Housing as Health Care

W.G., a trans woman and Connecticut resident, recently came to Anchor Health in Hamden for a medical appointment. In addition to seeking health care, she was also stressed with difficulty in paying her electricity bill. Anchor stepped in to help.

“The staff is the most friendly, kind staff I have ever come across in all my life,” says W.G. “They are always there to help with your needs being a part of the LGBTQIA community.”

Since 2016, Anchor Health has grown into the state’s largest LGBTQ+ health center with roughly 3,500 active patients, 70% of whom identify as women, trans or nonbinary. More than 100 patients are enrolled in the organization’s robust case management program, which aims to meet complex needs beyond physical and mental health care.

This can include housing assistance, like W.G. received, as well as food access, job training and more — all depending on the outcome of a needs assessment with a case manager like Caroline Chadwick.

“Our mission is to give high-quality, gender-affirming care to those often left out of the health system,” says Chadwick, Anchor’s head of case management and public policy.

In Connecticut, transgender adults are more than twice as likely to be housing insecure, and more than half of trans adults in the state struggle to pay bills, according to a 2024 report from DataHaven and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. These barriers are made worse by poverty and racism. Many patients have reported being turned away from shelters or denied housing based on their gender identity despite the state’s legal protections against discrimination.

Chris Duni, Anchor’s grant writer, says the organization is in a “pivotal” position after federal funding cuts eliminated $20,000 that they had previously received from the Ryan White HIV/AIDs Program. Those dollars supported Anchor’s case management program.

“Case management is not billable to insurance, so we rely heavily on grants and public funding to sustain it,” says Chadwick.

To help offset the loss of federal funds and bolster case management resources, Anchor will put to use a $10,000 grant awarded by the Community Fund for Women & Girls Pathways to Economic Security program.

Duni says these dollars support housing assistance to at least a dozen low-income women and trans or nonbinary patients.

Housing assistance can include eviction prevention, financial support for rent, security deposits, utilities or move-in costs. Chadwick remembers caring for a patient who secured housing, but had no money left over for furniture, cutlery and other household essentials. “If we had this grant then, it would’ve been the perfect opportunity.”

For Anchor, safe and stable housing is an integral part of staying healthy.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that housing is a social determinant of health,” says Duni. “It’s where you start your day; it’s where you feel the most safe; it’s where you take your medication; it’s where you clean yourself; where you eat your food. Everything that’s related to health happens in your house, and you need to have a safe and stable house in order to be healthy. That’s where the magic happens.”

Duni is not only a grant writer for Anchor Health. He’s also a patient at the Hamden health center.

“As someone who walked through these halls for many, many years, I have always been supported. I’ve always gotten the highest quality of care. And when I became an employee, I noticed no change. So, for me, that means we provide care that we would want to provide ourselves, or our family or our coworkers.”

W.G. recalls, “From day one I was welcomed in and treated like a person. Anchor Health made me feel important about my health needs.”

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