Rev. Grubbs Gets Her Corner

The corner of Davenport and Ward now officially bears the name of a cornerstone of New Haven’s fight against poverty.

Dozens of federal, state, city, and nonprofit leaders gathered Friday morning to unveil the sign marking the intersection ​“Reverend Bonita D. Grubbs Corner.”

The crowd convened to honor Rev. Grubbs for her decades of work at the helm of Christian Community Action (CCA), a local homelessness services organization that became a wellspring of grassroots anti-poverty advocacy under her leadership.

They filled the pews inside Christian Community Action’s soon-to-be-renovated ARISE job training and education center at that very Davenport and Ward corner. 

A host of public officials including U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, Mayor Justin Elicker, State Sen. President Pro Tem Martin Looney, and State Rep. Juan Candelaria offered words of gratitude for Grubbs’ lifetime of service in New Haven. Several invoked the words of the late civil rights activist John Lewis, calling Grubbs a harbinger of ​“good trouble.”

From time to time, Grubbs buried her face in her hands as if unable to fully accept the praise.

“Especially at this moment when people are feeling anxious and sometimes a bit hopeless,” said Murphy, Grubbs is ​“a reminder that the person who decides to do the right thing by their neighbors can have a big impact.”

Grubbs’ impact can be felt in New Haven ​“far beyond this corner,” said Elicker. From housing to food insecurity to joblessness, ​“it’s hard to imagine a realm of need you didn’t touch.”

Grubbs dedicated the honor to her late mother, who died in August. ​“I didn’t do it by myself,” she said of her accomplishments. ​“I’m looking forward to whatever good trouble I’m gonna get into next.”

Rev. Grubbs took the helm of Christian Community Action (CCA) in 1988. She retired from the role of executive director in late 2023. 

“She isn’t retired — she’s just getting re-wired,” said local philanthropist Lindy Lee Gold with a laugh.

“I call it re-fired,” Grubbs replied in all seriousness.

During her tenure, the agency increased its emergency housing offering, started a transitional housing program on Winchester Avenue, and formed a job training and education center. 

Grubbs also oversaw the founding of Mothers and Others for Justice, which evolved into a prominent local voice on housing, food insecurity, public benefits, and more, run by advocates who have personally experienced homelessness.

The group brought together a motley group of New Haveners who learned to advocate for their beliefs and find power in their own stories. Some of those advocates, like Myra Smith and Claudette Kidd, found careers in the homeless services field as a result.

“It’s not like you’re just getting shelter. You’re getting a village,” said Smith. ​“A lot of us have lived experience. We’re the professionals, we’re experts.”

The morning was filled with music, from the John C. Daniels Honor Band’s spirited renditions of ​“Danza Kuduro” and ​“Eye of the Tiger” to a performance of ​“This Little Light of Mine” from the Yale Gospel Choir.

Grubbs swayed as she sang along: ​“I’m gonna let it shine!”

The group also had a chance to sing her happy birthday, in honor of her 70th birthday that very day.

Soon, it was time to unveil the sign. Friends and colleagues flocked around Grubbs as she pulled on a long string attached to the new street sign’s paper casing.

But she tugged too hard. The string fluttered to the ground, with the sign still obscured by paper.

In true Bonita Grubbs fashion, the group did not give up. They scrambled to find a ladder. Elicker and city staffers Al Lucas and Lenny Speiller held the ladder in place, and CCA building superintendent Juan Vega ascended. 

With a few extra tugs, Vega ripped the paper off to reveal the sign. The moment marked, in every sense, the Rev. Bonita D. Grubbs Way.