She Tapped Into Opportunity

Young plumber-to-be highlights 20-year synergy of housing authority-Solar Youth collaboration.

That story emerged at a special meeting of the Housing Authority of New Haven’s Board of Commissioners convened at 360 Orange St.

McGill was one of several young speakers brought to the meeting by Joanne Sciuli, the longtime executive director of Solar Youth, the environment-based leadership and social skills training organization for kids in high-poverty neighborhoods.

Solar Youth got its beginnings 20 years ago out of a one-bedroom apartment in HANH’s old Brookside development on the west side of town.

Sciulli and her crew, who spoke during the public comment section of Tuesday’s meeting, wanted the commissioners to see the faces of its kids and its staff, for whom the partnership with HANH has been critical to the organization’s growth.

In two decades about 3,500 kids ages 4 to 18 have gone through Solar Youth’s leadership programs. Many, like, Curtisy, rose in the ranks from campers to junior staffers and beyond.

“We launched at HANH, and here we are 20 years later,” said Sciulli.

Solar Youth now operates out of a five-bedroom suite in HANH’s Westville Manor development. Solar Youth enrolls all HANH kids in its programs for free in return for the in-kind contribution of that HANH apartment.

With the razing and rebuilding of Westville Manor in progress, Solar Youth is about to lose that headquarters.

HANH Executive Director Karen DuBois-Walton assured the Solar Youth contingent that HANH is looking for temporary quarters for the agency and, when Westville Manor returns rebuilt, more permanent space. While Westville Manor is being rebuilt, DuBois-Walton, said the program’s headquarters will likely move to the nearby HANH community center at 295 Wilmot Ave.

After the meeting, at which Curtisy and other kids and staffers told their brief but life-changing stories, DuBois-Walton informed Curtisy about HANH’s training and internship program for young residents and urged her to apply.

Praising its camping and leadership/social training skills curriculum, Curtisy said, ​“Because of Solar Youth I know what I want to do— a plumbing job.” Curtisy also attributed her interest in plumbing in no small part to her inspiring teacher at Hillhouse High, Richard Coburn.

HANH Board of Commissioners Chair Erik Clemons thanked the group for sharing their stories. ​“Well done for 20 years,” he added.

“Your role-modeling is also so important,” added DuBois-Walton.

Solar Youth operates two main programs for kids 4 to 18 out of Westville Manor and Eastview Terrace. The group won the contract, through a traditional bidding process, at Eastview.