New Haven Independent

They are Sue Millen, Susan Stone, Janna Wagner and Jessica Sager of All Our Kin. Read on to learn more about their event, and ARTE’s and the Gay Men’s Chorus’s.

All Our Kin

Susan and Lou Stone hosted a wonderful garden party on the beautiful grounds of their incredible home in the Beaver Hills section of New Haven. Apparently this dynamic duo takes turns to support their individual philanthropic pursuits.

Lou (pictured with Tom Sansone, and Ruth Beardsley) recently finished his very energetic presidency of the Clifford Beers Clinic; Susan is very involved with the board of directors of All Our Kin. They used the occasion to introduce their friends to the work of that agency. They wined and dined Their guests with a magnificent catering effort by the chef and staff of Thali, the downtown restaurant that has the city in a swoon over Indian cuisine with a Continental flair.

Jessica Sager and Janna Wagner, the co-founders, wowed the crowd with their explanation of All ur Kin; it is a New Haven-based nonprofit dedicated to educating and empowering parents and teachers, giving families child care choices, and expanding access to high-quality early care and education for our most underserved children. “In selecting our participants, we seek out a very specific population: intelligent, creative, loving women who have been and continue to be the backbone of their families; women who began having babies in their teens and for that reason lack educational credentials and work history; women who have been unwilling or unable to take jobs that will interfere with their commitments to their children, grandchildren, and members of their extended families.

This is the population many experts regard as the “hardest to serve.” All Our Kin takes a different view: we believe that these women have the capacity to be truly extraordinary day care providers and that this occupation will allow them to meet their obligations to their families—that our training will, in fact, make them better parents while freeing them to participate in the workforce. In addition to creating healthier, happier families, they also create entrepreneurs. The program expands access to and information about high-quality childcare. When students graduate, the organization provides them with the supports necessary to open and operate high-quality family day cares of their own within the community.

Those programs then provide day care slots for working parents within the community who currently have few to no options available to them. They anticipate that each year’s graduates will provide twenty additional slots in safe, loving learning environments to the children of working parents in the neighborhood.

Seymour and Harriet Shapiro.The assemblage included architects Artie Ratner (there with his wife, author Betsy Ratner) and Gerry Kagan, Dr. David Millen and Sue Millen, MSW of the Jewish Family Service, Attorney Skip and Ann Falcone, Philanthropist Lucille Alderman, soon to retire Executive Director of the Clifford Beers Clinic, Chet Brodnicki, community activist Lindy Gold, Harriet and Seymour Shapiro (pictured), New Haven Director of Public Health Bill Quinn with his wife, “Peaches”.

The party and the presentation succeeded on every level and set a new standard for fund.

The Gay Men’s Chorus

The clouds parted, on Sunday afternoon, just in time for the annual Spring Fling, a celebration of the triumphant 2006-‘07 season of the Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus. The setting was Edgehill Park’s rose gardens. Under the fabulous musical direction of Winston Clark, the chorus is now in its 20th anniversary seaso;, the Readers Poll of Connecticut Magazine declared them the “Best Vocal Group in Connecticut.” Between performances of some of their most popular musical numbers, the amiable hosts mingled with guests, sampling the wine tasting and hors oeuvres while raising the bids at the silent auction.

The CGMC presents two fully-staged, choreographed and costumed sets of concert events each season (in December and March/April) in four locations throughout Connecticut: the Shubert Theater in New Haven, the Bushnell in Hartford, the Stamford Center for the Arts, and White Hall, WCSU, Danbury. The annual CGMC audience is over 10,000. CGMC audiences expect the unexpected, and the CGMC’s tremendous growth has been fueled by the exceptional variety, quality and humor of its shows. This season,” North Pole Idol” and “Dollar Store Divas” served as themes.

Community Outreach is a central part of the CGMC’s mission, and recent events have benefited organizations such as Bread & Roses, Search for a Cure, the Hartford Stage, the Connecticut Aids Residence Coalition, Project 100, New Ways Ministries, Love Makes a Family, and Alliance For Living.

New Haven Scholarship Fund

There are never enough hours of the day or days of the week! We traveled on to the Annual Awards of the New Haven Scholarship Fund at the United Church on the Green.

Proud Principal Dr. Lonnie Garrison came to support his Hilllhouse scholarship winners!

Challenged by the competition for parking and decorum that are posed by the competing Festival of Arts and Ideas, the church is always filled to the rafters with proud students, family , friends, teachers and supporters of the organization. Stemming from the humble beginning of a $400 gift, the NHSF has awarded over $5 million to more that 5500 New Haven Public High School graduates. The assistance allows the talented and motivated youngsters to enroll in colleges and other programs of post-secondary education to reach their aspirations and potential.

SCSU’s Jim Barber, the organization’s president and a former recipient of scholarship funding from NHSF, was generous in his advice and in his introductions. Dr. Charles Williams, an administrator of the NH Board of Education, offered encouragement to the winners, urging them to “dare to dream.”

Reverend Tracy Johnson attended with Doris Barber and Margaret Watley.

The members of the board worked to ensure that the ceremony and reception would be memorable for the graduates and their guests. Included among them were father and daughter Peter and Karissa Stolzman, Cassandra Floyd, Joe Binkoski, Lindy Lee Gold, Gerald Clark, Dr. Rocco and Rae Orlando, Margaret Watley and Helen Culler. The Keith family, Bill Curren, Jean Winchell and Doris Barber were among the donors making presentations.
When all was said and done, it was time to wend our way across the street to the wonderful Festival of Arts and Ideas, considering all the blessings of being in a city that is so enriching that there is simply not enough time to do all that we want and need to do.. ..All for the Greater Good!

ARTE
These photos were taken at a recently gathering of the Latino artists’ group ARTE. (Click here to read a previous Independent story about the event.)

Sign Up for Email AlertsEmail This Story

Your Email:

Recipient's Email:
Your Email:
Message (optional):

Your Name:
Your Email:
Message: