As an entry point within Connecticut's Emergency Response System, our shelter is a safe harbor for individuals and families to receive the critical services (sheltering; food; clothing; advocacy; case management and referrals; after-school tutoring; veteran's case management services; assessment and counseling services; and health screenings) they need to stabilize, recover, and overcome their housing crises.

Our Homeless Shelter served 552 unduplicated individuals, including 43 families with 75 children in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. 

*Due to the pandemic, the shelter was required to separate beds for safe social distancing between March 25, 2020 and March 1, 2023.  Accordingly, the Shelter's capacity was reduced during this period.  However, currently the number of guests served at the Shelter is on the rise.  According to the 2022 Point in Time (PIT) Count, the State of Connecticut showed an increase of 13% in overall homelessness from the year 2021 to 2022.

Our Soup Kitchen serves a nutritionally balanced, hot noon-time meal six days a week. Our Soup Kitchen provided food for individuals and families experiencing poverty, hunger, and homelessness. Our Food Pantry, which also operates in the same location, distributed weekly groceries  to people in the area experiencing poverty and food insecurity.  

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, the Soup Kitchen served 40,602 cooked meals: This averages to over 133 meals per day.  The Food Pantry served 3,943 consumers in the fiscal year and distributed an equivalent of 64,084 meals in bagged groceries.     

Our Thrift Store, in the center of Waterbury, provides relief to families and individuals living with the challenges of poverty, and offers them access to basic items and furnishings that are not affordable to them through conventional outlets.

The Thrift Store provided 1320 people with clothing and 102 individuals families with furniture and home goods who were experiencing poverty in our community. This amounts to a total of $77,241 of goods to the community free of charge in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.

In 2021, there were an estimated 14.1 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States with Serious Mental Illness (SMI). This number represented 5.5% of all U.S. adults. Serious mental illness (SMI) is defined as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. The symptoms of a serious mental illness can affect one's speech, mood, thinking, beliefs, or behavior. With this in mind, people living with these challenges often need assistance and support with their recovery to transition successfully into independent living and into the community at large.

Our Casa De Rosa Mental Health Residential Living Center, and our Cornerstone Mental Health Supervised Apartment Program both provide assistance with essential services critical to success, e.g., supervised housing and medication management; access and linkages to clinical, substance abuse, and medical services; coordination of care; and training in social cognition, recovery, and independent living skills.

Our Casa De Rosa Group Home served 15 unduplicated clients and our Cornerstone Supervised Apartment Program served 23 unduplicated clients in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.

1. Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Among Adults. (n.d.). Prevalence of Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Retrieved June 23, 2023 from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness

Often, a minor intervention is all that is needed for a person to overcome homelessness. The shelter administers a rapid re-housing program to help guests move out of the shelter quickly. The program is short-term and designed to support guests with low housing barriers. Eligible guests are stabilized upon being housed, and wrap-around services are offered to help improve the chances of long-term housing stability, which ultimately reduces community costs related to homelessness.

The Shelter’s Rapid Re-housing Program served 25 unduplicated clients and 17 households in fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.

In December of 2020, in order to augment the existing Rapid Re-housing Program at the Homeless Shelter, the organization was granted Emergency Solutions Cares Act Funds through the City of Waterbury for a two-year period. Based on need, the program provides security deposits and short-term rent assistance (usually no more than 4 months) for homeless individuals and families residing within the St Vincent DePaul Mission Shelter, or within other shelters in the city. Aftercare services are included in the design of the program to better ensure housing stability, and any reduce barriers to success.

The ESG-CV Rapid Re-housing Program has housed 61 families with 38 children.  However between October 1, 2020 and June 30, 2023 the ESG-CV Rapid Re-housing Program has housed 108 households with 50 children. 

Our Society of Support (SOS) Program provides housing assistance and long-term case management services for individuals and families living with mental health disabilities. These disabilities interfere with their housing stability, health, and self-sufficiency. Providing housing assistance in conjunction with supportive services improves housing stability, self-efficacy, and opportunities for treatment and recovery. Supportive Housing is effective, and reduces the use of crisis services that are frequently used by people who are unsupported and homeless: emergency rooms, hospitals, jails, psychiatric centers, and detoxification programs.

The Society of Support Program served 9 families and 14 singles (24 unduplicated adults and 13 unduplicated children) in the fiscal year ending June 30th 2023.

Underemployment and unemployment are often key factors in driving families to homelessness. By offering clean, safe, and affordable housing to struggling families, we are preventing homelessness, and offering a brighter future to families in need.

Our Liberty Hall Complex housed 31 unduplicated people in the fiscal year ending June 30th 2023.