Paul Bass photo
Grubbs: After 35 years, it was time.
The Rev. Bonita Grubbs has more big plans for Christian Community Action, the anti-poverty agency she runs.
She concluded that it’s time for someone else to put them into practice.
Grubbs, 68, is retiring after 35 years of turning big plans into action as CCA’s executive director. Her last day is Friday.
Since assuming her CCA “ministry” in 1988, she has overseen the agency’s growth as both a direct lifeline for emergency help for families as well as a springboard for policy advocacy advanced by people directly affected. Its emergency housing complex has grown to 17 units by its original Davenport home, which doubles as a food bank and energy assistance provider. It developed a second iteration of a transitional housing facility on Winchester Avenue, now called New HOPE, giving homeless families up to 36 months to prepare for independence with training help. Since 2014 it has developed a skill-building and employment training center on Winchester called ARISE.
At the same time, Grubbs guided CCA to a prominent advocacy role. She oversaw the creation of Mothers for Justice (since renamed Mothers and Others For Justice). The group originally enlisted single moms in CCA’s shelters to read up on government anti-poverty programs, suggest ways to make it better, then lobby politicians and policymakers to make changes. CCA served as a leader in the grassroots movement to save low-income housing on surrounding streets in the Hill during the construction of John C. Daniels School.
Along the way, Grubbs put others in the spotlight. When it came time for her to speak, she measured her words. She offered forceful arguments without ever calling people names or denigrating those with whom she disagreed. Hers became a trusted spiritual voice in New Haven.
“Sometimes the louder the volume, the less you are heard,” Grubbs said in an interview Tuesday about her career on an episode of WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
“I learned from the ministerial side that ‘ego’ is an acronym for ‘edging out God.’ If you’re called to do something and if you’re a person of faith, you want to make sure you operate in a manner that is respectful. It’s not about you. It’s about the larger cause, the larger opportunity, and hopefully the larger victories.”
New victories loom. Grubbs envisions ARISE, for instance, growing into a “social services supermarket” that offers in one place many different forms of help for families struggling toward independence.
After 35 years, Grubbs said, she is no longer the person to tackle such efforts. It’s her time to make room for a successor. “It’s time for young people with more energy to carry it forward,” she said.
CCA is in the process of searching for that successor. (Click here for more info on the position.) That person will have a model for how to make a difference.
Click on the above video to watch the full discussion with Bonita Grubbs on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program. Click here to subscribe or here to listen to other episodes of Dateline New Haven.
Bonita Grubbs: a true New Haven hero!