INNER-CITY NEWS

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

Neville Wisdom Joins Mask-Making Brigade

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper www.newhavenarts.org

Neville Wisdom spent Tuesday hunched over a sewing machine for 12 hours.

Then he came into his shop Wednesday and did the same thing. He was meeting a new kind of deadline: hundreds of essential workers desperately in need of cloth masks.

Wednesday, Wisdom announced that he will be selling cloth masks through his website, as he also works with medical personnel and city staff to get them quickly to those who may need them most. He is doing everything out of his Westville studio, where he has been working with fellow designers Andrew Bottiger and Dwayne Moore and Brand Director Lauren Sprague.

All of them are practicing physical distancing in the Whalley Avenue space. He estimated that the shop, which has a fleet of sewing machines as well as virtual prototyping technology, has been churning out approximately 100 masks per day. By the end of the day on Thursday, the store was out of stock.

“I wanted to make sure I was doing something helpful and necessary,” he said in a phone call Thursday morning.

“I have these skills, I might as well put them to use.”

Initially, Wisdom was inspired by his girlfriend, Bindu Vanapalli, an emergency room doctor who has been talking to him about physical distancing and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

After weeks of looking at CDC-approved designs, he began making masks she could distribute to her colleagues for their friends and family members. So

far, they have come from a cotton fabric covered with neat, bright flowers with a print that feels right on time for spring.

He was quick to say they are not medical-grade respirator masks—but they get the job done as the CDC encourages all Americans to wear face coverings.

He has donated four masks to Katalina’s Bakery owner Kathy Riegelmann, a frequent customer of his who has kept her shop open for pickup two days a week, and pivoted her other time to making sweet treats for the Yale-New Haven Hospital staff.

Thursday, MakeHaven also announced that he has also joined the organization’s Sew Good campaign, which pairs community-based sewists with the supplies and equipment they need to get masks to essential workers and medical personnel.

While a large number are donations, Wisdom is also using them as a small source of income while his doors remain closed. Typically, March is his first busy month of the year, because “no one wants to spend money” right after the December holiday season. But last month, operations came to a sudden halt.

He postponed a spring fashion show that was scheduled for late March.

That translated to at least $18,000 lost, he said. If closures last beyond the end of April, he estimated that he will lose over $60,000 in projected revenue. In making masks, he joins other small business owners churning out face coverings to keep the lights on, including Todd Lyon of Fashionista Vintage & Variety and a number of drag artists who have turned their costuming skills into a source of potential income.

After announcing the project, orders have been coming in. Last week, he got

a call from Doug Hausladen, director of Traffic, Transportation and Parking and acting director of the Parking Authority.

Hausladen wanted to know if Wisdom could manufacture 200 masks for Parking Authority personnel, who are classified as essential workers and are still interacting with a number of people at New Haven Union Station and the city’s Air Rights Garage.

“I went to a number of folks who are in the community doing this work, and a lot of them said they were overwhelmed or out of supplies,” Hausladen said Thursday, reached by phone. “And then Neville said he could do it.”

By Thursday evening, Wisdom had completed 150 of the 200 masks for Hausladen, and had sold out online and in the shop, where a limited supply was available for pick-up. He said he hasn’t yet crunched the numbers, but “for the first time in weeks I was able to have a little income.” He said that will be a help to the business as he navigates utilities for the coming months.

He added that he’s trying to stay calm and keep making masks—because it’s one of the only things he has control over.

“I just feel like so many people are in a difficult situation, and for me to be stressed out does not feel right at all,” he said. “Whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen. I can’t control the future.

I can control what I do with my time. I can help somebody.”

To learn more about the Sew Good campaign and the work MakeHaven is doing to fight COVID-19, www.makehaven.org/covid-19-response. To visit Neville Wisdom’s shop online, www. nevillewisdom.com/mask.

The Covid-19 Shuffle: 1 Home, 3 Generations He usually drives a bus for Kiducation collecting clothing and other donations left in bins; that job has been suspended during the pandemic.

The re-engineering of the Casanova household morning scramble is a case study in how families have had to adapt to life during the Covid-19 shutdown.

Casanova described that re-engineered scramble during a appearance on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”

“It’s new balancing it all,” she said. “You have to be able to navigate and be flexible. We had a pretty tight ship.”

Pre-Covid-19, that “ship” entailed Casanova putting up the oatmeal for Noél and her 4-year-old niece Jordynn while adults took turns using the bathroom and arranging their home shifts. Casanova would walk Noél two blocks down the street to his preschool class at Hill Cen-

by PAUL BASS

New Haven I ndependent

Jorgieliz Casanova continues to rise at 6 a.m. to begin her role in helping three generations set off to work and school in her Portsea Street household. But now not everybody is rushing out the door.

For Casanova’s 4-year-old son Noél, for instance, “school” is now at home.

That means much of the time “work” for Casanova is also at home.

Mom Daisy, on the other hand, still has to get out the house. She works with people with disabilities in a group home. She can’t do that remotely.

Same with Casanova’s sister Naisha.

She works an overnight shift at an Amazon warehouse, so people can get stuff they need now more than ever — another job the government deems essential.

Her brother Jorge lives in the house, too.

The Covid-19 Shuffle: 1 Home, 3 Generations

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tral Music Academy. Then she’d head downtown to her office at New Haven Promise, the college-scholarship and mentoring program where she works as a program assistant.

When the Covid-19 outbreak hit, the family, living so close together, took precautionary advice to heart. Everyone took off shoes and washed hands immediately upon coming home. Then they hit the shower. One person went to stores on the household’s behalf. They cleaned continually. “You folks have OCD,” friends said. So far, everyone has remained healthy.

Once schools shut down, Noél’s teacher gave daily assignments for the kids to fulfill at home. After some false starts involving the audio, Casanova got used

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

Caravan Surprises Pastor At Home

by MAYA MCFADDEN

With services suspended due to Covid-19, Mount Calvary Deliverance Tabernacle congregants drove en masse by the home of Pastor Robert Smith IV to let him know they miss him and the church.

The congregants gathered before the drop-in, in nearly 30 vehicles, at Colonial Funeral Home to get ready.

Organizers Nakia Dawson-Douglas, Michael Bethune, and Ronita Davis coordinated the socially-distanced gathering in three days to show appreciation for the pastor and his family on Glemby Street.

On Saturday, Davis told the pastor he would be receiving a “large delivery” for his family that he should stay home to sign for and receive Sunday morning.

As Dawson-Douglas and Bethune met the church members on Circular Avenue, Davis nervously contacted Smith to be sure he was outside of his home when the members began the drive-by.

When Davis called the pastor, he picked up in a whisper because he was at the Dixwell Avenue church in a morning prayer. Davis asked that he leave to head home and receive the make-believe package.

“Absolutely not,” he responded.

This made Davis and the other organizers begin to consider changing the driveby location from his home to the church.

But then Smith agreed and headed home.

Bethune led the line of cars by the pastor’s home as families driving by waved and honked their car horns. Many families had the children make signs and posters, which they held outside of the car windows.

“We love you,” the signs read. “We miss you.”

“It was great to bring joy to the community during these uncharted times,” said Bethune.

Bethune brought his two daughters along with him and reminded them of the importance of showing others that you care about them, especially during hard times.

Bethune said many joined not only to see the pastor but because they were looking to get out of their homes.

“It was a good idea on a beautiful morning. Thank God we were all able to say hello to our pastor,” said Ethel Dixon a church member since 1967.

The organizers gave the church members one strict rule: to stay in their cars.

“It wasn’t just for the pastor but for the neighborhood to see people safely together,” Bethune said.

Dawson-Douglas proposed the idea for the drive-by to the other organizers after seeing her next-door neighbor, a pastor, receive appreciation in the same way from his church. Going into the fifth week of no in-person services, the team

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“I was looking forward to seeing the family in a safe way,” Dawson-Douglas said.

When Smith received the call from Davis asking him to head home, he said, he was preparing for his afternoon broadcast.

“Something like this isn’t an expectation of the pastor, but it’s like an alternative form of worship and connectivity,” Smith said.

Overwhelmed by the surprise, Smith said by the end he was left feeling grateful.

Since the pandemic caused the church

to suspend its in-person services, Smith has been hosting two 15-minute prayer lines every day except Saturdays, at 6 a.m and 7 p.m.

Smith said he sees the pandemic as an opportunity for others to maintain their faith through a crisis. “It’s a time to go within,” he said.

Like many of the church members driving by, Smith wore a face mask while waving back to his “spiritual family.”

The drive-by finished just in time for the families to head home and join the pastor for a 12 p.m prayer conference call.

“It was like a wave was worth a million words,” said Davis.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

State Greenlights Emergency Relief For Artists

by Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper www.newhavenarts.org

The Connecticut Office of the Arts has launched two new grant programs to support artists during the COVID-19 pandemic. Artists have two weeks to apply, and in some cases to choose their online collaborators and jumpstart virtual programming.

Those grants are the Connecticut Artists Relief Grant Program and Connecticut Artists Respond Grant Program, both of which were announced Monday evening in a COVID-19 update from Gov. Ned Lamont. A second press release followed from the Connecticut Office of the Arts.

Office of the Arts Director Liz Shapiro said the grants are a much-needed nod to artists who have lost work due to the ongoing global pandemic. They join ongoing efforts through the New Haven Creative Sector Relief Fund, which has distributed at least $65,000 to 146 recipients thus far.

“Artists and teaching artists are the movers, drivers and connectors of our creative economy.” Shapiro said in a press release Monday evening. “Their creative works spark joy and inspiration, and push us to question and understand.

Investing in artists–particularly now–is just the right thing to do.”

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 4. While the two programs are running concurrently, artists may only apply to one grant. The Office of the Arts has also continued to reach out to artists who have already received funding through other state grant programs and need to extend their grant deadlines or redefine the scope of their projects.

Aided by $47,000 from the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), the Connecticut Artists Relief Grant will allocate $500 in unrestricted grant funding to 120 artists and teaching artists across the state. Because the Office of the Arts expects “an anticipated high volume of applications”—perhaps a nod to the 4,000 applications that the Connecticut Recovery Bridge Loan program got in 36 hours last month—grantees will be selected at random.

The $47,000 comes from a larger pool of funding that NEFA is providing for artist relief in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. In total, the foundation distributed $282,000 among six state arts agencies.

The Connecticut Artists Respond Grant, meanwhile, is intended to fund free, publicly-accessible virtual programming that artists launch individually or in collaboration with each other. Monday, a basic overview from the Office of the Arts suggested that could take the form of live streamed performances, a solo or group online exhibition, or distance learning videos available for free (a full

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For artists working alone, the grant carries an award of $1,000. For artists working in a collaborative, it amounts to $2,000. In a Zoom meeting with state arts organizations in early April, Shapiro described it as a “WPA-style grant” intended to give artists an online platform for their work.

Before grants were announced this month, Shapiro explained that the Connecticut Office of the Arts will be continuing with its annual Arts Workforce Initiative (AWI) program, placing several state-funded summer interns with regional arts organizations even though their work will be virtual this year.

The grants are not part of the $447,000 coming to the state from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), part of the NEA’s share of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In a conference with regional arts organizations earlier this month, Shapiro said those funds cannot go to artist relief.

“We’re all feeling this, and we’re all in this together,” she said at the time. “We

all are aware that artists and gig workers are the ones who tend to be left behind, and they were some of the first people who had cancellations. Many artists experienced huge losses.”

She added that she knows artists and arts organizations are anxious for news on the Supporting Arts Grant Program and Connecticut Arts Endowment Fund (CAEF), both of which the Office of the Arts plans to streamline with a short form for the applications. Both provide operating support to organizations, and both will remain on the same grant cycle.

The grants come at a critical time for both artists and arts organizations, as schools and arts organizations remain closed to the public and artists continue to watch months of work disappear. To date, Connecticut has 19,815 documented cases of the novel coronavirus and has seen 1,331 deaths from the disease. The state has tested just under 63,000 people.

While Lamont has formed a regional task force to discuss reopening the state, that date still appears to be weeks or even months away. As artists remain

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out of work, Shapiro said she is taking direction from the nine Designated Regional Service Organizations, who have provided on-the-ground information and reporting on Connecticut artists directly affected by COVID-19.

“We’ve listened, and we’ve heard you,” she said Monday. “These grants are unlike any we have offered before and we encourage you to apply yourself, and to spread the word. The COA staff and I know that this is just the tip of the iceberg, but it’s a small step in the right direction. We will continue to listen to you, to learn from you, and to spread your stories.”

Applications for the Connecticut Artists Relief Grant Program, the Connecticut Artists Respond Grant Program and more are available here https://portal. ct.gov/DECD/Services/Arts-and-Culture/Funding-Opportunities.

For more information, artists may contact Tamara Dimitri at tamara.dimitri@ ct.gov and teaching artists may contact Bonnie Koba at bonnie.koba@ct.gov.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

Hotel Worker: Crisis “Upended My Life”

by REYNAMAR ORTIZ New Haven I ndependent

(Opinion) I work at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale, and the Covid-19 crisis has upended my life.

I’ve been out of work for nearly a month since the virus emptied out our hotel.

I applied for unemployment three weeks ago, but the system is overloaded and my checks only just started coming.

Everything about this situation is scary, but what worries me most is my family’s healthcare.

My child is diabetic, and he depends on two medications that cost up to $1,000 every month without insurance. Without coverage, I can’t keep him safe.

Omni says they will keep our healthcare coverage through May, but only if we pay our premiums, and with no promises after June 1st.

This decision puts me and my coworkers in danger. We can’t afford to pay our premiums when we have no income, and we can’t afford to lose our healthcare during a global pandemic.

Meanwhile, Omni and other hotel companies are being bailed out by the federal government. We need them to step up for working people in New Haven and maintain our health coverage until we can get back to work.

The coronavirus has hit New Haven hard, and all of us are scared. Working families like mine are facing new challenges and trying to figure out how to navigate them. I have so many things I need to worry about.

How will I pay my rent? How will I get groceries?

On top of all this, I am terrified for my

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Reynamar Ortiz. child. If he doesn’t get his medicine, I might have to take him to the emergency room, where his risk of exposure to the coronavirus would be very high. Can you imagine having to worry about risking your child’s life to get him the medical care he needs to survive?

It doesn’t have to be this way. Omni could choose to protect our healthcare.

Times are tough, but Omni has access to huge sums of federal bailout money, while my co-workers and I try to survive while drawing on Connecticut’s overburdened unemployment system.

How am I supposed to pay my monthly premium of $150 on April 20 with no income and delayed unemployment? And

what will happen to me on June 1? Will Omni take away even that option and leave me and my family with nowhere to turn?

Omni often says workers are like family, but they seem happy to put me and my family in danger. Omni needs to take care of its workers—not just for our sake, but for everyone in New Haven.

We are in a pandemic, and the more people in the community are uninsured, the more people get sick, the more people spread the virus, and the longer it takes for all of us to get back to work.

By refusing to cover our health care, Omni puts our entire community at risk.

This is a time of struggle and uncertainty for all families, and especially working families like mine. But it’s moments like this that test us – moments where all of us have a choice. I’m choosing to stand up for what’s right and fight for my coworkers, my family and my community.

I’m organizing with my union Local 217 to push Omni to extend our coverage and pay our premiums. We started a petition that has already garnered hundreds of signatures from Omni workers, other union members in Connecticut, local and state officials, and Yale affiliates and students. This shows me that our community knows the right decision, too. We are choosing to come together to protect each other.

Omni also has a choice. Will they choose to stand up for working people and the New Haven community? Or will they choose to turn us away, whatever the consequences?

The choice is theirs. I hope they make the right one.

Call for your telehealth appointment.

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Con’t from 07

The Covid-19 Shuffle:

to the “Class Dojo” app on which the teacher posts a Google Doc detailing the assignments. Casanova found scissors for Noél to work with trace-outs for his colors and shapes and alphabet.

She scrounged together oil, water, food coloring, and syrup for a science experiment on objects floating and sinking. Then she set him up for music and dance video lessons, math and reading, and writing.

Casanova is responsible for sending three photos a day to the teacher showing Noél doing the work. She also sends videos.

“I am deeply committed to Noél’s education. I want to make sure he doesn’t fall behind,” Casanova said.

Meanwhile, Casanova needs to get her own work done. She checks in daily with high school students navigating

remote learning in their final months before graduation and, hopefully, heading to college with scholarships from New Haven Promise. She checks in with Promise-supported college students also trying to finish up the year through remote learning. She helps them set up group chats to share tips and figure out online programs.

The adults take turns with the kids during the day. Noél’s cousin Jordynn works on Noél’s assignments with her. An older nephew and 1-year-old niece also spend part of the day in the house, giving the kids playmates.

“Luckily we’re a really big family,” Casanova said. “But [Noél] misses his friends” at school.

Amid all this bustle, Casanova is getting some training for her own long-term career goal: becoming a bilingual educa-

tor.

The first person in her family to attend college, Casanova graduated magna cum laude from Albertus Magnus in 2013.

New Haven Promise helped her pay the bills with scholarship money as well as a part-time job. She proved adept at helping other students in the program, so she was hired full-time after graduation.

Like other first-generation college graduates supported by Promise, Casanova, who’s living in the house where she grew up, serves as a guide back home to connect family and neighbors to institutions and resources.

The key takeaway from the Covid-19 reshuffle also applies to the challenges that lie ahead for Casanova. “You have to navigate and be flexible,” she said, “in light of unforeseen circumstances.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

The View From Inside The ER

April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

Stress, Uncertainty Define Students' COVID-19 Experiences

by KAREN JUBANYIK, M.D.

Jamiah Green, The Arts Paper www.newhavenarts.org

My friends and family check in with me to ask what the Yale New Haven Hospital Emergency Department (ED), where I work as a physician, is like these days. I think they are expecting to hear gory details, as if a train wrecked right in the middle of the place.

Occasionally, we get a flurry of activity all at once, but as adrenaline junkies, we have trained for this. One of the reasons I chose emergency medicine is the teamwork involved, so even when it gets chaotic, it is a controlled chaos with everyone using their skills and working together to help the patients who arrive scared, sick, or both.

But mostly these days, the ED is a wee bit eerie. Before the pandemic, our ED was almost always crowded, with patients packed end to end on stretchers in the hallways, with friends and family scrunched in. Now visitors are banned and overall volume is down.

I wonder about all of the patients who usually roll into the ED all day and night. In addition to the usual abdominal pain, headache, back pain, and chest pain, where are the patients with psychic pain? Where are the family violence survivors, and where are the patients seeking treatment for heroin or alcohol use disorder? We miss you!

People are afraid of getting exposed to Covid-19, and are avoiding us, even though, paradoxically, we now often have more open beds and space to see patients than usual. One of the Yale neurologists noticed that we are even seeing 80-90 percent fewer patients coming in with strokes. YIKES! My friends and family also check in frequently to make sure that I am OK. They probably had more to worry about when, as a pregnant woman with small children at home and a novice practitioner of medicine, I performed invasive procedures in patients with AIDS before post-exposure prophylaxis and effective treatments were available. These days, I am fortunate to work at a place where we have adequate PPE and my access to testing and healthcare is better than so many others who are also on the frontlines in New Haven. Those other essential workers, many from vulnerable communities, who work in the police, EMS, and fire departments, hospice, nursing and group homes, corrections, and retail/food/delivery, all do their work in less visible ways and with fewer PPE resources.

Many of the patients brought to the ED have been really sick. We are seeing a flood of elderly people from nursing

School closures that went into effect overnight, and left students and teachers scrambling. Unexpected distractions at home. Missed friends, performances, last dances and now maybe graduations.

Growing concerns that college won’t happen in the fall, at least not as anyone imagined it.

Those are just some of the hurdles that New Haven high schoolers named in the midst of COVID-19, one month after schools closed in New Haven and across the state. As they adjust to a new normal of online learning and meeting with their friends over Zoom, FaceTime and Instagram, many are asking what comes next— and how they are supposed to adjust to school during a global pandemic.

Last month, New Haven Public Schools closed indefinitely on March 13, just one day after city officials closed Nathan Hale School out of an abundance of caution.

Later that month, Schools Superintendent Iline Tracey reported that up to 70 percent of New Haven Public Schools students did not have access to the technology they needed for online learning.

Online classes began a week later. Tracey has since said that COVID-19 has pushed the Board of Education to think about how to better prepared for both students’ technological needs and food security in the future.

But while several parents have praised communication from New Haven Public Schools administrators—and a number of supportive video messages have flowed out from schools, teachers and principles—students are still trying to find their way through a system that was made for classrooms and physical spaces.

Nadia Gaskins, a junior at Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School (Co-Op), said she is concerned that COVID-19 closures will complicate her college application process. In March, the academic organization College Board cancelled all March and May in-school administrations of the SAT, a standardized test used for college admissions.

While several colleges and universities have announced that they are dropping standardized test requirements in the midst of the pandemic, she isn’t sure where that leaves her. In school, as her classes all transition to virtual learning, she doesn’t know what to expect from final exams.

“I think that the decision [to close the schools] was made for the entire well being of the student body, but I also think that the decision wasn’t well thought out,” she said. “I feel like this is the most important year in my high school career. I’m hearing different information from different sources, and I’m getting frustrated with trying to decipher what’s the truth.”

Clifford White, a sophomore at Achievement First Amistad High School, had a different take. When he first heard news breaking about COVID-19, he didn’t believe that the virus was as dangerous as

homes, and I suspect it is only the tip of the iceberg.

Last shift, in the middle of the night, I called three families in an hour to tell them that their loved one was ill from Covid-19 and not likely to survive. It is tragic that many nursing home residents are seeing their roommates “get moved to a different room” (ie, die), and many of them will spend their last few weeks on earth without visitors, even if they do not get covid themselves, so that fewer of their fellow residents might die. That is true sacrifice for both the patients and their families.

As I was leaving a recent shift in the ED, I saw firsthand what distinguishes someone as a truly exceptional nurse.

I make a point to learn about these patients’ lives when I speak to family members; I hope it is helpful for them to get to tell us a bit about their Nana.

Although it was well after her shift had ended, I found one of our new nurses sitting by the side of a patient who had been brought to the ED in a condition beyond salvation; she was holding his hand and speaking softly to him.

Although he had not graduated high school, he was now her professor. I knew that as much as she was giving, she was also getting the privilege of being present with him as he inched along on his final journey.

Karen Jubanyik is an emergency medicine physician at Yale New Haven Hospital and a faculty member at the Yale School of Medicine. Do you have a story to tell about what life is like for you during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Send it to us here.

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it has since proven to be. He called his school closure a reality check.

“At first, just like everyone in my own community, I looked at it as a joke,” he said. “Recently just with all that has been going on … everyday you’re told to live life like there’s no other. So for my school to close, it actually made me wake up and look at this as a serious issue.”

Still, he added, he’s had difficulty with online learning through Zoom and Google Classroom. In an effort not to lose time, his teachers began online lessons almost right away. He discovered pretty quickly that the system didn’t feel the same.

“I feel as though what we aren’t actually learning,” he said. “I feel as a community we need to adjust our culture as citizens of this country as well as scholars to the education system and what it means to be ‘educated’ when we still don’t have a solution.”

That was also true for High School in the Community junior Giane Figueroa, who praised the New Haven Public Schools for keeping students safe (the disease, to date, has claimed the lives of over 25,000 Americans, including healthy young people once thought to be at lower risk), but said that online learning also had its drawbacks.

“I think it was necessary for the schools,” Figueroa said. “It was the best for our safety. Online schooling is a clever way to be sure we don’t fall behind due to the inconvenience.”

That inconvenience has also been more pronounced for some students than for their peers. Aime Mulungula, a junior at Hill Regional Career High School and high school fellow at NXTHVN, said that he feels like he’s teaching everything to himself. He gets distracted while doing lessons at home, “so it takes a lot of my time to finish assignments.”

New Haven Academy Senior Alan Veloz said that he’s had to become something of a teacher himself. Because he is the oldest sibling, it is his responsibility to make sure his brother is receiving and learning the lesson plans he gets from the city’s elementary schools. After teaching his brother for the first half of the day, he starts his own homework in the middle of the afternoon.

“So adjusting my schedule can be really

difficult,” he said. “And sometimes I feel stretched out or strained.”

As a senior and a soon-to-be first generation college student, he’s also bracing for the possibility that he won’t get to walk across a graduation stage in June. While his peers have voiced concerns around a senior trip, he said that he’s more upset that a physical ceremony may not happen.

Like many of his peers—and many colleges and universities across the country—he also doesn’t know what a freshman year will even look like now. Earlier this year, he was accepted to Tufts University, which is in Boston, on a full scholarship.

Now, institutions are weighing how and whether they’ll be bringing students back onto campus in the fall.

“I have dreamed of graduating and moving to college since I was a kid,” he said.

Brenda Dimbo, a senior at Hamden High, echoed that concern. As a student, she misses her peers and her teachers, and has struggled to adjust to online learning.

As a senior, she’s started to make a mental checklist of everything she’s missing.

The longer closures last, the longer it gets.

Recent additions have included her senior class trip, prom, and possible her graduation ceremony.

“I had dreamed about going to prom since I was young and so [knowing] that it might not happen makes me sad,” she said.

“We can switch out paper and pen to online but I like that one-on-one, hands-on feel when I’m with a teacher,” she said. “I can ask questions then, and there and they would be able to show me how to do it.

But now we have to wait until everything for the online setting is up.”

Clockwise from top: Hamden High School senior Brenda Dimbo, Acheivement First Amistad Academy sophomore Clifford White, Co-Op junior Nadia Gaskins, Hill Regional Career High School junior Aime Mulungula, New Haven Academy senior Alan Veloz, and High School in the Community junior Giane Figueroa. All photos courtesy of the students except Nadia Gaskins, which is by Judy Sirota Rosenthal for the Arts Council of Greater New Haven.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

ConnCAT Launches $600K Fundraising Drive

by STAFF

New Haven I ndependent

A Science Park-based job training and education center has launched a new Covid-19 relief fund geared towards raising $600,000 to provide direct financial assistance to Dixwell and Newhallville families struggling during the pandemic.

The Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT) announced the launch of their new Crisis Relief Fund in a Monday email press release.

The release states that ConnCAT has committed to raising $100,000 a month for the next six months, and that it has partnered with the Dixwell and Newhallville Community Management Teams along with Elm City Communities, the city’s housing authority, to distribute those funds via debit cards directly to neighborhood residents who are out of work.

The release also states that ConnCAT has already raised over $100,000 towards that goal, thanks in part to a $50,000 donation from Yale University.

“Given the crisis in which we find ourselves, we have a moral obligation to give hope to the people we serve,” ConnCAT President & CEO Erik Clemons is quoted as saying in the release.

“That’s why we’re committed to proclaim the power of justice through service and, through a concerted effort, exact the wrongs of poverty.”

New Haven, CT (April 20, 2020) – The Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT), today announced the launch of its Crisis Relief

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO ConnCAT President and CEO Erik Clemons.

Fund to support families in the Dixwell and Newhallville communities with direct financial assistance during the COVID-19 crisis. With the support of major donors, local agencies and organizations, ConnCAT has committed to raising $100,000 a month for the next six months, for a total of $600,000.

These funds are slated to support New Haven’s most vulnerable families with securing their most basic needs – food, medication, rent, utilities, transportation – through the summer.

In its first week, ConnCAT’s Crisis

Relief Fund has raised over $100,000 towards its goal through support from a $50k gift from Yale University, $10k from The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, $25k from Craig Crews and Katherine McKenzie via their family fund at Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, $15K from Seedlings Foundation, and other donors and organizations. Elm City Market also has committed to donating non-perishable foods and setting up a Crisis Relief Fund donation request at the point of checkout. To establish the number

of households in need, ConnCAT has partnered with the Dixwell and Newhallville Management Team Leaders, and Elm City Communities, the Housing Authority of New Haven, who will support the distribution of the funds via debit cards directly to those most impacted by the pandemic through a loss of work. In addition, ConnCAT will survey its own students through their adult and youth programming to find families in need.

“Given the crisis in which we find ourselves, we have a moral obligation to give hope to the people we serve,” ConnCAT President & CEO Erik Clemons said in a letter to donors last week. “That’s why we’re committed to proclaim the power of justice through service and, through a concerted effort, exact the wrongs of poverty.”

“The McKenzie Crews family is proud to support the mission of ConnCAT during these difficult times,” McKenzie said. “ConnCAT is an outstanding organization that contributes in countless ways to support the people of this community that we love.”

“In these unprecedented times, the stark economic disparities in our community are apparent,” said Karen DuBois-Walton, Ph.D., President of Elm City Communities. “We eagerly partner with ConnCAT to disseminate the funds raised to families who may benefit in the Dixwell and Newhallville communities. We’ve identified hundreds of families who receive affordable housing services and who are in need and on our waiting lists who may benefit from

the funds raised by generous donors and are poised to quickly disseminate these funds.”

“We know that by supporting ConnCAT’s efforts, Yale will be able to assist in providing emergency relief for families in Newhallville and Dixwell during this crisis,” said Lauren Zucker, Associate Vice President for New Haven Affairs and University Properties. ” The Yale Community for New Haven Fund is proud to contribute toward this important work.”

“Few organizations are as much in touch with the holistic needs of the community and positioned to provide dynamic support that helps people move beyond survival,” said David Addams, Executive Director of William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund.

The purpose of the fund is to provide rapid emergency financial support to those in need through the distribution of debit cards. Recipients will be identified through collaboration with neighborhood management teams, service providers, and community partners. The ConnCAT Crisis Relief Fund is not intended to address all of the monumental economic needs of these neighborhoods but is positioned to provide some targeted short-term emergency funding for families in crisis. The effectiveness of this program will be greatly enhanced if we can raise and deploy money quickly.

The Newhallville and Dixwell neighborhoods have one of the highest concentrations of poverty in New Haven, Con’t on page

Biden: Michelle Obama Tops List as Veep

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

Is a return to the White House by the Obama family in the cards?

It can happen if former First Lady Michelle Obama would accept a public invitation from former Vice President and presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden.

On Tuesday, April 21, Biden said Obama tops his list of potential vice presidential candidates, and the country would be better served if she joined his ticket.

Neither Obama nor her husband, former President Barack Obama, have commented on Biden’s statements, which he first made on KDKA television in Pittsburgh.

Remarkably, the comments have not yet gained traction in the media, but a KDKA source pointed NNPA Newswire

Georgia Rep. Stacey Abrams, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

“In terms of who to pick, we’re just beginning the process,” Biden told KDKA. “We’ll shortly name the committee to review this and begin to look through the backgrounds of the various potential nominees. And that’s just getting underway.”

“I’ll commit to that be a woman because it is very important that my administration look like the public, look like the nation. And there will be, committed that there will be a woman of color on the Supreme Court, that doesn’t mean there won’t be a vice president, as well,” Biden said.

“I think it’s really important now that we establish once and for all, we should have had a woman president already, in Hilary (Clinton), in my view,” Biden added. “There are a number of qualified women out there.”

to the video clip that the station says has gained a lot of momentum in the Pittsburgh area.

“I’d take her in a heartbeat,” Biden said of Michelle Obama in the video viewed by NNPA Newswire. “She’s brilliant. She knows the way around. She is a wonderful woman. The Obamas are great friends,” he said.

Tempering any enthusiasm of a BidenObama ticket, Biden added that, “I don’t think she has any desire to live near the White House again.” He concluded that it’s still too early to select a running mate.

During the most recent debate in Washington, D.C., in early March, Biden pledged to select a woman as his running mate. That promise sparked a national discussion about who would best serve as vice president. Among the names bandied about in the media have been California Sen. Kamala Harris, former

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

NFL Exec Troy Vincent Talks Draft, HBCU Initiatives Fundraising Con’t from 07

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

Troy Vincent’s career and life have come a long way since the Miami Dolphins selected him with the 7th pick in the National Football League (NFL) Draft in 1992.

The former five-time Pro-Bowl cornerback has risen to become the secondin-command for America’s most popular sports league, ranking behind only Commissioner Roger Goodell, which makes it possible that he’ll one day ascend to the top job.

No former player, not even the most popular, have ever risen higher than Vincent in the league’s top office. No African American has ever served as commissioner.

On April 23, Vincent will help Goodell kick off the NFL Draft, which will be conducted virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“This is a moment where we need some semblance of hope in some of our communities, and we are hoping that’s what occurs next week,” stated Vincent, who starred for the Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, and Washington Redskins over a stellar 15year career.

This year’s draft, which begins with Round 1 at 8 p.m. EST on Thursday, April 23, and concludes with Rounds 4 through 7 on Saturday, April 25, marks the first time the process is held exclusively online.

Draft night begins with a Draft-A-Thon fundraiser to benefit those affected by the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The fundraiser will receive heavy promotion throughout the draft and through a multi-person video chat hosted on the NFL’s digital properties and will feature celebrities, football legends, other influencers and health-care workers.

Rich Eisen and Deion Sanders will host the event, and Kevin Hart, Quavo, Toni Harris and Kane Brown will be among the guests, according to the NFL. Draft-A-Thon will allocate funds to six national charities and their local chapters: the American Red Cross, the CDC Foundation, Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, the Salvation Army and United Way. Half of the total money raised will go to the national organizations to be distributed across the country wherever the funds are needed most.

The other half will be directed to local chapters of those organizations as decided by each NFL team.

Before the pandemic, the draft was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas.

“We did a Zoom call with all of the top 30 prospects, something we usually do in person, but these are unprecedented

times,” Vincent stated.

“The commissioner and all of us remain completely aware of the reality of what’s going on, and we hope that maybe for one hour or during two or three hours we can provide an alternative, give you a little joy on your television sets.”

He added that the young draftees are understandably excited, but much of that has been tempered.

“They are used to traveling, and we are used to doing this in person, so when they ask questions like when will they be able to meet their teams, we have to tell them that we must stay in compliance with [stay-at-home and social distancing] orders and guidelines,” Vincent stated.

Watching the news can be a bit of a downer, too.

Vincent said in between calls; he is reminded by news reports of the reality of the coronavirus, which has claimed more than 36,000 lives in the U.S. alone.

“For us holding the draft, we’ve had to be responsible,” Vincent stated.

Responsibility was something Vincent learned at a young age, and he recalled a stern reminder given to him by his grandmother after the Dolphins drafted him.

“When I did my contract, I was taking care of my grandparents, and I remember being in the car, and the Dolphins offered me more than $1 million,” Vincent recalled.

“My grandmother was sitting in the car next to me, and I told them that the money wasn’t what I was looking for

per year. When I hung up the phone, my grandmother told me to pull the car over. She said, ‘I just heard you say no to a couple of million dollars.’”

He continued: “She told me how she and my grandfather worked for $1.45 per hour for 30 or 40 years raising my mother and aunts and uncles and how they never wanted for anything. She said she never wanted to hear me turn down that kind of money again. She said, ‘You need to all that man back.’ I did call them back.”

It’s also because of that upbringing that Vincent has been integral in the NFL’s outreach to African Americans.

He’s spearheaded work between the NFL and HBCUs and the league’s social justice platform, which emphasizes education, economic development, and community and police relations.

The platform includes the funding of grass-roots community organizations and establishes a digital learning curriculum for African American history in 175 underserved high schools.

Working with the Players Coalition, an independent 501(c)(3) entity, the NFL formed a joint player-owner committee focused on social justice, which focuses on reducing barriers to opportunity, and prioritizes making improvements in three key areas: Education and economic advancement Community-police relations Criminal justice reform Additional programs focus on reducing poverty, promoting racial equality and supporting workforce development.

“Every community knows the grass-

8

roots organizations in their respective neighborhoods that do the work, the daily hands-on work,” Vincent said.

It’s also been about four years since the NFL started the “Strength of HBCUs, Impacting Prof Football.” Since 1948, which celebrates and honors the historical impact of HBCUs and their players on the game, and to provide career opportunities in the game of football.

“The NFL’s partnership with HBCUs has deep roots in football’s history,” Vincent noted.

“We’re working together to honor the rich history and provide opportunities to students and administrators from these great institutions.”

The NFL’s HBCU program celebrates the history, increases opportunities for HBCU students and athletic administrators, and provides access through career forums, workshops, internships, and other programs.

“It’s really important for us to identify men and women of color, particularly those who are Black, for these efforts,” Vincent noted. “This allows us to deal with Black and Brown people at these historic institutions where there are multiple programs to take advantage of.”

We’re working together to honor the rich history and provide opportunities to students and administrators from these great institutions,” said Troy Vincent, who starred for the Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, and Washington Redskins over a stellar 15-year career. (Photo: Billy Zagger B-Train Films) For more about the numerous NFL community initiatives, https://community.nfl.com/

with 45% of the families earning less than $25,000. As such, the majority of ConnCAT’s effort will be focused on supporting impacted families in those areas.

“It’s no secret that people are suffering,” Clemons said. “The impact and severity of the virus only exacerbate the issues of income instability and food insecurity that were already experienced year-round. The reality is we’ve always worked to be a trusted fixture in this community. That’s why we felt a moral obligation to ensure that our communities’ needs weren’t overlooked and forgotten while families struggle to make ends meet during a crisis they didn’t cause or could have predicted.”

ConnCAT, a 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization is a trusted community agency serving both the Dixwell and Newhallville neighborhoods and is uniquely positioned to advocate and raise funds and effectively provide direct financial support to families.

ConnCAT is a dynamic agency creating empowering, arts-based educational environments for underserved youth and training programs for under and unemployed adults in medical billing and coding, phlebotomy, and culinary industries. In August of 2019, ConnCAT partnered with Kim Harris of Inspired Communities Inc., Nina Silva of the Dixwell Community Management Team, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, and DataHaven to publish the “Newhallville and Dixwell Neighborhood Community Index.”

The “Index” was developed in response to neighborhood leaders’ desire to have a greater understanding of the respective neighborhood’s needs and to have a resource to raise funds for community needs. The report illuminates the high level of poverty and economic disadvantages in these neighborhoods.

This same team of neighborhood leaders is coming together to help these crisis relief services.

In addition to securing partnerships from major donors, ConnCAT is encouraging individuals who are able to donate personally meaningful gifts, to do so with the information listed below: Make a donation online at Conncat.org/ crisis_relief_fund Send a check payable to ConnCAT, referencing the ConnCAT Crisis Relief Fund. Please send to ConnCAT, 4 Science Park, New Haven, CT 06511 Make a donation through theGreatGive.org (Connecticut Center For Arts and Technology) For questions, please contact Anna Blanding, Director of Impact Investments at ablanding@conncat.org

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

SOCIAL DISTANCING As a public facility, this establishment is actively encouraging Social Distancing 6 Feet

To support public health, please maintain a minimum distance of 6 feet from others during your visit.

For more information and the latest updates about COVID-19 in Connecticut, please visit: Portal.CT.Gov/Coronavirus If you have any questions regarding the Novel Coronavirus, you can call: 833-ASK-YNHH (833-275-9644) 9

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

OP-ED: Remembering Dr. Dorothy Irene Height

By Alexis M. Herman, President of the Dorothy I. Height Foundation

April 20, 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the death of our gentle but fearless leader and mentor, Dr. Dorothy Irene Height. This significant anniversary offers us an opportunity for reflection during these unprecedented times we are living in today.

Dr. Height undoubtedly was a creative, compassionate, and visionary leader.

Her scholarship, travels and experiences shaped her understanding of power and how to navigate it with competence and kindness. Through the programs and initiatives she developed, she used her power to empower poor women and girls around the world.

During the early Civil Rights Movement when women worked behind the scenes, her quiet power brought wisdom and a social worker’s perspective to deliberations and strategies of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders. With an understanding of the importance of power of location, she purchased a building in Washington, D.C. between the White House and the Capitol, the only African American-owned building along that corridor of power.

For decades, her political power was put to use serving as an advisor to five U.S. presidents. She led some of the largest and most influential women’s organizations in American history, including her beloved National Council of Negro Women. And she achieved these accomplishments always wearing fabulous hats and an engaging smile.

While those achievements were im-

Dr. Dorothy Irene Height. mense, they pale in light of her greatest and most enduring accomplishments.

During the turbulent times and critical issues that prevailed throughout her lifetime, Dr. Dorothy Irene Height was “A Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” Her activism started as a teenager by bringing her peers together to nonviolently protest policies that prohibited African American children from swimming, debating or going to school with Caucasian youth.

She bravely confronted and navigated the injustices and engaged adults who had the power to make changes. Over the years, issues such as racism, the struggle for economic and social justice, women’s rights, voter’s rights, equal ac-

cess to education, healthcare and jobs, fair wages, and dignity for all, brought purpose and passion to her life.

When she walked into a room, wisdom, humanity, and hope arrived with her. She was the bridge to alignment and unity to many civil rights organizations and leaders. To African American, Caucasian, Latina, Asian, and Native American women organizations, she served as a bridge of vision and consensus in their pursuits seeking equality, equal pay, and jobs.

Through programs she implemented, she was at the forefront of the Y.W.C.A. realizing its most significant lifelong mission, eradicating racism. None of

these were simple or easy undertakings, yet she courageously pursued what she knew to be right and good. Wherever the waters were troubled, she created a bridge, effective coalitions, and solutions.

Many of the critical issues of Dr. Height’s era persist today. Over fifty years ago, she called attention to the health disparities related to social detriments, especially for Black women and the elderly. Chronic health conditions such as hypertension, heart disease and diabetes were always at the forefront for education and outreach to our communities.

Today with thousands impacted by COVID-19 and millions who are unemployed, the consequences of these same health disparities are more apparent than ever. The troubled waters we now face have washed waves of reminders of the work our country still has to do. Leaders are searching for answers, managing fears and anxiety, and competing for vital resources in their communities.

In these turbulent, frightening, and uncertain times, we are called to embrace Dr. Height’s spirit of direct action, by courageously bridging the waters with viable solutions, to serve the needs of our brothers and sisters, to hold leaders accountable for environmental and social justice policies, to provide food for the many who are in need today, to protect and defend the right to vote, to be the voice of the voiceless, and to lead with purpose and passion toward a just and safe society.

Ten years after her passing, we must embrace her spirit to right the wrongs

and keep navigating troubled waters until we reach calm seas and still waters that were always her goals for women and children, for the country, for all of us. Today we must not only remember Dr. Height, but also renew her fighting spirit, and be that “bridge over troubled waters” that we need and seek. Girded by our faith and in the spirit of Dr. Height, I pray that each of us will find ways, large and small, to courageously speak up, stand up, and reach out to bring truth and mercy to “the least of these.”

In the days and weeks ahead, we would do well to remember her words spoken at the dedication of the Headquarters Building of the National Council of Negro Women, “Through this last century we learned that it is in the neighborhoods and communities where the world begins. That is where children grow and families are developed, where people exercise their power to change their lives…. Building on my religious faith deeply rooted in my childhood and youth, I found my life’s work. I am the product of many whose lives have touched mine, from the famous, distinguished and powerful to the little known and the poor. The past has taught me many lessons—most especially, that I have a responsibility to future generations.”

In memory of Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, contributions may be made to the National Council of Negro Women at www. ncnw.org under donate.

Alexis M. Herman is the President of the Dorothy I. Height Foundation

Comcast Launches Xfinity Education Destination for K-12 BlackPressUSA

Comcast has made nearly 2,000 hours of programming and thousands of free titles available to Xfinity video customers to give children and their parents quick and easy access to educational programming by grade level, as part of the company’s comprehensive response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The collection is a joint effort with “Common Sense Media,” the leading source of entertainment and technology recommendations for families whose trusted age-based ratings and reviews are integrated into Xfinity on Demand.

“Xfinity is making thousands of hours of educational programming and resources available to our customers through Xfinity on Demand as we know how challenging it is for families right now who are suddenly homeschooling young children — many with both parents working, as well,” said Rebecca Heap, Comcast

on a range of topics including technology and business; yoga; dance; food and cooking; fitness; wellness; ballets and operas; and gardening.

• Educational series from networks and streaming services including Animal Planet, History, Nick Jr., PBS Kids, Smithsonian Channel and more.

• Spanish language programming available from networks including CBeebies, Discovery Familia and Kids Central.

• Firsthand interviews and historical narratives from Voices of the Civil Rights Movement, Comcast’s signature commemorative programming initiative honoring the impact and legacy of the movement.

Comcast has also enlisted the guidance of Natascha Crandall, a psychologist and educator, to program the content across English Language Arts, math, science, and social studies based on grade-appropriate guidelines aligned with the current U.S. school curriculum.

senior vice president of video and entertainment. “The programming selected in partnership with Common Sense Media is available in one comprehensive destination organized by grade level to make it as easy as possible for parents to find what is most relevant to their family.”

Xfinity customers with X1 or Flex can say “Education” or, if their voice search language is set to Spanish, “Educación,” into the Xfinity Voice Remote to access content available to them by grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 and also for all ages currently including: • Free programs from subscription video on demand services (SVODS) Bluprint, CuriosityStream, The Great Courses Signature Collection, Grokker Yoga Fitness, History Vault, Kids Room and The Reading Corner.

• Additional free adult continuing education programming from these SVODS focused on the “Mind,” “Body,” and “Soul” spanning biographies; podcasts

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

COVID-19 financial warning:

By Charlene Crowell, NNPA Newswire Contributor

For the foreseeable future, ‘normal’ life will be indefinitely suspended due to the global pandemic known as the coronavirus.

Record-breaking employment layoffs in the month of March resulted in the Department of Labor reporting that 10.4 million consumers lost their jobs and filed for unemployment compensation. As medical experts continue to track the virus, the New York Times reported at least 214,461 known infections and at least 4,800 related deaths.

Beyond these statistics, untold numbers of additional school and retail closures, and an expanding army of people working from home have also been directly affected by the virus.

Consumers both young and old have passed as the virus continues to spread across the country. Its viral wrath has spawned hot spots from the Pacific Northwest’s Seattle, to the Gulf Coast’s New Orleans, the Midwest’s Detroit and the nation’s largest urban metropolis, New York City.

Zeroing in on the economic impacts of the crisis, people everywhere are struggling with competing needs in their lives. When living costs exceed avail-

Consumers and banks should stay away from payday loans

able financial resources, tough times lead to tough decisions about how to feed families, keep a home to live in, ways to keep utilities working and a myriad of other day-to-day needs.

Despite a $2 trillion federal rescue enacted with bipartisan support, checks of $1,200 promised to taxpayers, along with an additional $500 per child will arrive too late for first of the month April payments for bills like mortgages and rental payments. Many leaders also warn that despite its size or range of areas addressed, the legislation was

not enough.

In a March 27 House floor statement, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee warned colleagues that their job was not yet complete. “[I] must make clear that the legislation is far from comprehensive, and that there are issues it leaves unaddressed and areas where it falls short…

The American people need help now and this bill represents a down payment on that relief,” said Waters.

A similar reaction came from AARP chief executive Jo Ann Jenkins.

“Older Americans face the one-two punch of coronavirus’s health and economic consequences, and many need immediate relief and ongoing help and support to cope with the pandemic,” noted Jenkins. “Those needs are only set to grow in the weeks and months ahead.”

What can really make a difference between life’s success and failure is not

just what leaders do but also what they didn’t do when they had the chance.

The recent legislative package was silent on interest rates, as well as forgiveness of federal student loans, negative credit reports or bans on private evictions for late rental payments.

As the cost of living has risen faster and higher than most consumer incomes for more than a decade, the likelihood of a savings account large enough to cover household expenses for a month or more is slim to none.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the agency tasked with protecting consumers from unscrupulous lenders has been conspicuously subdued. Instead of forceful and timely agency alerts via multi-media communications warning consumers about opportunistic scam artists, CFPB has offered a modest tip sheet on how consumers – not government – can protect themselves. Fortunately, as the viral saga unfolds, some news outlets are reporting on the potential harms of consumers turning to payday and cartitle loans.

A joint response by five federal regulars – Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Con’t on page 15

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

COMMENTARY: The Political and Healthcare System is Broken and Corrupt in America

By Roger Caldwell, NNPA Newswire Contributor

“History is bound to repeat itself. Look at what went wrong in 1918 (Spanish Flu). Then do the opposite,” says the History Channel.

President Woodrow Wilson was the American President in 1918, when 675,000 Americans died as a result of the Spanish Flu and over 20 to 50 million people died around the world. This pandemic happened 100 years ago, and a lack of leadership from the federal government helped the flu spread like wildfire.

President Woodrow Wilson took no decisive measures with a coordinated federal plan and gaps were filled at the state and local level. There was a general lack of preparedness and the public health infrastructure was inadequate with no leadership and organization. Public officials lied, made up facts and 25% of the military personnel who had the flu, infected the citizens around the country.

The flu started in March 1918 and the second wave came in the fall, when the majority of Americans died. This mysterious strain of the flu happened during the end of World War I and moving lots of men and materials in crowded conditions contributed to the spread of the virus. America and nations around the globe refused to lockdown their countries and the flu spread rapidly.

“The chaotic culture of the Trump White House contributed to the crisis. A lack of planning and a failure to execute, com-

bined with the president’s focus on the news cycle and his preference for following his gut rather than the data cost time and perhaps lives,” says Eric Lipton of the NY Times. The 1918 pandemic lasted 1 year and there were 3 different waves where the majority of people died.

In order for the 2020 pandemic to end in America, the entire country must be shutdown in every state and the president must place large-scale orders for masks, protective equipment, critical hospital equipment, ventilators and community leaders educating their constituents. This is not a time for “happy talk.”

The Coronavirus Task Force must enforce the quarantine with military forces and local police.

China started its lockdown on January 23, 2020 and by the beginning of March, the country was starting to open back up.

They were able to get infected cases to low levels, and the United States must follow the same course of action. The population practiced social distancing and the government was able to test on a wide scale.

At this point, America’s testing process has failed, with testing of less than 1% of the population completed. There is no vaccine and more healthcare workers are getting infected with the virus with no time off. Before the country can be opened, there must be widespread testing and a national database of cases to prevent the spread of the virus.

With over 500,000 thousand Americans infected with the virus, and the most citizens to die in any country — over 20,000

— the political and healthcare system is broken. Instead of the pandemic slowing down, it is speeding up and rapidly growing.

In the African American community, the coronavirus is exposing systemic racism with frightening numbers. In Chicago, the Black population is 29% but 70% of the people dying from the virus are Black. In Louisiana, the Black population is 32% but 70% of the people

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dying from the virus are Black. In other cities, like Washington, DC, Baltimore, Detroit and Dallas, there are alarming numbers that indicate health disparities are killing more Blacks.

No one will save Blacks but us. However, Black leaders must sound the alarm. When America gets a cold, African American get pneumonia. There is a failure of leadership with President Donald Trump and his Vice President

Mike Pence managing and running the Coronavirus Task Force. They have done a terrible job, lying to Americans, with a general lack of preparedness.

There is glaring incompetency in Trump’s handling of the crisis, and the failure of testing has spread the virus.

As our president continues to fabricate the truth at every daily briefing, don’t believe anything President Trump promises.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

DELIVERY PERSON

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Contact: Tom Dunay

NOTICE

NEEDED

Phone: 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of860Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develWomen Minority Applicants are New encouraged to apply income limitations apopment & located at 108 Frank Street, Haven. Maximum Action/ Opportunity Employer ply.Affirmative Pre-applications willEqual be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME Reclaiming, INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preGarrity Asphalt Inc seeks: applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing Haven, CTbe06510. andFloor, cleanNew driving record, willing to travel throughout the North-

Part Time Delivery Needed

east & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

NOTICIA

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300

One/Two Day a Week,

Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/deEqual Opportunity Employer HOME INC, en nombre la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está

Must Have your Own Vehicle

If Interested call

aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipjulio,Must 2016have hastaacuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes ment.

CDL License, clean driving record, capable of(aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas operating heavydeequipment; be willing to travel throughout the por correo a petición llamando&a NY. HOME 203-562-4663 horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse Northeast We INC offeralexcellent hourlydurante rate &esas excellent benefits a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

Union Company seeks:

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

HELP WANTED:

NEW HAVEN

(203) 387-0354

Town of Bloomfield

Vehicle Mechanic Technician/Fleet Services (Non-CDL)

Diesel Mechanic Our team is currently looking for an experienced Diesel Mechanic to keep up our level of commitment to safety and customer service. In this role, the successful candidate will perform truck repair and maintenance work in accordance with factory and industry standards, run diagnostics on vehicles and work closely with other team members to meet company goals. Responsibilities may include but not be limited to performing minor and major repairs on trucks and trailers, conduct regular preventative maintenance on service trucks, perform regular diagnostic tests on trucks and maintain accurate records of each repair performed on vehicles. Experience is a plus, but willing to train the right candidates. Apply in person or apply online at americanind.net. American Industries, Inc. is an AA/EOE.

American Industries, Inc.

630 Plainfield Road, Jewett City, CT 06351

Construction/Paving Laborers and Operators We are looking to fill open Laborer and Operator positions on our Construction and Paving crews.

The job of a laborer varies, changing from day to day. They perform a variety of duties involving tool use, lifting, carrying, and managing equipment and machinery to provide support and aid to the skilled craftspeople on-site. Experience is a plus, but willing to train the right candidates.

As an Operator, we seek motivated individuals that will be able to arrive to the job site on time and are not afraid of hard work. Individuals must also be willing get off the machine and help on the ground when needed. The ideal candidate must also work well with the foreman and crew to ensure all projects are built to the highest quality standards. Operator Candidates must have experience running all sizes of equipment such as, minis, large and small excavators, dozers, loaders, and paving equipment (Material Transfer Machines, Pavers, Rollers, etc.).

$29.59/hourly (non-CDL) Invitation toApply Bid:in person or apply online at americanind.net. American Industries, Inc. is an AA/EOE. American Industries, Inc. 242-258 Fairmont Ave 2nd Notice $30.49/hourly (CDL) 630 Plainfield Road, Jewett City, CT 06351 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA Pre-employment drug testing. AA/EOE. SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Large CT guardrail company looking for Laborer/Driver with valid CT CDL Class A license and able to get a medical card. Must be able to pass a drug test and physical.

Compensation based on experience. Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE M-F

For Details go to www.bloomfieldct.gov All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center

Listing: Commercial Driver

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not PrevailingDriver Wagefor Rate Project and liquid asphalt deliveries. Position: day, evening and/or petroleum

Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

weekends. Previous experience required. Competitive wage, 401(k) and benefits.

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster St. New Haven, CT

Invitation to Bid: Colonial Village Suncrest Road, Scribner Ave, and West Cedar St Norwalk, CT (46 Buildings, 200 Units)

Send resume to: HR Manager, New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Cast- P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437. in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Water Treatment

Water Treatment Pumping Operator II. The Town of Wallingford Water Division is seeking qualified candidates Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016to maintain and operate facilities related to the Town’s water supply.

Must possess High school diploma or G.E.D. In addition candidates must possess one of Anticipated Start: the August 15, 2016 following experience and certification requirements: (A) Water Treatment Plant Class Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour Project documents available via ftp link below: IV Operator (WTP IV) certification with two (2) years of actual experience in a Class IV Contract Documents call for: 2 Phased Renovation of 46, 2-story wood framed bldgs. until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, water treatment plant, or (B) Water Treatment Plant Class IV Operating-in-Training (WTP Exterior work to include: site-work, landscaping, fencing and sidewalks, new siding, roofing, windows,http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage front porches and small addition to Seymour, CT 06483 Replacement at the louvers and vents, interior finishes, gypsum IV OIT) certification with three (3) years of actual experience in a Class IV water treatment accessible units.

Interiorfor workConcrete to include:Sidewalk new kitchenRepairs cabinets,and appliances, bath renovations, plant, with the ability to obtain the WTP IV certification within twelve (12) months from board,Living painting, flooring, 26 window treatments, electrical and new HVAC systems.

Smithfield Gardens Assisted Facility, Smith Street Seymour.

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com the date of hire, or (C) Water Treatment Plant Class III Operator (WTP III) certification This contract is subject to contract compliance requirements.

HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses with a minimum of four (4) years of qualifying experience. $27.47 - $33.34 hourly plus Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority 285:00pm Smith an excellent fringe benefit package. Application forms will be mailed upon request from Bid Due Date: April 24,Office 2020 @ AA/EEO EMPLOYER is Tax Exempt.

State of CT Wage Rate Project. the Human Resources Department. Phone: (203)-294-2080. Fax (203)-294-2084 Email Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, onProject Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Project documents available via ftp link below: wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov . The closing date will be the date the 50th application or re-

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=colonialvillage

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority OfFax or Email Questions & Bids to: Estimating Department @ 203-881-8372 estimating@haynesct.com fice, 28 Smith Street, CT (203)of888-4579.

HCCSeymour, encourages the06483 participation all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483

AA/EEO EMPLOYER The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

CITY OF MILFORDSeeking qualified condidates to fill numerous vacancies to include,Public Works Office & Administator Operations Manager, Information Technology Manager, and more. For information and detailed application instructions, visit WWW.ci.milford.ct.us Click on SERVICES, JOBS and JOB TITLE.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

New to working from home? Here are some tips

sitting for long periods of time is said to put you at a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, depression, and obesity?

Simply stepping away from your desk and taking a walk, stretching or some form of activity can reduce the negative effects of too much sitting. If you have other individuals in the house, taking breaks affords you the opportunity to connect with them and shift your mind from any stressful thinking you may be engaged in.

By Chida Rebecca, Editor-in-Chief, Black & Magazine

The idea of working from home has always been a glamorized one. Rolling out of bed whenever you’d like, sitting poolside with your favorite drink at noon.

Man! That sounds like a day anyone would enjoy. Especially if you find yourself working for a company that you may not particularly like physically going to.

In the last few weeks, we’ve seen corporations big and small come to a major halt due to COVID-19. Businesses have essentially locked their doors and are requiring employees to work from home.

While some may have been excited, others are realizing that working from home is not for everyone.

I grew up in a family business and was accustomed to working for long hours at my desk. I had an innate discipline that helped me stay glued to my seat and maybe a little too much. But as times changed and opportunities arose for me to work from home, I realized that I had to implement some different habits at home than that of my former office space. For those of you that are new to “working from home,” here are a few tips I’ll share with you to help you in your transition.

Pick a Designated Work Area When I started working from home, I thought I could sit on my bed, spread out documents and my laptop and have at it. Well, I soon found that I would start off sitting up, legs crossed and attentive, then progressively move into a slouched position, followed by a full-on fetal position with complete attention on the television while my computer and papers were strewn off to the edge of the

Create an End Time

bed. Talk about a reality check. After being in denial about the obvious distractions, I opted to get an actual desk with a chair and sit there. I went from papers all over the house to everything being in one central location. The desk and chair in a designated part of the house started me off with the structure I need to work efficiently.

Structure Your Time This is a must. Try to keep the same hours you had when you were physically going to work. Working from

home can be one of the biggest distractions there is. From the television to the kitchen to the laundry and even YOUR BED! These are all things that will beg for your attention during the times you should be working. When I first started working from home, my house seemed magical. It just had a different feeling on Wednesday at 11 am than a Saturday or Sunday at 11 am did. If you don’t structure your time you won’t get anything done. The great thing about going to work is that your office was, for the most part, a space designated purely for work.

It pretty much shaped how you worked

and to what degree. Your home is usually considered a place for rest and relaxation – a place you escape to. So, understand your brain is going to need some slight rewiring and some patience.

Take Your Breaks ‘In the workforce, breaks are mandated. According to Psychology Today, “A ‘break’ is a brief cessation of work, physical exertion, or activity. You decide to give it a rest with the intention of getting back to your task within a reasonable amount of time.” Did you know that

Knowing when to start working is just as important as knowing when to stop.

When I initially started working from home, I found that when I got into a good flow, it was hard to stop. So, I wouldn’t. I would sit from 7 am until 11 pm at times with minimal breaks. I was determined to ride out the wave of productivity, sometimes working beyond midnight.

My dad would always encourage me not to work past the midnight hour because I was cheating myself out of the next day.

He was right. Pushing yourself beyond an established cut off point can lead to burnout quickly. Ultimately, it’s about setting boundaries with yourself. Give it your all within the time allotted and then stop. Put all your focus and energy into the hours you set, the same way you did when you physically clocked in at work.

When you’re done – then you’re done.

Save work for the next day. There will ALWAYS be something to do. Time is the one thing we cannot replace. Remember to unplug and regroup.

Chida Rebecca is the Editor-in-Chief is San Diego’s only digital Black lifestyle magazine called “Black & Magazine”. www.blackandmagazine.com

Individual Stimulus Checks Begin to Arrive, What Should You Expect?

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

Payments from the $2.3 trillion federal coronavirus stimulus package have begun hitting individual bank accounts.

In a memo, IRS Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the first round of payments were sent on Thursday, April 9, and should arrive in bank accounts beginning no later than Tuesday, April 14.

Most Americans are eligible for and will receive stimulus payments, except for those who owe back child support payments.

Single-filers who make less than $75,000 will receive $1,200, while married couples making less than $150,000 are scheduled to get $2,400. An additional $500 payment will be provided to households for each child under 17.

The IRS will base the payments on the adjusted gross income of taxpayers’ 2019

return. If a 2019 return hasn’t been filed (the deadline has been extended for two months), the IRS will use information from the 2018 return. If the return doesn’t contain direct deposit information, or if the IRS doesn’t have returns from 2018 or 2019, a paper check will be issued later.

Electronic payments also will go out to those receiving Social Security and disability, even if recipients don’t typically file a tax return.

For those who haven’t provided the IRS with bank account information, paper checks are expected to begin reaching households in May, but, in some cases, recipients won’t receive payment until September.

“If we have your bank information, you’ll get it within two weeks,” Mnuchin said. “Social Security, you’ll get it very quickly after that. If we don’t have your information, you’ll have a simple web portal, we’ll upload it. If we don’t have

that, we’ll send you checks in the mail.”

Treasury officials said they expect 50 million to 70 million Americans to have received directly deposited payments by April 15, which is one day later than what the IRS said it expects the deposits to be-

14

come available.

The IRS does plan to set up a portal on its website where filers can enter direct deposit information if the agency doesn’t already have those details. Those who have provided bank information on their 2018

or 2019 returns don’t have to do anything unless their information has changed.

As for paper checks, the Washington Post reported that the IRS plan would distribute those to the lowest-income Americans first, prioritizing payments for individual taxpayers with incomes of $10,000 or less on April 24.

Checks for earners of $20,000 or less would be in the mail May 1, followed by those with incomes of $30,000 on May 8, $40,000 on May 15, and continuing in income increments of $10,000 each week, according to the plan. The IRS plans to issue about 5 million checks each week.

Stimulus checks would be issued on Sept.

4 to joint taxpayers earning $198,000, the maximum allowed under the stimulus. All others would be sent on Sept. 11, in most cases, because the IRS did not have prior tax information for them, and they need to apply for the checks.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020 Con’t from 11

payday loans

To register logon to: https://www.tpfct.org/ and tap the red button that says "COVID-19 Business Webinar" Questions? Please email: info@tpfct.org.

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Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) – came on March 26 in a statement that encouraged banks, savings and loans, and credit unions to offer “responsible small dollar loans” to consumers and small businesses during the pandemic.

According to the regulators, “responsible small-dollar loans can play an important role in meeting customers’ credit needs because of temporary cash-flow imbalances, unexpected expenses, or income disruptions during periods of economic stress or disaster recoveries.”

Without any specifics defining “reasonable small dollar loans”, the regulators’ statement could be an inducement to join triple-digit lenders’ financial exploitation.

For Black America and other communities of color, predatory short-term loans of $500 or less began decades ago when payday and car-title storefronts took prominent residence in our neighborhoods across the country. Loans that were marketed as quick fixes for millions of consumers morphed into long-term financial nightmares that deepened debt with every renewal. In many cases, the interest paid on these loans was often double or triple the amount of principal borrowed.

A coalition of civil and consumer rights organizations released a joint statement warning of the possible spike in high-cost lending by the nation’s depository institutions – banks, credit unions and savings and loans.

“This is the worst possible time for banks to make predatory payday loans,” said Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, the Center for Responsible Lending, Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights, NAACP, National Consumer Law Center.

“Around the time of the last recession, a handful of banks issued ‘deposit advances’ that put borrowers in an average of 19 loans a year at over 200% annual interest,” continued the leaders. “These bank payday loans disproportionately harmed the financially vulnerable and badly damaged banks’ reputations. Since 2013 when regulatory guidance warned against this form of credit, banks have mostly stayed away. We trust that they will continue to do so as they do not want to repeat mistakes of the past.”

Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at charlene. crowell@responsiblelending.org.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 22, 2020 - April 28, 2020

When staying home is important, staying connected matters.

Whether you need to check in on family, video-chat with coworkers or just take a minute to relax with your favorite shows and movies, Xfinity has you covered with fast, reliable Internet. We’ll send you a free Self-Install Kit to make setup quick, safe and easy. No tech visit required. And our simple digital tools will help you manage your account online from the comfort of your home.

Go to xfinity.com to learn more.

Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. Š 2020 Comcast. All rights reserved. NPA231209-0011 NED AA Q2 CVD V12

137040_231209-011 COVID ad 9.25x10.5 New Haven City News V12.indd 1

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