“Promised Land”
Sought In Newhallville

Removing violence from our community was the theme of last weekend’s fifth annual Brotherhood Leadership Summit, held at The Newhallville Community Center on Dixwell Avenue in New Haven. The Brotherhood Leadership Program is organized by the Christian Community Commission (CCC) under the direction of Executive Director Minister Donald Morris. The CCC is a Newhallville-based outreach organization comprised primarily of pastors and other community leaders from area congregations. CCC programs include youth mentoring, family counseling and fatherhood ministries.

“The purpose of the Brotherhood Leadership Program is to get men involved with the neighborhoods,” explained Morris, who said that strong leadership presence by local men is lacking in the community.

“They [our men] are failing their community and they are failing their families,” he said. ​“Safety and respect for others begins in the home with strong male role-models, especially the fathers. But the vast majority of the burden to bring up our children is falling on our mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and aunts.”

Minister Morris was also quick to acknowledge gratitude for the contributions made by those women within the community. ​“Don’t get me wrong,” he says. ​“Thank God for our sisters who care for their children. But it is the absence of fathers in our homes that leads to all kinds of problems. It creates a trickle-down effect. Men must be men first and then they can become fathers.”

The CCC offers one-on-one counseling and prayer with fathers and families and other proactive initiatives.

“Our main goal is to take to the streets what we call the Promised Land,” explained Minister Morris.

The Promised Land is a self-designated area in the heart of Newhallville. one of the city’s more troubled areas, encompassing six densely populated city blocks. The streets included in the Promise Land run from Dixwell to Ivy, from Newhallville to Reed to Shelton to Bassett and back to Dixwell Avenue.

“We at the CCC have always had ministries that embraced taking to the streets and reaching out to our neighbors.” he said. ​“But it is more important now than ever before that we maintain a constant and vigilant presence in the community because so many of our young people are turning to gang leaders and drug dealers as their mentors.”

A panel of five guests – including Assistant Chief of Police Thomas Wheeler and New Haven police officer Shafiq Abdussabur, Shirley West from New Haven Family Alliance, Pastor Donald Johnson of New Hope Baptist church in Hartford Ct and William Outlaw (aka June Boy) also from New Haven Family Alliance – convened to take questions from summit moderator Pastor John Lewis and from the audience of approximately 100 local residents and business owners.

Police District 7 – which includes this area – accounts for a high percentage of the homicides and violent crimes in the city. The source of most of this trouble is illegal drug trafficking and drug dealers who reign as role models to young people because of the power and money they control in these struggling neighborhoods. Crime claims the lives of both young and old, and the CCC has pledged both manpower and financial resources to put a stop to this lawlessness and mayhem.

Officer Abdussabur reported that domestic violence is now at an all-time high. ​“The majority of my calls are in response to family domestic disputes,” he explained. ​“Oftentimes there are several kids involved. The first thing I ask is how many fathers are involved?” 

Usually, he says, there are multiple dads but most of them are not engaged in helping nurture their children. ​“The disputes are often about drugs, money, or a male having a difficult time integrating back into the family household after being released from prison. This is a serious problem.”

Pastor Johnson of Hartford drew a comparison of New Haven’s challenges and that of Harford’s. Both are similar, he said, adding, ​“Our youth’s disorientation is a case of ​‘looking for love in all of the wrong places.’” As he explained, ​“We are not as worried about the 25-year-olds or the 16-year-olds today. Today we are worried about our 9 and 10-year-olds who are comfortable with a gun in their hand. They are comfortable aiming a gun and they are just as at ease when pulling the trigger. These children are getting scooped up at earlier and earlier ages.”

Shirley West says she pays close attention to what her own children are listening to, and what they are watching, and to intervene and speak to them and tell them to stop whenever she sees or hears something that is harsh or downright violent.

“I ask my sons, ​‘Would you like it if they were singing that song using the language if it were about me, your own mother?’ Sometimes that is all it takes – just listening and watching and making sure your kids know where you stand.”

Assistance Chief Wheeler said that his job is made a little easier because of groups like the CCC and citizens who are fully engaged in finding real solutions to our challenges.

“This kind of thing does have an impact,” he observed. He also offered words of encouragement to concerned citizens and proactive organizations like CCC. ​“Try not to have knee jerk reactions to unfortunate events,” he said. ​“Don’t let things that are bound to happen distract you. Although you may not be able to precisely measure your impact and success, be assured that you are having a positive impact with your constant vigilance and outreach.”

Douglas Bethea also addressed the gathering at the summit, sharing a particularly moving and tragic story. Bethea – who is the father of 2006 homicide victim Robert Scotty Bennett – is now a full-time community activist focused on running the support group Parents Against Inner City Crime. The group, comprised of 25 parents who have lost children to senseless street violence, partners with other community associations to increase awareness of the importance of reaching out to youths to build healthy relationships.

“Today is the 4‑year anniversary of my son’s death” he explained. ​“He was only 19 years old, a West Haven High School graduate holding down two jobs, and he was shot and killed in a robbery attempt on Ashmun Street. He was a good kid killed for no reason other than misguided kids on a crime spree.”

“Relationships are the key,” said Bethea, ​“not just associations. When you build a relationship with a youth you begin the process of building trust. If the day comes when that kid has witnessed a crime and we need his help we are more bound to get his cooperation based on a long relationship.”

Bethea also advocates police methods that offer protective anonymity to those who help to identify perpetrators. ​“I know who killed my son and so do the police,” he admitted. ​“But there is simply not enough evidence or witness cooperation to put the killer away. That is my frustration.”

Minister Donald Morris closed the meeting by announcing to the group his plan to ​“stop the craziness.”

The strategy includes routine street walks on a weekly basis. ​“I have been out there week after week myself,” he said. ​“I see families in need of counseling, prayer, direction, education, health care, and food. If the basics go unmet then everything else will crumble away. The Promised Land Project addresses these specific areas of need and we will learn about who needs what by walking the streets. Our plan is for our agents of mercy to carry with them information regarding social and health services, on site prayer and counseling, and bags of food for anyone in need.”

Funding for the mission will mostly involve volunteer donations of time and energy, and the financial resources that are needed to buy such things as food and supplies to help families in need will come from charitable individuals and companies who want to lend a hand.

But as Minister Morris emphasized, ​“We will not let money get in the way. We will not let lack of volunteers get in the way. Not this time. This time is different because the time has come. As one of Newhallville’s most active outreach organizations it is time that we step up our pace and reach more youth, more fathers, more mothers, and more teens and young children who are at serious risk. Sometimes it is a bit overwhelming. The problem is large, the area is spread out, the number of drug dealers and other bad influences seem to grow and grow.”

But this time, Minister Morris vowed, ​“We are going to focus on one street and one block at a time until we reach the community at large.”

We are calling on everyone to embrace courage, to rid our community of violence and the guns and drugs that are crippling families. We need help from the community and are asking for volunteers to help us organize outreach efforts. If you are interested please call the Christian Community Commission (CCC) at 203 – 624-9228.