How To Help

by Lesha Daley | Oct 4, 2006 2:32 pm | Comments (0)

Although Connecticut Scholars Academy is in its third year as a New Haven high school, it still lacks some basic necessities such as lockable filing cabinets and office chairs for teachers. ​“Some teachers are using folding chairs,” said Judy Puglisi, the school’s facilitator. Going out of business? Staying in business, but getting new furniture? The school, at 560 Ella Grasso Blvd, could use your old stuff. Call Puglisi (pictured) at 946‑2986.

How You Can Help

by Paul Bass | Jul 12, 2006 12:14 pm | Comments (0)

Christian Community Action is weeks away from renovating and reopening a 5,400 square-foot three- apartment wood-frame house on Davenport Avenue where it houses homeless families. It got $50,000 from the state to paint, replace floors, sheetrock, and otherwise make liveable again the 1910-built house. Now the agency needs donations to fill the place: couches, chairs, beds, plates, silverware, towels, pillows… anything to help some of 40 – 50 families currently with no place to turn find a spot to settle for a while. Call CCA​’s Bonita Grubbs or Lillian Marquez (pictured on the house’s first floor) at 777‑7848 to arrange to donate items or cash to buy them.

A Pizza’s Worth of Help

by Tess Wheelwright | Jun 27, 2006 4:27 pm | Comments (0)

Johnny Scafidi thinks a roof to sleep under is a human right. That’s why he’s leading the annual ​“Inside at Night” fight to keep New Haven’s Overflow Shelter open those warmer months of the year, when city funding runs out. The group got together the $35k to keep it going in May and they have October almost covered, too — but September, Scafidi remembers, can get pretty chilly. Got a knack for fundraising? Call Scafidi at (203) 432‑2429 to help ​“Inside at Night” make their call. Rather cut a check to funders at Interfaith Cooperative Ministries? $13.34 — less than a two-topping pizza, they like to say — gets a man a bed, and fed, for a day.

Taking It To The Diaper Bank

by Allan Appel | Jun 9, 2006 8:49 am | Comments (2)

A second birthday party took place in East Rock for an organization, not a toddler — an organization, one of just three of its kind in the country, that makes more of a difference than you might think not just for little people, but for their parents.

Continue reading ‘Taking It To The Diaper Bank’

How You Can Help: Web-Surf for Seniors

by Tess Wheelwright | Jun 2, 2006 4:20 pm | Comments (0)

Susanne Turi knows about an on-line benefits-searching tool seniors can’t afford to miss. It’s a web site that gives older Americans a ​“check-up” based on their financial status, and reports back all the state and federal assistance programs they qualify for. Turi also knows web-surfing still isn’t the most comfortable sport for many in the older generation. So she volunteers at the Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut on Longwharf Drive, guiding seniors through cyberspace and the potentially tricky registration process. Getting poor seniors over the ​“Oh my God, This is too complicated!” hump and into the programs they deserve is ​“tremendously satisfying” — but more work than the current handful of volunteers can handle. If you’ve got four (or more) hours a month to help CT seniors surf for security, call the Agency’s Benefits Check Up director, Beverly Kidder, at (203)-785‑8533 × 3161.

How To Help

by Staff | Apr 28, 2006 8:46 am | Comments (0)

Curtis Hill rescues people’s old computers. Through his organization Concepts for Adaptive Learning, Hill puts them in the hands of hundreds of children in urban families who might not otherwise connect to the grid. He needs more. So do the kids. Have a computer you’re not using anymore? If it still works, contact Hill by e‑mail or call him at 410‑3679. And if your not-for-profit has a specific need for volunteers or donors, contact us here and we’ll list it.