Emily Hays Photo
SoHu Block Watch Captain Lisa Siedlarz.
When Susan Frew’s husband came home from the hospital with Covid-19, a neighborhood network was ready to swing into action to help.
The neighborhood is informally called “SoHu,” for “South of Humphrey Street.”
Lisa Sidelarz, whose family lived there long before the area got a nickname, has developed a network in the area, in part through a vibrant email list that both shares neighborhood concerns and spreads important official updates.
Her emails about lost dogs, crime alerts and events have attracted over 600 subscribers, including those who live beyond SoHu’s borders, and serve as a central point of information.
The network, which began as a crime-fighting block watch strategy, has grown into a broader unifying force. This broader role has come into view during the spread of Covid-19, as neighbors tap into it to keep each other informed, entertained, reassured, and fed.
Siedlarz was ready for the challenge. She knew she couldn’t host events for her SoHu neighbors, so she found other ways to bring her community together, from whimsical window displays to sending meals to hospital workers.
“She’s the glue that keeps us all together,” as Susan Frew put it.
The Original Sohu
Siedlarz sees off her nephew, whom she has helped homeschool during the pandemic.
Siedlarz grew up in the neighborhood; her current house was once her grandparents’. She has never strayed far from the Pearl, Clark and Orange Street blocks.
In 2007, Siedlarz and other enthusiastic residents started a block watch to decrease crime and create a more tight-knit community. The nickname SoHu has emerged in the years since then.
To Siedlarz and other longtime residents, that frequent community-building is what makes SoHu special. Over time, SoHu has hosted block parties, fundraisers and tree planting programs. The email list serves the same purpose to Siedlarz.
“I like that it makes people realize that they live in a neighborhood and get to know each other,” she said.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Siedlarz has kept up her frequent communication. In addition to repatriating lost dogs and packages, she forwards important public health messages from the city and channels neighborhood generosity.
After asking a nurse how the neighborhood could help first responders, Siedlarz organized SoHu to “adopt” a floor of the Yale New Haven Hospital. Neighbors sent Siedlarz enough money to provide the Covid unit with breakfasts from Katalina’s and dinners from Christopher Martin’s for the entire month of April, at $210 a day.
“It makes me feel like I have some control over this situation, that I’m contributing to something special,” Siedlarz said.
Frew’s Homecoming
The closeness of the neighborhood became particularly important to Frew when her husband came down with Covid-19.
Her husband, who is 80 years old, had a stroke. She took him to the hospital. While there, he got Covid-19 from another patient. (Taking him to the hospital was still the right thing to do in that situation, she said.)
Frew’s husband stayed in the hospital for six days. He needed oxygen support during that time. He came home on April 20 and has been recovering since then. He is still weak and does not have his full appetite back, Frew said.
“Somehow it knocks the heck out of you,” said Frew, who has remained Covid-negative.
Word got around about Frew’s husband. Neighbors started asking whether they could drop off soap, homemade bread and extra food.
“It’s a caring community. We all support whatever we can,” Frew said.
Frew called Siedlarz’s email list a virtual bulletin board that has stayed active for years.
Frew and her husband are the landlords for an apartment building on Nash Street. Frew recalled one time when a tenant lost a black cat and thanks to Siedlarz’s list, neighbors started dropping off all sorts of lost cats that did not belong to the tenant. Another time, the neighborhood managed to catch a lost bird through the list.
Frew joked that some neighbors report crimes to Siedlarz before they call the police.
One of Frew’s Nash Street tenants came up with the idea of putting stuffed animals in windows so children stuck at home can go on a social-distanced “safari.” Frew sent the idea straight to Siedlarz.
“If you want to let people know what’s going on, you tell her. She’s the cog in the wheel,” Frew said.
Enter “B‑Hine”
Siedlarz spots a participant in the safari…
…a stuffed gorilla on Clark Street.
The head of a sister group, B‑Hine (for Bishop Street and Hine Place), had a similar idea. If New Zealand can deem the Easter bunny an essential employee, New Haveners could honor the holiday from afar too, Melissa Goodall thought.
Goodall sent the idea of propping Easter eggs in windows to Siedlarz so both neighborhoods could create a Covid-era Easter egg hunt. Many members of Goodall’s own neighborhood subscribe to Siedlarz’s email list, so Goodall makes sure not to duplicate the information.
“She’s been really wonderful about keeping people connected and aware. This is a time when certain people are likely to be isolated. She’s been good about continuing to maintain social connections safely throughout this whole time,” Goodall said.
Siedlarz started an informal system of dropping off groceries for elderly neighbors by offering to do so herself, then others wrote her wanting to join in.
Judy Nugent has been on the receiving end of some of Siedlarz’s grocery trips. Nugent cofounded the block watch with Siedlarz back in 2007. Most of the other cofounders have moved since then, Nugent said.
The early contingent was full of enthusiastic tree planting volunteers and cookie bakers. Siedlarz was always the organizer, prepared to coordinate complicated fundraisers like the hospital food program when no one else knew how, Nugent said.
Siedlarz’s two dogs, Kismet (left) and Kali.
“Lisa is the ultimate multitasker. She does so many things. If I had to choose one word to describe her — she’s generous, with her time and her effort,” Nugent said.
Siedlarz has a full-time job in the financial aid office at Southern Connecticut State University. In the free time she doesn’t spend on the neighborhood, she walks her dogs and trains for obstacle course races like the Tough Mudder.
“The thing I like about Tough Mudders is it’s no man left behind,” Siedlarz said. “Everybody helps everybody achieve whatever obstacle you’re going through.”
Lost-dog photo posted to SoHu network.
The Sohu blockwatch is much more complicated and problematic than portrayed in this article. It has certainly reunited owners with their pets and done many decent things - it has also led to the profiling of people of color. I am disappointed that this was not addressed in the article, especially given current events, and hope that we see a more nuanced an honest discussion in future articles.