West Hills Heals

West Hills residents were embraced and prayed over for a day of healing from the city’s violence, lack of accessibility to resources, and the mental effects of the Covid pandemic.

Ward 30 Democratic Co-Chair Iva Johnson organized the Day of Healing event Saturday to gather the community to heal together rather than alone. Residents listened to gospel music, prayers, and singing from their front porches from the McConaughy Terrace basketball court.

Local vendors tabled at the event to promote the personal healing aspects in their work. Free hotdogs and chips were provided by Lucky’s Star Bus Cafe.

Upon This Rock Ministries sponsored the event with on-the-spot spiritual support for the community.

“There’s some deep rooted pain here,” said Johnson.

Pastor Christine Perry, Minster John Perry, Overseer Rosa McCooter, and Elder Felicia McLaurin from Upon This Rock Ministries prayed with residents and shared about the church’s community resources. Pastor Perry prayed for healing from Covid, gun violence, drug addiction, homelessness, and job loss.

“We’re not targeting just their spiritual well being but their mental, emotional, and physical needs,” Perry said.

The church provided free business clothes to visitors to wear for job interviews.

Perry encouraged visitors to get vaccinated to help the city heal from the Covid and the effects of the pandemic. Upon This Rock Ministries simultaneously ran a vaccination clinic at its base on Grand Avenue during the event.

In a prayer over homeless mother and daughter Aida Crespo and Jaritza Ramos, McLaurin and McCooter urged the pair to ​“believe in the power of the Lord.”

“Dispatch angels of protection around this family,” McLaurin said in the prayer. ​“We thank you Lord for sending them here.”

West Hills Alder Honda Smith urged the community to not give up on the youth but to help them heal by listening and engaging with them. ​“You got to love them in spite of the good, bad, and the indifferent,” she said.

Smith added that the violence in the city and lack of healing from it should be declared a public health crisis.

Sharonda Washington read a poem/prayer called ​“Believe” at the event while wearing the motorcycle vest belonging to her older brother, who died in 2017. The back of the vest pictured her cousin Lakida Williams, who died of sickle cell disease.

Washington has been a missionary for 23 years, helping community members get through hard times like what she experienced. Washington lost three of her brothers in New Haven and, 11 years ago, her husband. She was 11 when she lost her first brother.

Washington sang a gospel song and read a poem to ​“lift spirts” and ​“pass on God’s message.”

“I got on that microphone for the Lord,” she said.

Dance teacher and performer Earl Ali-Randall performed an African dance at the event to promote the outlet of the arts for healing.

New Lifestyles Empowerment founder Janice Murray distributed with a group of volunteers wellness bags full of supplies like body wash, toothpaste, and tooth brushes.

Murray’s nonprofit provides mentorship and skill-building workshops to support women facing drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness, and reentry into society.

In addition to the wellness bags, the group encouraged community members to attend the organizations’ weekly Virtual Empowerment Lounge for women to share their experiences and support each other.

Murray came to New Haven 15 years ago for a treatment program for her own addictions, then founded the nonprofit in 2010.

Twice a month the organization hits the streets and distributes wellness bags and information about the virtual lounge to the community.

“If you reach the women you reach the children and the community,” Murray said.

URU The Right To Be Inc. joined the event to promote self care in the community. Our Humanity Initiative Project Director Meredith Benson provided visitors with essential oils and a conversation about the the effects the pandemic has had on the community.

The event ended with a closing prayer by Perry.

“Lord we thank you right now God for the divine connection that you have allowed us to connect today,” she said.