrict public sleeping, panhandling, and residing in public spaces, even when homeless individuals have no other choice. When Connecticut fails to provide adequate alternatives to sleeping outdoors, policies that punish public rest risk penalizing people for the very conditions the state has failed to address. Through fines, displacement, and arrests, the state further entrenches the unhoused population into cycles of poverty, incarceration and homelessness.
Connecticut lawmakers had an opportunity to address this complication in 2026 through House Bill 5260 , which proposed prohibiting municipalities from penalizing homeless people for certain basic activities of living in public spaces. The bill received favorable votes in the Housing and Planning and Development committees but was ultimately tabled and did not become law. Its failure to advance into law sparks important debates for the next legislative session. Will our state prioritize the safety and dignity of people experiencing homelessness, or continue allowing punitive responses to circumstances that people cannot control?
Aside from the legislation’s responsibility and the role of community organizations, Connecticut residents also have a role to play. We can support local homelessness prevention organizations, advocate for policies that expand housing affordability, and challenge the stigma that frames homelessness as an individual failure. Most importantly, we must recognize unhoused people as members of our communities rather than strangers that we turn our cheeks to, as a result of our own discomfort and fear. This disconnection only perpetuates the tolerance of homelessness among our state and reduces a homeless person’s dignity as a human-being. Although not every resident can donate to non-profit organizations or speak to policymakers, we can change the stigma by acknowledging homeless individuals as our neighbors rather than an inconvenience at a stoplight.
Matthew Desmond reminds us that poverty wastes human potential by restricting people’s ability to pursue opportunities, protect their health, and imagine a meaningful future. When someone must devote each day to basic survival, the possibility of pursuing these opportunities becomes distant. We cannot meaningfully claim there is opportunity while ignoring the basic conditions necessary to access it for our homeless population.
Connecticut’s autumn will always be beautiful. The leaves will change, the air will grow colder, and another picture perfect winter will arrive. But the success of our state should be reflected in the collective care we have for all of our neighbors, even the ones we cannot see while they reside in tents below the overpass.
If ending poverty is something worth standing for in Connecticut, the arrival of colder weather must be a call to action. Moreover, we cannot eliminate homelessness in a single legislative session, but our legislators can choose to invest in solutions that make stable housing a possibility and public health a priority.
Connecticut cannot treat homelessness as an emergency only when winter arrives, nor can it punish people for surviving outdoors while failing to provide adequate alternatives. As we admire the changing seasons, we must ask ourselves and our law-makers a difficult question: What does it mean to celebrate the beauty of Connecticut if we are unwilling to ensure that everyone in our state is safe, healthy, and considered for?
Arianna Martinez of Hartford is a student at Trinity College.