East Rockers Back Reading, Nursing $ Plans

Maya McFadden photo

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.

That was one of the outcomes of Monday night’s latest monthly meeting of the East Rock Community Management Team. Roughly 30 neighbors gathered online via Zoom and in-person at the mActivity gym’s community room on Nicoll Street to attend the meeting.

In two unanimous votes, the management team attendees agreed to write formal letters of support for Leeway Inc. and New Haven Reads. The letters will become a formal part of the groups’ respective applications to city government for federal grants through the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program.

To succeed with a CDBG grant, applying non-profits need to demonstrate community buy-in for their services. That’s why groups often solicit support letters from management teams, alders, and other community-involved people.

Leeway, per Monday night’s presentation by long-time staffer Lori Wesoly, is one of the city’s least known but most significant, and legacy, nonprofits. Long located on Albert Street east of State in Cedar Hill, it is the only group in New Haven — and in Connecticut — providing long-term skilled nursing and supportive housing to a largely elderly population dealing with HIV/AIDS and its many complications. 

Leeway’s CDBG request of the management team Monday night is for $90,000 for its general operating support for its programs.

New Haven Reads Executive Director Kirsten Levinsohn’s pitch on Monday was as much a heart-felt appeal for East Rockers to sign up to be one-on-one tutors as it was for $40,000 in general operating support through CDBG.

New Haven has a lot of aspiring readers,” she said. Only 16 percent are reading at grade level,” she said, making an urgent case for more tutors and for the funding. That means 84 percent are not. It’s actually worse than that. The kids we’re seeing are more than a little behind; they’re years behind. We have third and fourth graders at the kindergarten level.”

Downtown/East Rock Alder Eli Sabin, who was in attendance at mActivity Monday, reminded neighbors that the alders are nearing a vote, likely at the end of this month, on the Elicker Administration’s proposal to spend $3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds on a city-wide campaign of literacy and math tutoring at a wide range of nonprofits and after-school programs.

Levinsohn said New Haven Reads may be part of that complex program, which is a work in progress, but tutors are desperately needed right now. We can teach you everything you need to know. We need people simply who like kids and can read. We’ll teach you everything else. It’ll be the best hour of the week.”

She went on to say that she herself tutors four hours a week, although the ask is that a volunteer tutor just one hour a week. 

I love these kids, honestly, they don’t get our help” enough. 

Their teachers do an amazing job, but they can’t do it all,” Levinsohn continued. They need us. Research has shown that if you don’t learn [to read effectively] by third grade, your chance of learning is low.”

Both groups said they have had to make adjustments in light of the effects of the pandemic and other issues. New Haven Reads has increased the number of tutors to serve the growing population of under-grade-level readers. 

Wesoly said her team in recent years realized that its population can’t effectively go directly from a skilled nursing setting directly into living on their own. A middle step was missing,” she explained. They needed another step. So we got funding for residential care housing [RCH],” which surrounds their population, people aging with HIV/AIDS, with case management services involving both clients and their family members. So today we have a total of 60 units, 30 skilled and 30 RCH all at 40 Albert Street.”

The grant request supports these clients, many with disabilities, and also some young people with these risks as well.

The specific bucket of CDBG funds Leeway is applying for is federal support for Housing for People with AIDS, or HOPWA.

An important add-on, Wesoly said, is that because Leeway is unique, it’s the site where universities around the state send their social work students to develop in-person skills and training. We provide an opportunity to get their [the social work students’] hours filled, and many come to us for a semester or a year and get their own caseload and get to work under the HOPWA umbrella.”

Levinsohn reminded her attentive listeners that New Haven Reads has four sites around town, in Newhallville, Dixwell, Bishop Woods, and with the fourth site nearby off Willow Street in East Rock, so it’s easy to get to. Go online, she urged her listeners, and sign up!

By the time the vote for a letter of support was taken at the end of the meeting, many people had left the online gathering, said the chair Elena Grewal. The formal tally for New Haven Reads was 25 Yes’s” and 0 No’s.” For Leeway, the result was 17 Yes’s” and 0 No’s.”

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