Newhallville Celebrates Community Organizing Win

An all-boys charter school is gearing up to open this fall in a stately Dixwell Avenue building that neighbors stopped from becoming a methadone clinic two years ago.

Over 30 neighborhood residents from both sides of the New Haven-Hamden town line gathered inside Albertus Magnus College’s student center Thursday evening to celebrate that new vision for 794 Dixwell Ave., a stately building that up until recently housed another charter school, Elm City College Preparatory.

Attendees enjoyed ample food, moving musical performances, and a trivia raffle — while honoring a renewed sense of community power and momentum that came out of advocacy around 794 Dixwell Ave.

“How can we be empowered as a community to have a voice in where we live?” asked Newhallville organizer Katurah Bryant, who co-hosted the event with Jeanette Sykes.

In early 2022, the APT Foundation had purchased the building by the border of Newhallville and Hamden, intending to operate addiction treatment and other healthcare services there.

Newhallville and Hamden residents joined together in opposition, convening elected officials, gathering petition signatures, and organizing protests and press conferences. Among their concerns were APT’s rocky track record maintaining the environment outside its Hill location and the fact that the organization had not conducted any community outreach before purchasing the building; neighbors found out about the purchase from the Independent.

Two years later, APT is now planning to relocate to a future Long Wharf location as part of Mayor Justin Elicker’s revitalization efforts in that neighborhood, and mental healthcare provider Clifford Beers is in the process of purchasing 794 Dixwell Ave.

“You not only stopped something you were concerned about,” said Elicker. ​“You set the groundwork for so much more good to come from this community.”

Clifford Beers now plans to lease the building’s second floor to Rev. Boise Kimber of Newhallville’s First Cavalry Baptist Church, who plans to operate the Edmonds Cofield Preparatory Academy for Young Men. Kimber is already recruiting an initial class of fifth graders for the 2024 – 2025 school year. (He wasn’t present at the gathering.)

As for the rest of the building, Clifford Beers’ Alice Forrester said that the organization will eventually seek zoning relief to operate other kinds of mental health and community services out of the building, based on neighborhood input.

Forrester noted that the roof needs to be replaced and some of the walls need repairs— ​“hopefully by April.” She eventually envisions renovating the gymnasium and highlighting the building’s architectural features with an outdoor lighting system.

The gathering also highlighted the abundance of other community initiatives in Newhallville with an open mic for attendees to share forthcoming events and gatherings, including:

• A revived Newhallville Community Development Corporation, which plans to present at the neighborhood’s March management team.
• A series of town halls, clean-ups, and job fairs convened by Ward 20 Alder Brittiany Mabery-Niblack, starting with a meeting at Lincoln Bassett on March 21 at 6 p.m.
• A jazz concert at 6 p.m. on April 5 at the Q House to fundraise for Wexler Grant School’s music program.
• A Dixwell-Newhallville Community Economic Development Summit on April 13.
• Black Wall Street 4 Kids, organized by Inspired Communities Inc at the Stetson Library on April 17 — along with a whole 92 other events and landmarks compiled in a ​“Destination Newhallville 2024” guide.