[Excerpt]

"The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our perception of housing as a basic need.

The legislature’s housing committee debated legislation Thursday to make sure people don’t get evicted and are able to access housing.

“Many believe that housing should be a human right and we know at least the ability to have housing is one of the strongest predictors of people's quality of life,” Mark Abraham said.

[Op-ed by Mark Abraham and Yusuf Ransome]

President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination plan aims to provide 100 million shots during his first 100 days in office. To achieve this plan of reaching what researchers call herd immunity —when a large part of the population has become immune to a virus or disease— requires people in the most vulnerable communities to have unprecedented access to immunizations.

[Excerpt from Hartford Courant article by Michael Hamad, February 5, 2021]

Connecticut is failing to provide affordable housing for essential workers, and new public investment is needed, according to a report prepared for two state agencies.

And without better regional planning, the prioritization of housing based on need and “proactive” investment, Connecticut’s housing problems will surely get worse, the study’s authors predict.

You are invited to join the Advisory Council for our 2021 statewide survey!

The DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey completed live, in-depth interviews with 34,000 randomly-selected adults in every town in Connecticut in 2015, 2018, and 2020, producing robust local-level data on the issues most relevant to community well-being that are not available from any other public data source. This survey will be fielded again in 2021, with support from public and private partners throughout Connecticut. 

Three resident-driven documentary films focusing on Hartford, New Haven, and the Lower Naugatuck Valley area of Connecticut were produced by Purple States and DataHaven, and released in January 2021. The films reveal stark differences in life expectancy between neighborhoods and highlight issues such as the opioid crisis, access to healthy food, and heart disease.

An article in the New Haven Independent discusses DataHaven's new mini-documentary on heart disease and lack of access to healthy foods in New Haven.

Read the article here.