by | Apr 1, 2022 3:21 pm | Comments (1)
Maya McFadden Photo
Students get to creating in new art space.
A new home for student art making, self-expression, and relaxation opened Thursday at the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven.
by | Apr 1, 2022 9:23 am | Comments (0)
Thomas Breen photo
City Department of Community Resilience Acting Director Carlos Sosa-Lombardo presents at Wednesday night's Finance Committee hearing.
The Elicker Administration’s long-delayed plans to set up a non-cop crisis response team inched forward, as committee alders endorsed a $3.5 million contract with Yale and receipt of a $2 million federal grant.
Continue reading ‘Crisis Response Plan Contract, Grant Advance’
by | Mar 28, 2022 1:21 pm | Comments (6)
Thomas Breen photos
City community resilience director Carlos Sosa-Lombardo (second from left) with social services chief Mehul Dalal, Rev. Abraham Hernandez, and Continuum of Care CEO Patti Walker.
Thomas Breen photo
New uniforms and logos for COMPASS team.
The Elicker Administration’s proposed non-cop emergency response initiative has a new name, new uniforms, a new subcontractor charged with sending out social workers to certain 911 calls — as well as $2 million of newly approved federal support.
What the long-delayed project still does not yet have, however, is a new start date for when its pilot program will actually begin.
Continue reading ‘Crisis Response Plan Gets $2M, Subcontractor’
by | Mar 22, 2022 5:23 pm | Comments (6)
Visual projection of Hamden's anticipated budget drivers.
Hamden lawmakers provisionally OK’d filling two new government positions early — but pressed for a broader discussion about whether the town should be funding new jobs while raising taxes by up to 3.68 mills.
Continue reading ‘Hamden Budget Q: Create New Jobs While Raising Taxes?’
by | Mar 21, 2022 9:19 pm | Comments (4)
Andy Bach, 66: Feeling good to be a part of something.
The Chapel Haven Schleifer Center, Inc. celebrated World Down Syndrome Day Monday afternoon with a parade around Westville.
by | Mar 21, 2022 5:22 pm | Comments (9)
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Diane Brown at entrance to new Stetson Branch Library.
Diane Brown swung open the door Monday morning to a long-awaited new, enhanced neighborhood library and community anchor at the corner of Dixwell Avenue and Foote Street, with lots more room, more books, and more to do.
by | Mar 21, 2022 4:18 pm | Comments (3)
Thomas Breen photos
New Public Safety Communications Director Kevin Stratton and Acting Director of Elderly Services Tomi Veale on Monday.
Mayor Justin Elicker continued filling out City Hall’s top ranks, tapping two new department heads to lead the city’s 911 call center and its programming for elderly residents.
Continue reading ‘Mayor Taps New Directors For 911, Elderly Services’
by | Mar 17, 2022 10:21 am | Comments (24)
Hamden's biggest expenses: Board of Education, fringe benefits, and public safety. Garrett proposed increasing the police budget by 3 percent.
A first draft of Hamden’s next annual operating budget includes a tax hike — as well as a strategy to reduce the town’s long-term liabilities and bolster efficiency within municipal government.
by | Mar 7, 2022 9:10 am | Comments (2)
LEAP fundraiser attendees.
Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership, Inc. (LEAP) held its 27th annual LEAP Year Event, a fundraiser that brought supporters that care about New Haven’s children together.
Continue reading ‘27th LEAP Year Dinners Raise $320K For Youth’
by | Feb 25, 2022 2:51 pm | Comments (13)
Maya McFadden Photo
Albert Hargrove in New Haven Inn hotel room.
Hargroves' unlockable doorway.
Albert Hargrove would like to lock his door to keep safe at night — but the door doesn’t lock. So he sleeps with a metal pole besides his bed and hopes for the best.
by | Feb 23, 2022 4:25 pm | Comments (2)
Nora Grace-Flood photos
Clarion's Mariam Andino Pagán thanks a giveaway volunteer.
Supplies stored and distributed Wednesday in the Clarion basement.
Mariam Andino Pagán doesn’t earn enough money working at the Clarion Hotel to afford a place to sleep at night — but she did find clothing and supplies in the basement Wednesday, as a community rescue mission that began with a local fire expanded to more people in need.
by | Feb 22, 2022 1:47 pm | Comments (6)
Dalal: Take time to do it right.
The start date for a pilot program of the Elicker Administration’s non-cop emergency response initiative has been pushed back yet again — as the city looks to sign on a subcontractor to train, employ, and supervise social workers and mental-health professionals to respond to certain 911 calls.
by and | Jan 27, 2022 3:06 pm | Comments (1)
Keefe Center volunteer Jacob Galarza shlepping boxes in the cold Thursday morning.
The word on Dixwell Avenue Thursday was: Brrrrrrr.
by | Jan 26, 2022 10:21 am | Comments (2)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Departing schools chief Goeler: Conversation shifted when "citizens" became "taxpayers."
Jody Goeler has a message for his successor as they pick up the unfinished work of desegregating Hamden’s schools: Have a strong set of beliefs — and learn how to listen to others.
by | Jan 24, 2022 3:31 pm | Comments (9)
Nora Grace-Flood photos
Trevor Cadhey: When is mental health day not "skipping school?"
Hamden High Freshman Trevor Cadhey knows he’s allowed to take up to two “mental health days” off from school this year, but he isn’t sure under what circumstances he should use them.
School staffers and Board of Education members are grappling with the same question facing Cadhey and his peers — what is a mental health day? — while determining how to translate new state legislation concerning kids’ psychological health into district policy.
Continue reading ‘Schools Seek To Define "Mental Health Days"’
by and | Jan 21, 2022 10:01 am | Comments (6)
Warmth is in the cards at DESK drop-in center during freeze.
Gloria came to New Haven’s drop-in center Thursday not just to stay warm during the day — but to remain overnight rather than sleep outdoors as usual, as preparations kicked into gear to keep unsheltered residents safe during an expected week-long deep freeze.
Continue reading ‘Deep Freeze Sends DESK, Keefe Into Action’
by | Jan 20, 2022 4:30 pm | Comments (7)
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett, Deputy Chief of Staff Alexa Panayotakis and Chief of Staff Sean Grace at new round table.
Out went the plush purple couch in the mayor’s office. In came a round table with four chairs and a Purell centerpiece.
by | Jan 4, 2022 1:48 pm | Comments (3)
Paul Bass photo
Nominee Rhonda Caldwell at a 2019 rally calling for the firing of Hamden Police Officer Devin Eaton.
A new day for Hamden’s police commission has come into view after five nominees won the first of two needed votes to take over — and promised to bring heightened transparency and a more diverse outlook on public safety.
Continue reading ‘Auguring New Direction, Hamden Cop Commission Nominations Advance’
by | Jan 4, 2022 10:31 am | Comments (5)
Maya McFadden Photos
Smith: “Centers like this is what makes people to become successful.”
The reborn West Hills community center, The Shack, received a $550,000 grant to continue restoring the safe haven.
by | Nov 26, 2021 12:06 pm | Comments (8)
Cepea “CJ” Burton with her students at Edgewood School: Remote pivot proceeds in classroom.
Schools have increasingly incorporated social-emotional learning into instruction time because of the mental health toll that the pandemic has had on students, teachers, and staff. In New Haven, where the concept was pioneered a half-century ago, that has meant going bigger on a concept that was already rooted in the district.
As was evident when morning meeting got underway in Cepea “CJ” Burton’s third-grade classroom.
Continue reading ‘Social-Emotional Focus Continues In Person’
by | Nov 23, 2021 3:54 pm | Comments (19)
Thomas Breen photo
Timothy Fields at the downtown library’s computer lab Tuesday: Looking up spaghetti sauce recipes.
“Mr. Daniels” works two barely-more-than-minimum-wage jobs, and spends most nights sleeping outside downtown.
A newly funded full-time social worker position at the city’s public library is geared towards helping patrons like him find safe places to live as they climb out of hard times.
by | Nov 22, 2021 2:09 pm | Comments (6)
Lisa Reisman Photo
Eshe Ward with Dee and Robin on New Haven Green.
Eshe Ward found two men on a park bench on the Green taking in the afternoon. She offered each a plate of Thanksgiving fare, a bag of hygiene products, and a pair of warm socks.
“Hot dang,” said Dee (who asked to be identified by his first name) as he opened the container. There was roasted chicken, stuffing, yams, and macaroni salad.
“This is our lucky day. What’s this from?”
by | Nov 22, 2021 9:50 am | Comments (1)
Carl Dixon waits in line to receive Thanksgiving donations.
Carl Dixon once lived on the streets. Today he resides on Salem Street right next to the Hill’s Howard Avenue police substation, where he picked up one of 56 free turkeys being handed out by NICE (New Haven Inner City Enrichment) Center on Saturday morning.
Continue reading ‘Neighbors Distribute Hundreds Of Turkeys To Needy In Time For Thanksgiving’
by | Nov 19, 2021 1:44 pm | Comments (4)
Maya McFadden Photo
Angel Hubbard gets job offer from bike shop owner and neighbor John Brehon.
Mother of six Angel Hubbard thought she had no other options to keep her 13 year-old son out of trouble. Then a neighbor offered him a job.
Continue reading ‘Hill Crime-Strategy Session Ends With A Job Offer’
by | Nov 18, 2021 11:50 am | Comments (1)
Bud Glick Photo
Mayor Elicker checks in with Ayden Hasaan and Brandon Exinor on the wifi work at Boys & Girls Club.
The Boys & Girls Club has received a $25,000 grant from Comcast to boost its efforts to connect members to the internet.