We need adult mentors, Mayor John DeStefano said.
“Sometimes,” Myra Smith responded, “we need mentoring ourselves.”
The exchange took place at a transitional housing complex in Newhallville Wednesday night, as DeStefano met with a group of activist moms called Mothers for Justice .
Myra Smith told him that low-income single mothers like herself don’t have time to volunteer in the city’s youth outreach programs. DeStefano said he’s seeking adults to help out with for the Open Schools program.
“What is the city doing for low-income people?” Smith asked him.
The tenor was friendly among the 20 women and children (and a man and three teens) at the gathering at the Stepping Stones transitional housing on Winchester Avenue in Newhallville. They greeted the mayor with a round of applause before and after he spoke, and laughed at his jokes. They seconded his concerns about the need for reentry programs for those leaving prison, programs for young people (those mentioned above, plus summer jobs), and his new effort to improve public schools.
In answer to Smith’s question, DeStefano said New Haven provides more low-income housing than all the rest of the state’s cities and towns put together. He cited the state’s biggest union jobs training program. He said he’s setting up a program, with an anonymous donor, to pay for college for low-income students who graduate from high school. Click here to read about the “New Haven Promise” program.
“There’s a job for each of us,” he said. That’s when he encouraged volunteerism. Then he asked the assembled moms to share their concerns.
They did. Some called for more programs for the homeless and more programs in prison to prepare inmates for release.
Some of the teenagers present had their own ideas for the mayor. Moet Bacote (pictured) on the one hand said there are not enough activities for teens. He said he’s part of a proactive group — Your Place teen center in Newhallville — that’s running all kinds of youth-initiated activities. He said the kids involved in Your Place could serve as mentors to other teens, “because they’ll listen to us more than they’ll listen to adults.”
DeStefano said he would hook up the teens with Che Dawson, the city’s youth director, to see what could come from their collaboration.
Sylvia Cooper (pictured) said more landlords are asking prospective tenants for their credit rating, which she said creates a barrier to finding housing. That led the mayor to a discussion about the need for financial literacy, starting in the schools.
Cooper also proposed a talent bank, where people could barter services without needing to spend money. It would also be a way, she said, to get people involved in bettering the city. She gave the mayor with a copy of her first novel, about two teenage girls in New Haven.
This is a great message to be taking to the community, especially in these tough times. It's heartening to hear that it was well-received.