The Waterbury Times|Published Feb 2025

UPDATED NOV 21 2025 7:18AM

Waterbury, CT- Dawn Maiorano discussed on her show, BRASS CITY BEAT on WATR FM 97.7/AM 1330 Friday mornings, the Brass City’s purchase of the St. Mary’s property for a cool million dollars.

📰 Waterburyopoly: The Buy-and-Flip Game Reshaping the City

The purchase is to combat the rampant homelessness which plagues the Brass City however, the question is how rampant is this plague? The Waterbury Times digs into the numbers and investigates the ” homelessness ” problem in Waterbury.

what is ” chronic homelessness?

In the State of Connecticut if a resident experiences homelessness for 1 year or multi-occasions a year, having serious mental illness, substance abuse, or physical and mental disabilities they are considered as “chronically homeless”. In January 2023 the reported number of people meeting that criteria in Connecticut was 3,015. So, how did we get that number? How do we know how many homeless people are in the state?

raise your hand if your homeless…

Brenden Colbert, from Advancing CT together, led the count. How it works is on 1 day in January this group goes around and counts the number of people in shelters. This is the number which is submitted to the Federal government to determine funding for homelessness services. In other words, the more homeless people in the State of CT the more money the state will receive. If their were an unfortunate overcount, their would be more money than needed. Oops. The process seems simple enough, but there are other agencies which have different criteria’s that they use to determine homelessness.

Want to learn more about things you only hear about?

What Is a Probable Cause Hearing? Explained for Connecticut Court Cases

What counts as homeless?

CT Department of Education count 3,984 students as homeless, however this includes students that ” double-up” living with relatives. These children have a roof over their heads every night but because it is their “Aunt’s house” they are technically “homeless”. A person who has a job and a vehicle who gets evicted and sleeps in their car for a few months to save money can self identify as homeless which would inflate the number of ” homeless people ” in the Connecticut. With these differing numbers how can we truly determine who is homeless and who is not in Waterbury?

simply math

The State of CT has reported that there are 117 chronically homeless people in the state as of Jan 2023. Are we too believe that they all are here in Waterbury under the Hamilton Park bridge? Something is not adding up with the math or logic the City is using to justify another land grab. Do we need a “homeless complex” in the City of Waterbury? The residents of Waterbury are a loving people. There isn’t anyone from Waterbury sleeping outside that doesn’t have friends or family somewhere in the city. If they burned those bridges then why should the tax payers build a million dollar bridge for them? A majority of the ” homeless” in Waterbury are not from Waterbury and have no ties to the Brass City. They are here for drugs. Sad, but true. The only question remains is what to do to figure out the true issue of homelessness in Waterbury and where does it rank to the residents.

public hearing…

The residents of Waterbury need to be heard. The City of Waterbury needs to organize a survey to determine the needs and wants of the residents. A list prioritizing where we want our tax dollars spent. In addition, the residents should know the true number of homeless and the Mayor and BOA need to hire an independent group to make a true and accurate count of the homeless people in Waterbury. In collaboration with authorities a comprehensive plan to “exodus” the people not seeking residency in Waterbury needs to be developed. The people who are here for drugs and panhandling need to be sent back to their last known legal address.

the future is bright…

The City of Waterbury is heading in the right direction. We need to be hopeful and optimistic about the trajectory that the Brass City is on. The Mayor needs to make his decisions very carefully. A 1 million dollar miss-step could cost the City of Waterbury 10 years and cost Mayor Pernerewski getting another 4 years.

Opinion & Editorials | Waterbury Times – Local Perspectives and Analysis