Community Comes Together For ​“National Night Out”

Hamden residents spent a night out together, in the name of building a safer community.

Hamden joined people in communities across the nation in organizing a ​“National Night Out” (NNO) held at Villano Park. National Night Out focuses on bringing communities together for an evening of fellowship to counteract the impression of crime and drug-dominated neighborhoods.

Residents gathered along with members of the police and fire departments from 4 to 8 p.m. to enjoy food, the offerings of nine vendors and dozens of other Hamden businesses, and local entertainment sponsored by the Hamden Youth Services Bureau. Families visited tie-dye stations, a miniature farm, and virtual reality and photo booths, all under the second August sunset.

“We’re here to build a bridge,” said Officer Jeremy Brewer, who is stationed at Hamden High School. 

“So often people only call us or see us when times are tough,” Brewer said.

“We’ve been really trying to be more community oriented. We want to be a trusted partner,” said Officer Jenisse Perez Hernandez. 

NNO wasn’t just about entertainment. Booths provided information about free Covid-19 testing, fitness opportunities, and other health and finance-related resources.

Renewal by Anderson raffled off $15,000 in window replacements. The Quinnipiac Valley Health District handed out lock boxes for pills and medications and information on overdose prevention. Crosspoint Federal Credit Union provided financial literacy information for youth. AARP Foundation Experience CORPS recruited seniors and kids for their literacy program, which pairs elderly volunteers with first-through-third-graders to help them reach their grade-level reading benchmark.

“If we’re going to create community change, we have to include the community’” noted Nicole Mason, a prevention specialist at the Alliance for Prevention and Wellness (APW).

Mason said that the APW recently partnered with the Hamden Prevention Council to inform the community about suicide and drug-abuse prevention. Their booth provided visitors with suicide prevention information as well as fentanyl strips for drug testing.

Husky Health Insurance was also present, with a booth exhibition entitled, ​“Fat Attack.” Community Health Educator Kellie Gilbert spoke of the importance of pushing health literacy in Hamden and in low-income communities.

“Race is a factor” when discussing challenges in accessing healthy food and healthcare resources in communities, she noted. In her exhibit, Gilbert showed the stark contrast between what five pounds of fat and five pounds of muscle look like in the human body.

Aleia Harris, who works for Total Joy Are You (TJAY), a Hamden-based organization founded to help kids and their families who are on the spectrum, also stressed the importance of providing healthcare resources and opportunities to communities like Hamden.

Harris said TJAY wants to ​“bring awareness to autism in Black and brown communities,” because ​“autism can make people really feel isolated.”

Every month, the group takes local families on outings from parks to rented-out movie theaters. They help parents and guardians by going to their children’s schools ​“to be an advocate and a support to them” when discussing their children’s needs.

Star Gilliams shared her family’s story as her daughter performed a live fitness dance Tuesday night. Gilliams’ daughter, Chaila Gilliams, founded The Green Peacock, a fitness and wellness corporation that provides services from aqua zumba to diabetes prevention education.

“I grew up here, off of Shelton Avenue,” Star Gilliams noted, sharing her pride in her daughter’s work.

Star’s mother, Laura Skinner Gilliams, was the first Black nurse in New Haven’s schools, she said. To see how far her daughter has now taken health and health advocacy is amazing, Gilliams said.

“I love giving back to my hometown and seeing different parts of Hamden come together in peace,” said Hamden’s Shalece Thompson, also known as songbyrd. The Hamden gospel artist also performed at Hamden’s last National Night Out, back in 2019.

“I definitely think it’s a positive thing. We say we want and need things in the community, but sometimes you have to get out and get that information,” she said of the event.

West Haven resident Rosalee Miller recalled her sister telling her about Hamden’s NNO a while back: ​“I was like, ​‘We don’t have that here,’” she thought. Now, Miller said, ​“I’m always looking for it every year.”