by | May 30, 2023 2:51 pm | Comments (2)
Paul Bass File Photo
IRIS's Chris George (at right in photo) with Gov. Ned Lamont and state housing chief Seila Mosquera-Bruno at 2021 Scranton Street event highlighting need for apartments for Afghan refugees.
After 18 years of making New Haven a national leader in refugee resettlement, Chris George is ready to hand over the reins.
by | Apr 26, 2023 12:15 pm | Comments (1)
Thomas Breen file photo
Kica Matos, newly tapped to become national immigrant rights org's president.
A long-time city immigrant rights advocate and civic leader will soon take the helm of a law center focused on fighting for low-income immigrants across the country.
Continue reading ‘Matos Tapped To Lead National Immigrant Rights Org’
by | Mar 15, 2023 10:52 am | Comments (3)
Paul Bass Photo
IRIS's Chris George (at right in photo) with Gov. Ned Lamont and state housing chief Seila Mosquera-Bruno at 2021 Scranton Street event highlighting need for apartments for Afghan refugees.
New Haven’s refugee welcome wagon is becoming America’s welcome wagon.
Continue reading ‘New Haven Points Way For U.S. Refugee "Welcome" Plan’
by | Mar 2, 2023 3:53 pm | Comments (0)
Paul Bass Photo
Patricia Tynan picked up a coffee to go from the Humphrey Street Dunkin’ on her way into work Thursday, but this time she ordered a decaf.
Continue reading ‘Word On Nicoll Street: Big Picture Comes In Focus’
by | Feb 28, 2023 4:00 pm | Comments (5)
Paul Bass Photo
Tuesday’s snow day gave Huân Ngô time to catch up on grading papers and preparing his students for New Haven’s jobs of tomorrow.
Continue reading ‘The Word On Maple Street: STEM? 'Snow Sweat’
by | Feb 7, 2023 4:15 pm | Comments (15)
Thomas Breen photo
The now-shuttered Andy Restaurant-Bar on Sargent Dr.
A 32-year-old tenant has until the end of the month to move himself, his pregnant wife, and their two children out of their rented single-family home — in his latest setback after closing his Long Wharf restaurant, falling behind on rent at his house, and preparing to file for bankruptcy.
by | Feb 7, 2023 2:50 pm | Comments (4)
The rubble in Diyarbakır, Turkey.
Paul Bass Photo
Stepping up: Kadir Catalbasoglu Tuesday at Brick Oven Pizza.
The tragedy unfolding in his native Turkey prompted Kadir Catalbasoglu to do what he usually does when people need help: He got busy.
Continue reading ‘Pizzeria Raises Dough For Turkish Earthquake Victims’
by | Feb 1, 2023 3:23 pm | Comments (4)
Laura Glesby Photos
Gladys Mwilelo reading to Clemente 6th graders Wednesday.
Jeremiah Pierce and classmates listen to Mwilelo's story.
After reciting a verse she composed herself, Gladys Mwilelo asked the class of curious Roberto Clemente sixth-graders peering back at her: “Do any of you write poems?”
“I share them with my little brother,” answered Yulianisse Féliciano with a wry smile. “He laughs at me.”
Mwilelo knows what it means to offer a voice that no one seems to know how to hear. When she first arrived in New Haven as a refugee, she didn’t know a word of English — and none of her classmates could speak Swahili.
So she responded to Féliciano with encouragement: “I promise you, one day I will be glad to read your poem.”
by | Jan 17, 2023 2:59 pm | Comments (1)
Paul Bass Photo
Boubacar Diallo momentarily locked up his furniture store Tuesday morning to run across the street to make a deposit at New Haven Bank. He’d be right back to try to keep commerce flowing on Whalley Avenue.
Continue reading ‘Word On The Street: How An Olympian Keeps Running’
by | Jan 16, 2023 11:45 am | Comments (6)
Abiba Biao photo
Immigrant rights organizers, advocates at City Hall presser.
Immigrant workers spoke out against alleged wage theft and on-the-job abuse at a City Hall press conference focused on beefing up whistleblower protections.
Continue reading ‘Immigrant Workers Protest Alleged Wage Theft’
by | Dec 12, 2022 9:16 am | Comments (8)
Maya McFadden photos
Semilla's Tortillería Collective co-founders: Ariana Shapiro, Elizabeth Gonzalez, Anabel Hernandez, Martina Perez, and Javier Gonzalez-Villatoro.
Freshly made tortillas, hot off the comal.
Standing over a hot comal filled with half-cooked handmade tortillas, Elizabeth Gonzalez pinched her thumb with her index and middle fingers to grip the corner of a puffy tortilla and flipped it over — showing in a single swift motion how she and a small group of worker-owner chefs hope to bring a Central American and Mexican staple to the streets of New Haven.
by | Dec 1, 2022 4:32 pm | Comments (0)
Paul Bass Photo
Two customers were already in the barber chairs with two more waiting not long after Aaron Polanco opened the doors Thursday morning at the male side of Morena Salon and Barber Shop.
Continue reading ‘Word On The Street: "Blessed," & Ready For Busy Barber Season’
by | Nov 23, 2022 1:30 pm | Comments (5)
Nora Grace-Flood photos
The homemade spice rack Tsering Yangzom draws from while cooking.
Tibetan Kitchen partners in business and life: Yangzom and Sherab Gyaltsen.
Sherab Gyaltsen and Tsering Yangzom weren’t willing to spill the secret of their homemade magical mainstay chili spice-blend — but they did plump eight dumplings into a sizzling pan to reveal how to make momos you won’t forget.
Continue reading ‘Spice Mixed Just Right In Tibetan Kitchen’
by | Sep 12, 2022 4:45 pm | Comments (2)
CT Makos
Top teams plunge for advantage at underwater rugby national championships.
Masked, fin-footed competitors traversed a chlorinated underworld in search of a salt water ball — and a chance to fly abroad to compete for a world cup.
Continue reading ‘Underwater Rugby Champs Hold Their Breath’
by | Aug 17, 2022 4:01 pm | Comments (7)
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
19-year-olds Zahra and Malalay with Sen. Blumenthal and IRIS Director Chris George.
Five years after her father was murdered by the Taliban, and just three months after the extremist group burned down her family’s house, 19-year-old Malalay stood with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal in front of a cluster of TV cameras and pleaded for the passage of new legislation that could help her and her relatives establish a permanent home in the United States.
Continue reading ‘Afghan Refugees Seek Pathway To Permanent Status’
by | Aug 12, 2022 12:29 pm | Comments (19)
Laura Glesby Photo
Jocelin and community health volunteer José Antonio Armas Alvarez.
Jocelin hobbled through the doors of Unidad Latina en Acción’s Howe Street headquarters with a leg she had nearly lost, a mind spiraling with trauma, and a $64,000 medical bill.
Inside, she found a volunteer who had survived his own journey to New Haven as an undocumented immigrant — and who helped her find and afford the medical care she sorely needed.
Continue reading ‘"Trusted Messenger" Guides Ailing Newcomers’
by | Aug 12, 2022 9:27 am | Comments (4)
Ronak Gandhi file photo
NOA on Crown (above), newest venture of Winyu Seetamyae (below).
Winyu “Win” Seetamyae, the chef and owner behind Upper State Street’s September in Bangkok, has opened his second restaurant at 200 Crown St. after managing to stay afloat, and profitable, during the pandemic.
by | Jul 29, 2022 5:53 pm | Comments (8)
Valerie Richardson Photo
Lizzette Flores and Liz Johnston, in paradise.
Homeowners trying to turn their expanses of traditional turf grass into gardens for vegetables or flowers might take some cues from Elizabeth (Liz) Johnston and Lizzette Flores of Perkins Street: Their small yard is full of flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees and vines, and is described by some friends as “Paradise.”
Continue reading ‘Liz & Lizzette Plant Perkins St. Paradise’
by | Jul 14, 2022 1:07 pm | Comments (8)
Jordan Ashby Photo
Workers' rights groups rally to celebrate new protections and continue advocating.
Workers and activists rallied outside of City Hall Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the passage of a new federal immigrant-whistleblower rights policy, while vowing to put it into action.
Continue reading ‘Workers Rally To Turn New Immigrant Whistleblower Policy Into Practice’
by | Jun 29, 2022 11:03 am | Comments (3)
Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz and SBA District Director Catherine Marx.
Chabaso Bakery offered Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Connecticut Director Catherine Marx a taste of their manufacturing processes, their pandemic recovery effort, and, of course, some fresh bread, during a tour of the business’s James Street headquarters on Tuesday afternoon.
Continue reading ‘Chabaso Tour Reveals Recipe For Biz Success’
by | Jun 27, 2022 9:10 am | Comments (1)
Refugees & descendants honor past, future at World Refugee Day picnic.
Families who now call New Haven home gathered in East Rock Park to remember their journeys from Kenya, Burundi, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan — and to build a community ready to welcome newcomers from all over the world.
by | Jun 23, 2022 1:17 pm | Comments (1)
Laura Glesby Photo
Sister Thi Kim Uyen Do, OP, melds traditional and modern Vietnamese dance techniques at Wecnesday celebration.
Internationally-minded New Haveners gathered in the Ives Main Library Branch’s Orchid Cafe to celebrate 45 years of sister-city relationships with eight communities around the world — and a local culture that welcomes immigrants and travelers amid rising xenophobia.
Continue reading ‘"Citizen Diplomats" Celebrate 45 Years Of Sister Cities’
by | Jun 17, 2022 9:59 am | Comments (7)
Laura Glesby Photo
Domestic workers Thursday calling for rights and recognition.
Over 20 domestic workers and their families gathered in a church sanctuary to call for sick days, maternity leave, and healthcare — and to celebrate their day-to-day work, without which “the world stands still.”
by | Jun 10, 2022 4:38 pm | Comments (4)
Thomas Breen photos
Ruth-Ann Millwood (center left) at Friday's ceremony on the Green.
Reading from The Oath of Allegiance.
Ruth-Ann Millwood raised her right hand and, after pledging her “true faith and allegiance” to the country she has called home for more than half of her life, officially became a United States citizen.
by | Jun 1, 2022 4:36 pm | Comments (17)
Former tenants outside court Wednesday after case dismissal.
A local landlord has dropped two longstanding back-rent lawsuits against her former tenants, citing a recent protest outside of one of her rental properties as inspiring her change of legal course.