Behind the Crisis: How One Group Spent 20 Years Building a System to Fix Connecticut's Housing Woes

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – February 18, 2026 – As Connecticut grapples with a fourth consecutive year of rising homelessness and a critically constrained housing market, The Housing Collective, a nonprofit backbone organization, is marking its 20th anniversary not just with a celebration, but with a strategic call to action. The group has launched a new donor campaign aimed at strengthening the very systems it has spent two decades building to combat the state's escalating housing instability.

Founded in 2006, the organization operates on a principle known as 'collective impact,' uniting a vast network of over 200 service providers, public agencies, and community groups. This week, leaders reflected on a history of significant, measurable achievements while underscoring the urgency of reinforcing the collaborative infrastructure needed to face a crisis that shows no signs of abating.

“For 20 years, The Housing Collective has been fueled by one unshakable belief – coordinated action is the key to transforming housing in our communities – and that still rings true today,” said David Rich, President and CEO of the Housing Collective. “Looking ahead, we’re doubling down on the collective power of our communities to create lasting change. The need for safe, affordable homes has never been more urgent throughout Connecticut.”

The Power of a Coordinated System

Unlike frontline organizations that provide direct services, The Housing Collective functions as the system's architect and engineer, working largely behind the scenes. Its primary role is to serve as a backbone for the homeless response system in Western Connecticut and for regional housing affordability initiatives across the state. This involves aligning funding, sharing data, promoting best practices, and ensuring that the hundreds of disparate groups working on housing are moving in the same direction.

This collaborative framework is essential for tackling a problem as complex as housing. “Housing does not just happen. In order for everyone to have a safe, affordable home, hundreds of organizations need to constantly coordinate with one another,” explained Jillian Baldwin, Board Co-Chair of The Housing Collective and CEO of Park City Communities. “My organization, who manages the largest public housing portfolio in Connecticut, is stronger when we collaborate with the Housing Collective and, by extension, the many other related groups in our region... When you support the Housing Collective, you’re supporting the entire housing system.”

The 'collective impact' model, while effective, is notoriously difficult and resource-intensive to maintain. It requires dedicated staff to manage communication, build trust among partners, and analyze shared data—work that is often unglamorous and difficult to fund through traditional grants focused on direct services.

A Track Record of Verifiable Success

Over two decades, this systemic approach has yielded tangible, life-saving results that have been independently verified. In 2016, the organization spearheaded the regional efforts that led to Connecticut becoming the first state to effectively end chronic homelessness among veterans. This was achieved by creating and managing Coordinated Access Networks (CANs) that streamlined the process of identifying and housing vulnerable veterans.

Financially, the group’s coordinated data and grant application strategies have paid dividends for the region. Since 2014, it has successfully increased federal funding for homelessness response in Fairfield County by 160%, growing the available resources from $9 million to $23 million annually. More recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the coordinated communication and resource management provided by the Collective was credited with ensuring that no unhoused individuals in western Connecticut died from the virus.

The impact extends beyond homelessness to housing supply. In Litchfield County, where the organization helped launch the Center for Housing Opportunity in 2022, its regional coordination efforts are credited with helping to double the annual development of new affordable homes between 2022 and 2024.

Confronting a Deepening Crisis

These past successes stand in stark contrast to the mounting challenges of the present. Connecticut's housing crisis has intensified significantly. The statewide Point-in-Time Count in January 2025 identified 3,735 people experiencing homelessness, a nearly 10% increase from the previous year. More alarmingly, the number of people living unsheltered surged by 45% in a single year, a clear sign that the crisis response system is being outpaced by the need.

Simultaneously, the housing market has become prohibitively expensive for a growing number of residents. As of late 2025, the median single-family home price soared to $490,000, an 8.9% year-over-year increase. Inventory has plummeted to a critical low of just 1.47 months of supply, far below the 5-6 months considered a balanced market. Experts estimate Connecticut has a deficit of at least 110,000 housing units, the most constrained supply in the nation.

This perfect storm of high costs and low availability has pushed stable housing out of reach for thousands, making the systemic work of organizations like The Housing Collective more critical than ever. The new donor campaign is designed to directly address this reality.

A Campaign for Systems, Not Just Structures

The funds raised by the 20th-anniversary campaign are not earmarked for building a specific housing project, but for fortifying the collaborative infrastructure that makes all such projects possible. The goal is to strengthen the regional systems that enable the production, preservation, and protection of housing across the state.

This includes investing in the data analysis communities need to make evidence-based decisions, elevating the voices of residents with lived experience to shape effective solutions, and maintaining the constant coordination that prevents individuals from falling through the cracks. It is an investment in the unseen but vital work that underpins the entire housing and homelessness response.

As The Housing Collective looks toward its next chapter, its leadership is clear that the collaborative model it has championed for 20 years is the only viable path forward. With the support of donors, partners, and communities, the organization aims to scale this proven approach to meet the unprecedented challenges that lie ahead for Connecticut's families.