Social Services

Apparent Suicide Follows Police Raid

by | Apr 11, 2023 5:09 pm | Comments (31)

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Cop cars outside on East Street Tuesday following suspect's death.

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Stacey Wezenter outside her third-floor apartment and beside her still-broken door.

A 35-year-old East Street resident suspected of involvement in child pornography was found dead in his apartment Tuesday five days after police surprise-searched his apartment — as part of a raid that began with cops busting down the wrong door and handcuffing an innocent neighbor.

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Homeless Youth Housing Plan Revived

by | Apr 10, 2023 9:23 am | Comments (6)

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The Y2Y temporary shelter site at 924 Grand: Construction to start this summer?

New Youth Continuum CEO Mike Moynihan: “I am totally psyched to get this thing going again."

A years-delayed plan to provide shelter on Grand Avenue for young New Haveners in crisis is moving ahead — with fewer beds, and a new nonprofit director at the helm. 

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CVS-To-Rehab Clinic Conversion Advances

by | Mar 30, 2023 12:30 pm | Comments (13)

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A rendering of the rehab clinic that could be at 215 Whalley...

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...vs. what's there now: An abandoned CVS.

The planned conversion of a former CVS pharmacy on Whalley Avenue into an abstinence-focused drug rehab clinic moved ahead, as the project’s backers seek approval to keep using an adjacent fenced-off asphalt lot for surface parking.

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6 Crisis Beds OK'd For Winthrop Ave

by | Mar 29, 2023 2:19 pm | Comments (9)

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COMPASS's Nanette Campbell and Lucia Lawlor, in a Continuum of Care-owned shelter on Edgewood Avenue. More crisis beds soon to come at 310 Winthrop (below).

Three megalandlord-owned apartments on Winthrop Avenue will soon become six short-term spots for people unsure where to turn in the midst of an affordable housing and shelter shortage.

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Non-Cop Crew Cruises To Crisis Calls

by | Mar 24, 2023 6:51 pm | Comments (4)

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COMPASS crew members Nanette Campbell and John Labieniec: Taking calls, building trust.

Hello, yes, this is Nanette,” a crisis response team worker said as she answered her cell phone, all while rummaging around a blue minivan crammed full of Quaker Chewy granola bars, white undershirts and donated blankets in search of a pen and paper to jot down notes on an incoming emergency call. 

Nanette Campbell’s colleague and the van’s driver, John Labieniec, pointed her to a stray blue Bic and passed over a crumpled flier on which to write.

Another day. Another call. Another test for a pilot city program seeking to find a new solution for certain housing, mental health, and substance-use cries for help.

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City Plans Busy Summer For Kids

by | Mar 20, 2023 3:03 pm | Comments (2)

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Haender Ventura with his new track spikes, which he'll try out at practice after completing his in-school job running the printing press.

The news about this summer’s city offerings for kids was hot off the presses Monday at the Wilbur Cross High School print shop.

Joining public officials at a press conference held there, Cross Senior Haender Ventura spoke of how he was able to buy a new pair of $200 Nike spikes since finding employment through the city’s Youth@Work” program. 

This summer he plans to double his hours on the job so he can pay college tuition and put his shoes to work themselves, by joining the University of New Haven’s track team while he pursues a career in sports therapy.

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"Tent City" Hit With New Move-Out Order

by | Mar 13, 2023 1:33 pm | Comments (23)

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Marcus Williams at the recently cleaned, soon to be cleared Tent City.

The Elicker Administration plans to clear out a three-year-old West River encampment this week — leaving outdoor residents like Sudi Godek committed to standing our ground,” while also uncertain as to where they will soon be spending their nights.

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28th LEAP Year Dinners Raise $350K

by | Mar 6, 2023 8:55 am | Comments (2)

Contributed photo

Guests attending the Delicious Partnership conversation heard from food entrepreneurs working with CitySeed and LEAP before enjoying Caribbean food at the Q House.

The following writeup was submitted by Nicole Jefferson, the communications coordinator for the youth services nonprofit Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership, Inc.

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250 Calls Later, Crisis Team Continues

by | Feb 17, 2023 3:34 pm | Comments (10)

COMPASS outreach specialists Sarah Alkire, Nanette Campbell and Jennifer Vargas.

When someone camping out on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard called 911 last month to report their makeshift shelter had caught fire, they weren’t just connected with the fire department — but also to social workers stocked with blankets, pillows, clothes, comforters and a new tent.

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Heating Bill Help Offered On Whalley

by | Feb 14, 2023 9:30 am | Comments (9)

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CAANH's Prez Amos Smith (center): “It’s still cold, it’s gonna be cold for a while.”

Symone Wilson was taking a walk along Whalley Avenue last fall when she found a way to stay warm come winter, in the form of one-time emergency utility assistance and an energy matching payment plan.

The 28-year-old New Havener connected with those programs to keep her heat pumping and lights shining thanks to the Community Action Agency of New Haven (CAANH).

That’s the 419 Whalley Ave. social services organization where Wilson now works — and where local leaders gathered to help get the word out about how a growing number of those in need can find a way to lower their energy costs and consumption as prices soar.

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State Lands $18M Homelessness Lifeline

by | Feb 3, 2023 5:56 pm | Comments (15)

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Oscar Britt: Getting out of the cold at Columbus House Friday night.

Jim Pettinelli with Sen. Blumenthal, Gov. Lamont, and Sen. Murphy at Friday's funding presser.

Oscar Britt has a plan to survive subfreezing temperatures this weekend thanks to a connection he made with outreach workers who found him a hard-to-secure shelter bed at Columbus House. 

The state is hoping to hire many more such workers who can connect with many more Oscars in New Haven and beyond — thanks to a newly announced federal infusion of $18 million to pay for a variety of homelessness services.

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East Rockers Back Reading, Nursing $ Plans

by | Jan 24, 2023 12:53 pm | Comments (1)

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New Haven Reads Executive Director Kirsten Levinsohn practices word making with third grader Maliah at Bishop Woods at a recent tutoring session.

East Rock neighbors threw their support behind helping some of the most fragile people at the end of life to live in dignity, and rescuing some of the city’s youngest from a lifetime of illiteracy, in their latest management-team votes on how city government should allocate this year’s round of federal block-grant funds.

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DeLauro Drops In With The Check

by | Jan 18, 2023 4:47 pm | Comments (3)

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Earmark Community Project Bucks: DeLauro, DESK board Chair Timothy Opstrup, board veep Alyse Sabina, and Steve Werlin at Wednesday's event.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro delivered a seven-figure homeless-helping check written from an account she created in Washington to a downtown New Haven homeless agency, confident that changing Capitol winds won’t stop more checks from heading this way in the future.

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Feds' $1.7 Trillion Budget Includes Bucks For Cross, DESK, LEAP and Fair Haven Health

by | Jan 2, 2023 9:36 am | Comments (2)

Maya McFadden Photo

DeLauro touring DESK drop-in center last April.

High school students and the hungry were among the New Haveners to benefit from the $1.7 trillion fiscal-year federal government bill Congress passed before rushing home for the December holidays.

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Christmas Comes Early At The Shack With $, Toy, & Food Donations

by | Dec 14, 2022 5:21 pm | Comments (6)

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Sarah Wall, Catherine Thigpen, Honda Smith, Rev. D’Hati T. Burgess, Richard Furlow, Carolyn Kinder, and Jalmar De Dios at The Shack.

EastCoastin's Sal Fusco drops off Winter Wonderland toy donation.

Three community-boosting miracles — including an oversized check from a power company and a truck full of toys from a bike life group — showed up at The Shack to help the West Rock community center get in the holiday spirit.

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Volcano Pose Helps Students Erupt, Cool Off

by | Dec 9, 2022 9:08 am | Comments (8)

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First graders erupt from mountain pose at Lincoln Bassett.

Lincoln Bassett School first graders took a break from their usual class instruction to witness a volcanic eruption. 

Luckily, the eruption took place during a yoga lesson where the students locked their fingers together, pointed them to the sky in a mountain pose, and then made them burst apart into what resembled an explosive geological wonder. 

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Breakfast Delivery Warms Up "Tent City"

by | Dec 1, 2022 1:14 pm | Comments (5)

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Tent City starts morning with hot coffee, eggs and potatoes.

A West River encampment woke up to hot food and coffee after another crew of individuals experiencing homelessness arrived with frittatas and potatoes — plus the promise of second helpings and opportunities to grow solidarity across Greater New Haven’s unhoused populations.

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Warming Centers Open, While City Looks To Long-Term Homeless Fixes

by | Nov 22, 2022 3:18 pm | Comments (14)

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180 Center in-recovery "disciple" James Simon prepares to welcome homeless to warming center.

Short-term cold-weather warming centers” opened Tuesday while the city and a nonprofit separately prepared to figure out how to spend a combined $7 million on long-term solutions for the homeless.

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"Human Rights Zone" Grows In Hill Backyard

by | Nov 18, 2022 2:28 pm | Comments (54)

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George Ashline: Preparing to winter-proof his tent on Rosette Street.

Fried onions, crispy potatoes and buttered bagels filled the kitchen of the Hill’s Amistad House — and spread a warm, starchy scent along Rosette Street and into the tents of neighbors camped out in the Catholic Workers community’s backyard.

That was the scene on a residential block of the Hill where a crew of economic refugees” is currently camping out together on a tenth of an acre of land as a means of both fighting for housing justice and seeking sanctuary from shrinking shelter and increasingly harsh and unpredictable New England weather.

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New Tutoring Site Focuses On Phonics

by | Nov 14, 2022 11:46 am | Comments (4)

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Shelley Smith tutors second grader Maite at Bishop Woods Thursday.

Bishop Woods second grader Maite paused and took a deep breath as she looked at the word: Dent.”

She knew what it meant. The spelling was the hard part. So she decided to sound it out — at the suggestion of a tutor from a successful New Haven nonprofit that has been called in to help the city’s public schools up their reading game.

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Links Gala Honors 50 Years Of Service

by | Nov 8, 2022 2:25 pm | Comments (0)

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Some of the many guests at Saturday's gala.

Maya McFadden Photos

Links members and supporters gather to celebrate organization's 50th anniversary in 2nd floor ballroom of the New Haven Omni Hotel.

A historic Black female advocacy organization celebrated half a century of sisterhood and service at its first in-person gala since the start of the pandemic.

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