by Jisu Sheen
165 Years of House, the documentary that New Haven teacher and filmmaker Raven Mitchell is carefully constructing, describes concentric circles of community working together to support young people’s development. Mitchell uses this lens, based on a model called Bronfrenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, to describe the importance of Hillhouse High School over its 165 years of existence.
From interpersonal bonds in the family to parent-teacher relationships, connections to media and beyond, according to this model, each circle of community has an impact on the other levels and, ultimately, the child at the center.
On Saturday afternoon at NXTHVN art gallery in Dixwell, several of these circles were at play as Mitchell presented a sneak peek of her documentary-in-progress to a room full of intergenerational love, support, and family of all kinds.
“This isn’t a one and done,” Mitchell promised, “this is something I want to live on.”
Her documentary preview event Saturday was one step on the journey toward a premiere by the end of the summer. The whole endeavor is part of Mitchell’s new nonprofit Corvus Divinus, putting together community events and canvassing to help people in the area get housing resources and more.
On top of it all, Mitchell is herself a teacher at Hillhouse, one who advocates for a better school for herself, her coworkers, and her students. Her goal, in her own words, is “to cultivate the New Haven we want to live in.”
Before the documentary preview, Connecticut Arts Hero Marcella Monk Flake led a group of the Monk Youth Jazz & STEAM Collective’s young “scholar-artists” in a performance of Useni Eugene Perkins’ poem “Hey Black Child” and two dance numbers, set to Beyoncé’s “My Power” and 1970s disco hit “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” by McFadden & Whitehead. Flake emphasized the importance of encouraging young people’s dreams, saying, “it goes around and goes around.”
As the 165 Years of House preview began, the audience hushed. The documentary took the viewers through the history of the public high school, which used to be called just “New Haven High School.” The film tracked how its circles of community have adjusted to modern challenges like social media, local political turmoil, and a public school system where some schools have 18 to 20 percent of students commuting in from suburbs. Mitchell focused on one-on-one interviews with Hillhouse teachers, alumni, and students to put together her story.
Robert Gibson, one of her interviewees, belonged to multiple categories, recounting his experience in the “House family” as a high school student, his life after graduation, and his decision to pursue teaching, eventually returning to Hillhouse as an educator. Another interviewee, Chakour Baio, said even after a whole freshman year spent trying to leave the school, he’s gained a larger perspective and is now proud to be a House alum. It seemed Mitchell’s documentary team was both a reflection of the community
around her and a surefire way to strengthen those bonds. Her journalism students from Hillhouse helped with some of the photography for the documentary, getting the rare chance to tell their own narrative on screen. Mitchell received a phone call of support Saturday morning from the widow of one of her documentary collaborators, Tom Ficklin, who died before this stage of the project.
Melissa Lillo, Corvus Divinus’s marketing and housing specialist, said the team had to be creative in gathering resources to support these documentary events, citing the halt in grants under the new presidential administration. They decided to bring the family together to fill in the gaps. Lillo figured out how to construct a food menu for refreshments, and Mitchell’s literal family members were in the room Saturday, key players in making the whole operation run.
Mitchell’s mother, Vivian Mitchell, and father, Anthony Mitchell, were behind the food counter, making sure everyone got a plate. Vivian Mitchell beamed behind generous trays of fruit, buffalo chicken dip, and nachos, offering sheets of aluminum foil as the event was winding down so people could take plates for home. When someone in line mentioned wanting to get some of the banana pudding, Vivian Mitchell responded, “Come get you a lot of some!” She found it obvious that, as Raven’s family, she should be there to support in any way she could. “That’s my baby!” she said.
Mitchell’s children were there as well, offering chairs to the guests, managing the room, and distributing shirts. The first 20 RSVPs received a free shirt, and more were available for a fee that went toward making the next event possible.
At first, Mitchell said, she thought it would be a lot harder to pull this documentary project off. But she brought up the idea with one person, who brought it up to another, and so on. “I got a lot more support than I thought I would,” she said. Her documentary itself served as an explainer for how one person’s idea could translate to a film, a packed preview event with refreshments and performances, customized shirts, and the hope of a big premiere later in the year. What more did Mitchell have to say? She’s part of the House family.
By Lucy Gellman
Caden Davila-Sanabría was having quite the Monday afternoon. Already, she had slipped into costume and practiced a curtain speech, her first ever in four years of high school. She had given peers a crash course on the Brothers Grimm, complete with a reminder that not everything was ever as it seemed. Now, she was shape-shifting into a world-weary single mom, ready to give her son Jack—who had sold a cow for magic beans—a stern talking to.
That burst of energy and enchantment landed at 177 College St. this month, as Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods comes to Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School for a whirlwind 72 hours. Directed by drama teacher Robert "Espo" Esposito and a talented team of students, educators and tiara-sporting administrators, the work has become a testament to teamwork, unexpected camaraderie, and the belief that magic can happen anywhere, if there are the people to make it so.
No beanstalks were harmed in the making of this show. Performances run March 11 through 13 at 6 p.m. Tickets and more information are available here.
"I thought, 'It's way too hard, it's way too complex, it's way too long—so it's perfect,'" said Esposito with a laugh at a dress rehearsal Monday afternoon, as a Giant (Elodie Lafortune) scurried up behind him before checking her mic. "It's been a wonderful and unique experience. It is a hard show, and they [students] have come to embrace it so fully. They have made it shine."
First written in 1986, Into The Woods follows several Grimm-era fairy tale characters who become unstuck in time and space, and sing their way to a not quite happy ending. There is the Baker (Aaron Steed) and his Wife (Marangelie Colón), who desperately want a child; Little Red Riding Hood (Payton Goodwin) on her way to visit her Granny (Jeniya Henry); Cinderella (Elle McPhaill) and her evil stepmother (Max Hoffman) and sisters (Jayla Bosley and Nadia Okwuosa); Jack (Dakarai Langley, who folds in some fancy footwork) and his bedraggled mother (Davila-Sanabría); a Prince (Ali’jah Steed) and his winsome brother (Robert Jones), who are both looking for brides. And of course there’s a Witch (Kayla Quintanilla)—what fairy tale is complete without a witch?—who keeps her adopted daughter Rapunzel (La’riah Norman) locked away in a tower and propels the dark, strange and sometimes dreamy magic of this show. In another world, these fantastical characters might remain separate, relegated to the neat confines of their respective stories. But this is Sondheim, where stranger and more macabre things have happened. So when a narrator (Fallon Williams) appears onstage with a heavy, well-loved tome, we know it’s only a matter of time until these fairytale
worlds collide.
“This show is incredibly layered and incredibly complex, dealing with themes of guilt, loss, love, friendship, breaking the cycles and finding who we’re meant to be,” said Davila-Sanabría, a senior in the creative writing department who jumped onboard as the school's inaugural production dramaturg, at a rehearsal Monday night. “This cast has handled it incredibly well.”
Esposito, who arrived at Co-Op in 2005, has wanted to direct the show for years; it’s been on his short list (“which is two and a half pages long,” he joked) for as long as he can remember. But it always seemed like a little bit of a gamble: Into The Woods runs almost three hours, with a score that is rigorous and complex enough for even seasoned actors to get tongue-tied in. It’s darkly layered, with nods to pedophilia, lying, theft, infidelity, and abandonment that can feel heavy, even in a farce.
“It’s musical Shakespeare,” Esposito said. On top of it all, characters have to balance that weight with an ability to poke fun at each other and themselves. So he was thrilled when, after the show was announced, students hit the ground running.
The result is a play suffused with wit, humor and immense humanity, in which students carry not just their own parts, but also each other. As the curtain opens on a storybook freeze-frame—or several, arranged as vignettes across the stage— they root themselves in this place, turning a high school auditorium into an enchanted universe. From the audience, a person can hear and see the Baker’s longing for a child, sense the Witch’s smoldering, siz-
zling hurt, feel Jack’s connection to his old, emaciated cow, Milky White. At the center of it all, Quintanilla is electric, with rafter-raising vocals that the auditorium can barely contain.
There are plenty of moments like this that make the show surprisingly propulsive for its marathon-like run time. Take Cinderella, who McPhaill mines for both her humor and her heart. As she raises her voice towards the rafters, there’s a sadness and edge there that seems well
a tenderness and hurt there that feels impossibly, shockingly deep and vulnerable. So too when Colón responds, and Davila-Sanabría breathes a gentle “That’s okay too!” Suddenly, and just for a moment, they could be two women in a coffee shop, hashing out their plans and regrets together. That revelation strikes again with Langley, a fast-emerging triple threat whose big-voiced Jack is entirely relatable.
Students also understand the farce, playing it straight until suddenly they don't. As the Baker’s Wife, Colón refuses to make herself small or docile (she channels more of Sarah Barielles, who held the role in a 2022 Broadway revival, than Joanna Gleason, who originated it in 1987), jumping into casual, sometimes barbed conversation without ever straying from her lines or missing a note. Goodwin, a senior in the dance department, plays Red as something of a springy, bright jack in the box, delighting the audience when she imbues the role with big Buffy the Vampire Slayer energy. As the Prince, Steed nails it, puffing out his chest and dramatically flinging his cape for a rendition of “Agony” that makes it nearly impossible not to laugh. Norman, who has acted since her freshman year, turns Rapunzel inside out, rocking a blonde bob by the end of the show.
Even smaller performances shine here: a beaming, comically suave Willie Smokes and papier-mâché sidekick steal the spotlight as Milky White more than once. A bearded, manic Lyric Albo is the Mysterious Man that the show didn’t know it could have, with a shock of bright white hair and kind of elven two-step that is magnificent. In a breakout role as the Steward, Alyah Rodriguez makes fun of both herself and of the idea of royalty, miming a horse as she lays the comedy on thickly.
And of course, the music does the rest. At a dress rehearsal Monday afternoon, Williams let one hand glide through the air, the other cradling a giant storybook as she spoke into the audience in a muscled, even voice and got the ball rolling. At one corner of the stage, Langley sat cross-legged on the ground, looking despondent, Milky White beside him. At the other, McPhaill crouched by a cardboard chimney, flames springing up inside. In the middle, Steed and Colón looked into a hearth, the roaring center of a home that was still too empty for them.
beyond her years, a reminder of how much her character has lost. But there’s magic too: birds flock to her, a tree opens up to reveal a sweet-voiced, midsummery forest spirit (Jakelyn Reyes-Barrios); a ballgown appears from thin air and gets her to the ball on time. And she’s funny, perhaps the first to question what happens after happily ever after becomes a thing. Or Davila-Sanabría, who tells Colón to be careful with her kids—not realizing she has struggled with fertility—with
One by one, characters began to share their wishes until their voices were weaving in and out of each other, scaffolding for the show that was about to unfold. By the end of three hours, their ranks would be reduced, and they would be reminding each other how not to let the isolation get the best of them.
Surely, several students said afterward, it’s meant to feel like a journey that is foreign and yet not, particularly for a number
by Maya McFadden
Rather than watch students present midyear projects, 20 New Haven educators and school staffers stood at the front of the “class” to present their own research to their peers about what to look out for when it comes to student wellbeing and mental health.
They did so on Monday as part of New Haven Public Schools’ (NHPS) fourth mental health and first aid training session for school district staff.
A group of 20 teachers, counselors, and administrators attended that session in Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School’s library on Kimberly Avenue in the Hill. The school district partnered with the local behavioral health nonprofit BHcare to host the voluntary training.
NHPS Social-Emotional Learning Coordinator Monica Abbott said the district offers the training several times a year for student-facing staff to get up-to-date guidance for wellbeing practices for students. “The intention [is to] ensure staff understand the health challenges and conditions our students may face,” she said.
Staffers from Brennan Rogers, Worthington Hooker, Cross, Career, Betsy Ross, Hill Central, Celentano, BOMUS, Jepson, FAME, Davis, Co-op, Clemente, and the district’s drop-out prevention team joined the Monday training.
Educators learned about a variety of mental health conditions that students could be struggling with including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, psychosis, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and substance abuse. As non-experts in the realm of mental health, participants aimed to recognize some common signs of these conditions and to develop strategies that could help them to connect students and families to resources.
Before, during, and after the Covid pandemic, Abbott said there have been steady increases in K 12 students’ needs for mental-health supports. In 2020, the district began having the conversation about how to better equip staff with strategies for students needs with the goal of helping kids feel a deeper sense of belonging in school buildings on a daily basis.
“School is a place where you can come to get the help you need,” she said.
Abbott recalled taking the course two years ago and immediately using strategies learned a week later both at work and home. She recalled a list of questions the training taught her to go through with an individual when trying to determine if that person dealing with a mental health crisis should be left alone or not for their own safety. She used this strategy in the past when dealing with overwhelmed staff and with her own teenager. She learned to give her children space when necessary during intense moments.
Monday’s training ran from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with an afternoon lunch break. The
program already has a waitlist for its next fall session offering, Abbott said. She concluded that the training builds capacity for staff to learn facts about mental-health challenges rather than relying on assumptions and stigmas placed on certain disorders. She said the training will continue to be a priority investment the district makes for staff and students. At around 11 a.m., staff worked in small groups after being assigned a mental health disorder or challenge to research and present on.
The teams defined the disorders as they read about them in their workbooks, noted down what crisis responses are typically associated with each disorder, looked up new facts, and listed a support or resource that can help.
While groups presented their findings, the training’s co-facilitator from BHcare, Lorrie McFarland, pointed out connections between the different disorders, like how depression worsens with substance abuse.
One group notes that recent studies found that 2 percent of preschool-aged youth have been found to be depressed.
BRAMS math teacher Kimberley Steele pointed out common crisis responses when it comes to depression can look like students not engaging in class discussions or fighting with their peers.
Another group focused on learning about anxiety. They noted on a poster paper that crisis responses may look like panic attacks and suicidal thoughts.
Edgewood School Assistant Principal Angela Brunson wrote on her group’s
agreed that it is a difficult conversation to have when families have their own stigmas around mental health. McFarland suggested conversations be focused on addressing that “it’s not about a thing, or something they don’t have. It’s about their mental and thoughts.”
Tortora said that Monday’s training will be helpful for her work and personal life. Her goal is to help support her kindergartners’ families by being able to steer them to get help when needed.
She said despite being in elementary school, her students can experience the loss of family members or friends. Because they’re so young, they might not yet know how to verbalize their feelings or the reasons for their behaviors.
She saw firsthand her entire class of students in the past deal with the trauma of losing a classmate to a fatal disease. She added that after the Covid-19 pandemic, she hoped to equip herself with as many strategies as possible to support students in moments of distress.
“I want to promote self-regulation while they’re young,” she concluded. “It’s my job more times than not to help them navigate their big feelings.”
She suggested that everyone in the school district be required to complete Monday’s training.
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poster that those with anxiety may “overestimate the threat from situations they fear” or underestimate their ability to handle situations.
Another group looking into substance abuse noted down that 60 percent of 12 to 13 year olds have tried alcohol.
McFarland followed up to explain that in recent years, alcohol remains a common substance on which youth are educated. There’s less education, however, about vaping and cannabis usage.
“Is vaping still the biggest issue for you guys in school?” she asked Monday’s group. Several of the staffers nodded yes. “There is so much self-medication going on with adolescence. And this is usually a part of things like this,” she said. “A lot of people do so because they can’t afford professional help or if you’re a child, you don’t want to say things to their parents because they don’t want them to have to get another job to afford it.”
Worthington Hooker kindergarten teacher Laura Tortora noted that stereotypes also play a role for why disorders can sometimes go overlooked. She used depression as an example, sharing that many times depression is labeled as “just being sad or a moody teen.” McFarland agreed, noting that if signs of depression continue for longer than two weeks, it typically is not “just a phase.”
One staffer asked the group Monday how she should tackle conversations with parents when their students are struggling in school but the parents’ only response is, “But they have nothing to be depressed about.” Several in the group
Co-op social worker Dana Marston took Monday’s training for the second time. She did so to refresh her knowledge because “oftentimes students are just seen as being defiant, but that could just be a sign that there are serious troubles.”
Marston said another issue is that when some parents hear disorder terminology, they see it as a “life sentence.” The training, Marston said, gives staff the skills to understand and see students as whole humans who may also struggle with trauma and mental health impacts.
“If their mental health is not in check, nothing’s in check,” she concluded.
Brennan Rogers Principal Kimberly Daniley said she has noticed that each year schools must support more youth who have experienced trauma. Monday’s training only helped heighten that awareness.
“I want to have as much info as possible to meet their needs and help them thrive,” she said.
She described a “pandemic effect” that is, the trauma felt by many young people after the socialization limitations during Covid. She hopes to work toward helping to “rebalance” students after such a mass traumatic event.
She concluded that she is hopeful more workshops will be offered to help provide staff with tools to address present-day challenges.
“I believe in equipping general education teachers with tools to meet the needs of all,” Daniley said. “I believe it should have never just resided with special education.”
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By Lucy Gellman
The Rev. Cecil Tengatenga raised his hands, welcoming two of New Haven's forgotten spirits into Trinity Episcopal Church. "Come, Mother Lucy, your nameless name, ancestor." Drums rose and rolled through the sanctuary, sound weaving in between the pews and up through the choir loft. "Come, Sister Lois, your nameless name, ancestor." An Udu drum, palmed at exactly the right moment, made a sound like falling water. "Come, give us your protection."
Those sacred words came to Trinity on the Green Sunday night, in a service of lamentation and healing for Lucy and Lois Tritton, a mother and daughter who were enslaved in Nova Scotia and New Haven, and sold as property on the New Haven Green on March 8, 1825. At the time, it marked the last known sale of enslaved Black people in New Haven and in Connecticut, although slavery in the state remained legal through 1848. Two centuries later, the service is part of a growing effort to tell their stories, which are pieces of both New Haven and national American history.
Roughly 100 people attended, lifting the pair up in song, prayer, and collective reflection. Many of them are part of the nascent St. Luke's & Trinity Restoration Project, which seeks to rebuild healing and trust between the two churches. St. Luke's was founded in 1844, when a number of Black people split off from Trinity—where they were relegated to a section at the back of the church—and founded their own house of worship.
"The vision was a service that was rooted in our Christian faith but also spoke to the need for healing," said historian and author Jill Marie Snyder, who grew up in St. Luke's and discovered Lucy Tritton’s story while writing a history of the church around 1997 (she now attends Dixwell UCC). "It's time to acknowledge the pain."
"I view Lucy and Lois as trauma survivors," she added during the service.
"Their ability to carry on and move from bondage to freedom with grace inspires me."
That begins with the story of Lucy and Lois Tritton themselves, whose painful past can and should inform New Haven's present. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Lucy was kidnapped and stolen from her home in West Africa with her father and mother. From there, enslavers brought her to St. Thomas, where the Danish West India Company operated a slave depot in the port city of Charlotte Amalie through the mid nineteenth century.
Records show that enslavers sold Lucy and her father to a General R. Tritton, a ship captain who lived in London with his family. At some point in the late eighteenth century, the Tritton family moved from England to Nova Scotia, in what was then the very nascent Dominion of Canada. That's where, in 1799, Lois was
born. Snyder writes that she was recorded as the "enslaved ‘mulatto’ child' of Mrs. Tritton," a sobering reminder of the treatment of people as property that followed the creation of race and racism in the sixteenth century.
By then, Captain Tritton was dead; he drowned at sea in 1790 when his ship sank during a storm. But the Tritton family maintained their connections to New Haven, where they had owned a second home and attended Trinity Episcopal Church when it was still just a wooden building on the New Haven Green. In the years that followed Tritton's death, his widow Sara used the mother and daughter as collateral for a loan, which traded hands multiple times before the mid-1820s. Then in 1824, New Haven’s sheriff announced an auction on the New Haven Green, at which the two would be sold.
"Before being auctioned on the Green,
certificate," Snyder recalled in her narrative. Instead, she was forced to work for Sanford for several additional years, eventually buying her freedom for $600. It was a cost she never should have had to pay: the Connecticut Gradual Abolition Act of 1784 meant that she should have been free after turning 21 years old. Or as Snyder writes: "It’s likely that Mr. Sanford paid off the loan that Mrs. Tritton owed, and, unknowingly, Lois repaid Mr. Sanford."
From that point, Lois worked alongside her mother as a laundress, marrying the Middletown-born Asa Jeffrey in 1832. While she had one son, a barber named Henry, the couple also lost two babies, said A. Joy Burns, a member of the Amistad Committee and the Yale & Slavery Research Project. Perhaps for that reason, or perhaps for another, their marriage dissolved sometime in the mid nineteenth century. Meanwhile, in 1844, Lucy Tritton became one of the founders of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, according to records that are still in the church's possession.
“The story of Lucy and Lois is not a story of uncomplicated freedom," said Rev. Heidi Thorsen, associate rector at Trinity, in a statement before Sunday's service. "Instead, it is a story that compels us to consider the reasons that Lois wasn’t simply freed at so many points along her journey, including after the auction and so-called emancipation. It is a story of state, regional, and national significance, inviting us to think about our ongoing commitment to the liberation of all people.”
Valarie Stanley and Geri Mauhs read "A Litany for Those Not Ready for Healing," by Dr. Yolanda Pierce. Stanley and Mauhs were both members of a small planning committee that helped put the event together. That group also included Snyder and Rev. Heidi Thorsen.
Her historical research took a scientific bent (Snyder, who may be one of New Haven's most brilliant and inquisitive minds, endearingly self-identifies as nerdy). Snyder immersed herself in research around trauma, including the study of inherited, generational trauma known as epigenetics. The field, which has since become part of understanding things like preterm birth among Black mothers, informed both her understanding of history and her own trauma response centuries later.
"In the 1960s, New Haven was a model city for its redevelopment projects," she said. "Today, we can begin the work to make New Haven a model city for healing and racial reconciliation."
Those words echoed again and again through the service, from the pulpit to a quiet, candle-filled columbarium in the back where Black members were once required to sit. Taking the mic between hymns and selected scripture, young parishioners told the story of Lucy and Lois in four parts, their voices bringing a heavy, weighted past into New Haven's present. Reader Arianna Chi Daniley-DeYounge, who sometimes attends St. Luke's with her grandfather, later said that she found the service meaningful for its deep dive into New Haven history. Holding that message as he spoke, the Rev. Dr. Leon Bailey urged attendees to move past the very mortal silos in which they have placed themselves, and consider what it means to be connected as spiritual kin. Two hundred years after Lucy and Lois were kidnapped, trafficked, and kept in bondage for the color of their skin and their country of origin, Bailey suggested that the impulse to identify and categorize is still deadly—particularly when it is used to subjugate other human beings.
Lucy and Lois were marched through New Haven’s downtown streets, led by a drummer, shouting, 'slaves for sale,'" Snyder remembered in a narrative that young parishioners read Sunday night. As the words rang out across the church, they felt freshly raw, like part of a wound that had been left not to mend and heal, but to fester and rot.
In March of 1825, Lucy and Lois became the property of a Mr. Anthony Sanford, an ostensible abolitionist who purchased the women for $10 each. At the time, according to records in the New Haven Museum, Sanford issued freedom certificates to Lucy and Lois, which would have granted them emancipation (New Haven, by this time, had a sizable community of free Black people, notable among them engineer and entrepreneur William Lanson).
And yet "Lois, in her many interviews, never mentioned receiving a freedom
Sunday, that was on full display as Snyder opened the service with her own story of ancestry and lineage, lamentation and healing, trauma and survival. Fifteen years ago, Snyder began looking into a centuries-removed relative, Henry Jones, with only a name and the knowledge that he had fled slavery in the South during the nineteenth century.
As she delved into research, she learned that he was born into slavery in 1819, on a plantation in the now-small town of Winchester, Virginia. When he was six, enslavers took him away from his mother and sold him to another household "as a wedding gift," Snyder recalled, her voice steady but thick with grief. In the 1840s, Jones fled, making the dangerous journey North until he settled in Elmira, New York.
"His obituary says that he waded through swamps and traversed mountains until he reached Elmira," Snyder recalled. "I was so moved when I read his story, I fell to my knees and cried. I sobbed. And at the same time, I was shocked by my emotional reaction."
"We are so enmeshed in our human identities that we cannot see who we are spiritually," he said. "We're not paying attention to where we are wounded. We have to begin to embrace that higher dimension of ourselves."
"We have to stop turning a blind eye to white privilege," he later added. "... It takes something to open ourselves up to healing and to acknowledge that we have the power to name it, and to address it, and to cure it."
In the silent 15-minute period for reflection that followed, attendees appeared to take those words very much to heart. Toward the back of the church, dozens lined up at the columbarium—now used to hold the ashes of congregants who have been cremated and interred in the space— to light candles for the millions of lives lost to and altered by enslavement. Nearby, people received prayers of healing and wrote confessions on slips of paper, dropping them into a heavy, thick crystal bowl filled with water.
by Thomas Breen
As a construction crew worked to lay the foundation for “ConnCAT Place on Dixwell,” redevelopers behind the neighborhood-transforming effort gathered in an underground classroom a few hundred feet away to lay the foundation for a more diverse, locally rooted construction workforce.
Such is the latest with the building up of the former Dixwell Plaza site on Dixwell Avenue between Webster and Charles streets.
Connecticut Community Outreach and Revitalization Program (ConnCORP) officially broke ground on the first part of the project a planned new 69,000 square-foot headquarters for ConnCAT, a related nonprofit worker training center last October.
That office building is scheduled to be complete and open by March 2026. It marks the start of a larger redevelopment vision that dates back years. Other city-approved components include 186 units of mixed-income apartments, a Cornell ScottHill Health child mental health and family center, a Friends Center for Children-affiliated daycare, a grocery store and food hall, a greenspace, retail storefronts, and a performing arts venue.
On Monday at noon, nearly a dozen members of the development team, including ConnCORP CEO Erik Clemons and Vice President of Real Estate Ian Williams, suited up in white hard hats and yellow vests to tour the active construction site.
General contractor Whiting-Turner’s construction crew has already placed the new ConnCAT office building’s footings there and is getting ready to install steel frames on the southern portion of the site. While that construction work is underway, ConnCORP has undertaken a different type of redevelopment that promises to have just as transformative an impact on the neighborhood and New Haven at large.
That’s the organization’s planned new Construction Academy, which ConnCORP and ConnCAT are looking to launch in mid-April.
The academy will be run out of a newly built classroom below ground at the former Hill Health clinic building at the corner of Dixwell and Charles, which marks the northeastern-most edge of the Dixwell Plaza redevelopment.
In that classroom, lead instructor Pat Medor and program director Steve Driffin will oversee training a 20-student cohort in the skills nec-
essary to become certified plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and HVAC technicians.
The program will complement other adult job-training efforts already undertaken by ConnCAT, including in the fields of medical billing and coding, phlebotomy, bioscience, and the culinary arts.
Medor, a general contractor who runs a company called Genexo Associates, said that the construction-training school will meet two times a week, for three hours a day, over the course of 22 weeks.
Driffin said that anyone 18 and older with a high school degree or GED is welcome to apply. New Haven residency is preferred, but not required.
The program is free to attend, though interested students do have to apply.
Clemons said that the program has already received more than 40 applications, just a few days after ConnCORP announced the effort.
Clemons said that the construction academy has been in the works for about a year.
“We made a promise to the community that people in this community would have an opportunity to work on this project,” he said. His team and Whiting-Turner soon realized that they were getting many fewer applications than they’d hoped for from contractors and subcontractors “who look like us,” who come from and live in New Haven, who are Black construction workers looking to help build up the center one of the city’s
historic Black neighborhoods. Clemons said that there are plenty of New Haveners who “have the knowhow and will” to work on a construction project like this, but who lack the necessary licenses and credit.
So ConnCORP identified which credentials would be needed to help people land jobs on developments projects like ConnCAT Place on Dixwell, and decided to build out a training program to help locals do exactly that.
“This gives these individuals an opportunity [for on-site, paid apprenticeships] while the building is going up,” Medor said. It’s “an opportunity for the youngsters to get into the trades.” After all, for as many things as artificial intelligence can and will do, “A.I. can’t put in a toilet.”
Williams said that attending this new construction academy will not guarantee a graduate a job working on the ConnCAT Place on Dixwell development project. Students have to earn those spots by putting in the work. But it will place them in an advantageous spot to land work on this development, and in New Haven, at a time when so much building is going on across the city.
Williams said that the project’s general contractor, Whiting-Turner, has agreed to incorporate eligible students from the construction academy into the Dixwell Plaza redevelopment. Clemons said the construction academy is working with the local job-placement program New Haven Works as the training program gets off the ground.
The classroom itself consists of a familiar setup of tables and chairs at the front of the room, as well as “working walls,” a drop ceiling towards, and other hands-on work stations to allow for more practical educational opportunities for the electricians and plumbers to-be.
Williams said that ConnCORP’s goal is to run two 20-student, 22-week construction academy sessions each year, if this first one set to start on April 14 is successful. “We’re gonna have a pipeline” of locally trained, locally rooted, certified and capable construction workers, he said. Based on how many applications ConnCORP has already received for this program, Clemons added, “there’s a market” for such a school.
Clemons marveled at the newly built-out classroom as he took a tour alongside his team Monday morning.
by Maya McFadden
High School in the Community (HSC) junior Japhet dreams of becoming the first college graduate in his family but also worries that dream won’t be possible if federal education cuts are made by the Trump administration.
Holding signs reading “People over profit” and “fund our schools,” Japhet marched alongside hundreds of fellow New Haveners to fight for the future of public education.
That was the scene Tuesday afternoon as nearly 300 New Haven school staffers, students, and community members marched through downtown from Gateway Community College to the Green to call on state and federal leaders to “protect our kids” through equitable and fair public education funding.
HSC juniors Japhet and Jonaily Colón, who serves on the Board of Education, said that the Tuesday rally’s energy and clear support for them as New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) students made them feel lucky and motivated to continue advocating for fully funded schools. While listening to Tuesday’s speakers, Colón said she couldn’t help but think about how we got to this point. “We’re all not on the same page because there are people who voted for this. We need to elect people that care,” she said.
Japhet said Tuesday’s rally reminded him of why this fight is necessary. He has goals to study fashion design at the University of Connecticut, and won’t be able to afford college if federal aid disappears. “I really want to go to college. I hope they wake up,” he said.
Tuesday’s march down Church Street brought together a coalition of community parters to pass along “a clear message to our leaders in Washington, D.C. that we will stand up and fight back to protect our kids and protect our schools,” New Haven Federation of Teachers President Leslie Blatteau declared.
It took place a day after the U.S. Senate confirmed Connecticut businesswoman Linda McMahon as the nation’s next education secretary, and as public school districts across the country brace for more budget cuts from President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has led efforts to cut around $1 billion from the Education Department so far, and House Republicans last year sought to reduce the agency’s budget by $11
billion. The department has justified canceling contracts in part by dismissing them as “wasteful and ideologically driven spending not in the interest of students and taxpayers.”
Ambar Santiago-Rojas, a youth member of the Semilla Collective and the New Haven Immigrants coalition, led the group through a moment of silence for 11-year-old Jocelynn Rojo Carranza from Texas, who committed suicide after bullies threatened to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on her parents.
Santiago-Rojas, who is a senior at Engineering and Science University Magnet School (ESUMS), told Tuesday’s crowd that she refuses to stay silent while her community is under attack. “The proposed federal education cuts would devastate students like me,” she said. “These cuts aren’t just numbers, they mean losing teachers, losing support, and losing opportunities that could change lives.”
Santiago-Rojas said that the fight is not just about school funding but also “about who gets the chance to suc-
and federal leaders Tuesday was a reminder that education is a right and not a privilege, and “Do not cut kids for tax cuts or you are going to face me and my community.”
Blatteau noted that if there are budget cuts by the Trump administration, the direct impact to New Haven’s public school system would be a loss of $21 million.
“Are we going to let it happen?” she asked. “No!” the crowd chanted back.
She called on the community to call their local state representatives to overturn Gov. Ned Lamont’s recent line item veto of the legislature’s approval of a $40 million increase to special education funding statewide.
American Federation of Teachers
President Randi Weingarten closed out Tuesday’s rally with a civics teacher’s hat on, reminding New Haveners that “the funding that they’re trying to gut right now is for kids who are poor.”
As speakers took the microphone, students from the crowd called out, “Our dreams matter!” and “We will win!”
If given the chance to talk directly to Musk or Secretary of Education McMahon, Weingarten said, she would ask: “Really, you’re going to take this money from our students for a tax cut that you don’t need?”
She added that there were over 2,000 actions like Tuesday’s around the country sending the same message for elected officials to stand with communities like New Haven’s that are defending public education against “harmful policies and dangerous cuts.”
According to the event’s press release, Tuesday’s advocates specifically called on state and local elected officials to:
• “Fully fund public education to ensure schools have equitable resources for all students;
ceed and who gets left behind.”
She noted New Haven families rely on schools for not just education but daily meals, support, and safety. She recalled being 7 years old attending rallies with her family and community during Trump’s first presidency. Her parents told her at the time, “Cry now, but we will stand up and fight later.” That instilled in her a passion to always fight for her community. “We are here to say we will not let them take away our futures,” she said.
Her concluding message to state
• Stop privatization attempts that siphon resources away from public schools and weaken communities;
• Adjust the fiscal roadblocks and create new equitable revenue streams through progressive taxation;
• Protect vulnerable communities by expanding of HUSKY for Immigrants and strengthening the TRUST Act;
• Improve access to public higher education by expanding the PACT program to state universities; &
• Uplift working families by establishing a Child Tax Credit and Just Cause Housing protections.”
by Melissa Liriano
LEAP (Leadership, Education, and Athletics in Partnership, Inc.) celebrated the 30th anniversary of its annual LEAP Year Event on Feb. 27, 2025. The event, held at the Dixwell Community Q House, was a resounding success and raised over $500,000 to support LEAP’s free programs for underserved children and teens in New Haven.
The evening began with a lively reception, where guests enjoyed complimentary food and drinks provided by The Wine Thief, Black Hog Brewery, and Culinary Concerts, along with live music by The CHILL Project, featuring Dudley Flake of the Monk Family. Guests were served by student volunteers from the Hopkins School Maroon Key Club, adding to the community spirit of the event. LEAP Executive Director Henry Fernandez welcomed the crowd, emphasizing the importance of local support in providing opportunities for New Haven’s young people, now more than ever.
Guests heard inspiring speeches from LEAP counselors and alumni, including Counselor Development Fellow Jaquan Brooks and Clinical Coordinator Chantalle Martin, who spoke about the impact LEAP had on their lives as former participants in the program. “Having LEAP as a safe space … to be mentored, to become better versions of ourselves, and even to be paid, helped to create an even tighter sense of community for us. LEAP was developing us as leaders of our community,” Chantalle said at the reception. Jaquan’s journey through LEAP’s children’s and leaders-in-training programs, and Chantalle’s experience as a leader-in-training, junior counselor, and senior counselor, showcased the power of LEAP’s mentorship model and its dedication to fostering leadership and growth. A reception attendee, Lindsey Wong, mentioned, “It’s amazing to see the positive impact [LEAP] has had on members of the New Haven community.”
Attendees listen to Chantalle Martin’s speech at the Dixwell Community Q House.
LEAP Board Co-Chairs Ann Baker Pepe and Ed Cleary were honored with the LEAP Community Leadership Award for their combined 60 years of service to the LEAP community.
Following the reception, guests attended intimate dinner conversations of their choosing at various locations throughout Greater New Haven, where they engaged with renowned leaders and experts on a wide range of topics. These guest speakers and conversations included a private tour of the Yale Art Gallery with Director Stephanie Wiles; The New York Times columnist Philip Galanes on navigating social dilemmas in today’s America; Dr. Reverend William J. Barber II on fighting economic and social inequality; Emmy award-win-
ning filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum, who showcased her films and broadened her guests’ perspectives on nature; New Haven R&B artist Manny James, who shared his musical talents; Yale President Maurie McInnis on leadership in higher education; and renowned celebrity chef Jacques Pépin, who spoke about his personal experience as a chef and his culinary journey to mastering his craft.
One attendee described “…the sense of community that arises in these dinners centering on the significance of LEAP itself, the significant topics in each [dinner], the warmth of the hosts, the deliciously prepared food, and the chance to meet new people,” as her favorite parts of the event.
The $500,000+ raised at LEAP Year Event will have a profound impact on LEAP’s free programs, which serve over 1,600 youth annually. These programs provide a wide range of opportunities and resources, including phonics and literacy development, homework help and academic support, field trips, enrichment activities ranging from chess to African dance, mental health support, college and career counseling, and the distribution of thousands of books to help children
Connecticut Leaders Rally Against Federal Cuts Amid Tax Breaks For The Wealthy by
Karla Ciaglo
HARTFORD, CT – Connecticut leaders and healthcare advocates gathered at Charter Oak Health Center to denounce proposed Medicaid cuts they say will devastate the state’s most vulnerable residents.
The federal plan to slash up to $880 billion from Medicaid over the next decade coincides with efforts to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent, a move critics argue would benefit the wealthy while forcing deep reductions in healthcare funding.
“We’re here to talk about Medicaid, Husky Health,” said Andrea Barton Reeves, commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Social Services. “Fifty percent of our patients are covered by Medicaid.”
She warned that while the details remain unclear, “one thing” is certain: “real consequences for our families, our seniors, and people with disabilities.”
The proposed reductions could cut federal matching funds as low as 25% or even eliminate them entirely.
“That means less care for patients and more costs for the state,” she said.
Connecticut receives $6.6 billion in federal Medicaid funding annually, and replacing those funds, state officials warned, would be impossible.
“That’s $6.6 billion that we do not have lying around here and can’t get to meet the needs of these people,” Comptroller Sean Scanlon said.
Gov. Ned Lamont explained that Connecticut could lose $180 million per year under the proposed plan.
which was two trillion dollars, 70% of which went to the nation’s wealthiest one percent.”
US Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, pointed to the Congressional Budget Office’s findings as evidence of what’s coming.
“There is no way that you can hit a one-trillion-dollar savings … without gutting Medicaid,” Courtney said. He also criticized Republican leaders for misleading their members about the impact of the legislation.
in the LEAP program build their home libraries.
LEAP is committed to adapting its programs and training its counselors to meet the evolving needs of the children and families it serves. The success of LEAP Year Event would not have been possible without the generous support of sponsors, including Noble Wealth Advisors of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, The George Ellis Company, The Scillia Family, Roz & Jerry Meyer, and many more. Their contributions towards LEAP’s $7.3 million annual budget, along with the support of guests of honor, hosts, and everyone who purchased tickets, will help LEAP continue to provide invaluable programs and opportunities for New Haven’s youth.
LEAP is incredibly grateful for the community’s support and looks forward to continuing its mission of empowering New Haven youth for many years to come. In the words of one of its longtime supporters, “LEAP always does a wonderful job with this community-wide event. It’s a highlight of New Haven’s philanthropic and social justice landscape.”
“Are they going to block Medicaid, which means any inflation increase that’s paid for by us?” he asked. “Are they going to cut away the subsidies from Covered Connecticut? That would mean those folks … instead of having, maybe, $50 a month, it would be $2,000 a month. Are they going to cut back on expanded Medicaid and all the support that gives for people who otherwise won’t be able to get by? We don’t know. And that unpredictability is hell on people.”
Long-term care facilities would also be affected.
Matt Barrett, president of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, noted that 73% of nursing home residents in the state rely on Medicaid.
“Fifteen nursing homes have already closed since 2021,” Barrett said, adding that occupancy is at 87% and rising.
“Any cuts to Medicaid would be a grim reality for our seniors in Connecticut.”
As Congress considers making $2 trillion in tax cuts permanent, Connecticut’s federal delegation criticized Republican leadership for targeting Medicaid. US Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, said, “Donald Trump and Elon Musk will not miss a moment’s sleep.” He argued the cuts were not about fiscal responsibility but about securing “the tax cut of 2017,
“One of the ways they were able to convince their members that it was okay to vote for this was by saying, ‘Medicaid’s not even in the bill.'”
He explained that while Medicaid may not be explicitly named, the numbers reveal that its funding is at stake.
“Technically, that may be true, but the fact of the matter is that the numbers don’t lie,” Courtney said.
Larson stressed the need for Republicans to reconsider.
“In the House, we need three. Three Republicans who will stand up for the people they represent,” Larson said.
Connecticut officials say they are working to analyze funding alternatives but acknowledge that the state cannot cover the shortfall on its own.
“We cannot possibly replace what we have been getting from the federal government,” Scanlon said.
Meanwhile, Lamont urged residents to act.
“If you care about your children’s healthcare, your parents’ nursing home care, your neighbor who has a disability, then now is the time to call your representatives,” he said. “We stopped them from repealing the Affordable Care Act before. We can do this again.”
of seniors in the show. After four years inside Co-Op’s walls, they are preparing to fly out into the world. Whether they will choose to stay close, like Cinderella’s trusty companions, or spread their wings is up to them.
“As children, we are taught to see life in black and white, thinking if we can just make the right choices, we’ll be guaranteed a happily ever after,” Davila-Sanabría writes in a production note for the show. “But the real world is not so simple. Witches can be right, giants can be good, you may stray from the path, or the path may even stray from you. And in these moments of uncertainty … we must forget the path we are ‘meant’ to be on, and instead forge a new one through the darkness.”
Around her Friday, fellow students agreed. Colón, a senior in the theater department, said that she’s holding fast to the importance of collaboration, which she has felt more strongly in Into The Woods than in years past. Since her freshman year, Colón has played both lead and ensemble roles in shows including Sister Act, Hairspray and The Wiz. This year, she realized that the divide between them is as fictional as the bedtime stories people read to their kids.
“This is the type of show where everyone has an important part, and if one person is off their game, even a little bit, it throws everyone off,” she said. “So it's like, holding yourself accountable so that you can show up for the people around you.”
“There’s a lot of things that we have learned about ourselves throughout the show,” Norman added. “Throughout the past three years, I was struggling to find out who I was, and I really found my purpose and found what I am supposed to be doing through this show by doing something so completely different.”
“You really have to be patient with Sondheim,” she added. “With the way he wrote the show, with the way he wrote the notes, the songs and stuff. Like it seems like it's wrong, but it's not. It's a very time-consuming musical, but patience is what I really learned.”
"When I started working with people more closely, it was really enlightening," she said.
Students aren’t the only ones who are excited about the play. As she watched from the auditorium, Assistant Principal and Arts Director Amy Migliore said she’s thrilled to have the show at Co-Op—so much so that she makes a cameo appearance in the second act.
Twenty years ago, Into The Woods was her entry point into musical theater: she first saw it in a summer performance at Neighborhood Music School with Miguel Benitez and Michael John Improta. Both of them are now professional artists. As she became a mom, it only grew on her. “We knew that they would be able to do it so we asked them to do something really hard,” she said. “We raised the bar. I love the message that you’ll never be alone … it resonates with you as a parent.”
"It's bringing up feelings about the past and what slaves had to go through," said Gillian Redeaux, who has attended St. Luke's since she arrived in New Haven from Saint Kitts as a teenager. That was decades ago. Now, she said, she is hopeful for more moments that acknowledge New Haven's role in slavery and make genuine attempts at reconciliation.
In a similar "Litany for Those Not Ready for Healing," Mauhs and Stanley— who represent Trinity and St. Luke's, respectively—gave voice to those feelings on a larger scale. Reading the words of Dr. Yolanda Pierce, a professor and dean at the Vanderbilt Divinity School, the two decried the existence and impacts of racism, from the need for reparations to the state-sanctioned murders of Black boys and men at the hands of police officers.
God in your mercy/Show me my own complicity in injustice, attendees read in unison, their voices filling the nave and drifting up towards pews where the Salt & Pepper Gospel Singers sat behind the pulpit. Convict me for my indifference.
Forgive me when I have remained silent. It is, indeed, a reminder of how quickly New Haveners—particularly white New Havers—bury some of the city's more bitter and uncomfortable history because it doesn't fit the dominant narrative of a North that pushed back against slavery. Only recently have initiatives like Discovering Amistad and the Witness Stones Project helped spread knowledge around the state's complicity in the transatlantic slave trade and the historic, deliberate and continued disenfranchisement of Black people in New England.
Following the service, both Snyder and Thorsen, associate rector at Trinity, said that the event is the first step in a longer and more sustained effort towards healing, repair, and racial reconciliation between the two churches and in New Haven more broadly.
In the next months—Snyder didn't yet have a date—a planning committee hopes to raise funds and install a grave marker and proper headstone at Lois Tritton's grave, which sits in Blake Street Cemetery. On the Saturday before the service, members of Walk New Haven and the churches led a tour and wreath laying at the site, with context from family historian Sherill Baldwin.
In advance of this summer, Snyder is also working with the Juneteenth Coalition of Greater New Haven (JCGNH) to honor Lucy and Lois in their annual celebration of Juneteenth. Sunday, JCGNH member and organizer Iman Uqdah Hameen said she is grateful for Snyder's work. When she arrived at the church Sunday, she carried with her a small Shona statue and door knob from a slave dungeon in what is modern-day Ghana.
"Although the celebration of Juneteenth is symbolic of true freedom for our people, it connects us to our ancestors and their emancipation in a real way," Hameen said in an email after the service.
"We, as a people, know that we are still enslaved in many ways."
Lucy Gellman |
Joshua Smith can already hear the James Hillhouse High School Marching Band tearing it up on Constitution Avenue. In his vision, the drums hammer out a steady, danceable beat, their sound traveling up from the pavement. The trumpets glint in the sunlight, weaving brass into the mix. When he cues them in, the woodwinds have it on lock.
Of course they do: this is Hillhouse High School. He just needs some help from the community—to the tune of $45,000—to get them there.
Smith is the director of the James Hillhouse High School Marching Band, which he's worked to rebuild several times over since the fall of 2021. This spring, he is trying to raise $45,000 to send the band to Washington, D.C., where they've been selected to represent Connecticut in the National Memorial Day Parade. The parade takes place annually on Memorial Day, which this year falls on May 26.
Those funds would cover a full four days and three nights, with an educational tour to several national museums and monuments folded in. Donate to a GoFundMe here.
The parade, which travels 10 blocks of Washington, D.C.'s Constitution Avenue, is an initiative of the American Veterans Center. Every Memorial Day weekend, it honors soldiers who have died in U.S. military conflicts abroad. For Smith, himself a Hillhouse alum who had the chance to travel during high school, it's an opportunity too exciting to pass up.
"I said to myself, 'This could be a great opportunity for our school and our program,' and we're just gonna do whatever we have to do to present us," he said Thursday, as band members prepared to play "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" for the fifth time that afternoon. "I had my moment [at Hillhouse]. So I want them to have a chance to tell their own story."
The offer first came last month, when Smith got a call from the Arizona-based travel agency Music Celebrations International (MCI). Each year, MCI helps contact and choose marching bands from across the country that will represent their respective states in the parade.
While he had "no idea" how they discovered Hillhouse, it felt like an easy and immediate yes. The band, which has for the past years marched in both the Elm City Freddy Fixer Parade and the New Haven St. Patrick's Day Parade, has been working to build itself back from the Covid-19 pandemic for years. Students sounded ready to him. And then there was the chance to show people what the best of Connecticut could look like.
"Not only are we representing the school, the city, and the state through the performing arts—we're representing academics as well," Smith said. "I have honors students. I have 4.0 students. I'm hoping that it will help recruit band members too."
For Smith, who at 36 still has a baby
face and infectious laugh, there's also a sense of paying it forward. When he was in high school at Hillhouse, the marching band traveled much more than it does now (at the time, the school also had a drill team that performed alongside them). When he was a freshman at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), he joined the Hillhouse band to play at Walt Disney World as an alum.
Two decades later, that love for the band has come full-circle: he’s both a beloved mentor and a rigorous educator, with students who get excited to walk through the door of his classroom after school.
“I feel it’s special because Smith took the band from nothing to this,” said sophomore Sebastian Gonzalez, who is part of the drumline. While he started playing the drums at Barnard Environmental Science & Technology School (B.E.S.T), Smith has helped him grow as a student in the past two years. “It feels very exciting but nerve wracking at the same time.”
Currently, the band has around 20 members, who range from longtime musicians to underclassmen who just started playing last year. The $45,000 will cover travel, transportation, lodging, food, and costs associated with the parade. Smith plans to have at least five pieces of music ready to go for the mile-long route, as well as works and cadences that specifically show off the drumline.
At band practice Thursday, several students said they are excited by the opportunity and hope to see it come to fruition.
Between feedback (“y’all got it?” Smith asked of “Let’s Dance” at one point, and the room burst into a resounding “yes!”), many of them described an experience in marching band that has been transformative for them.
Sophomore Luis Baez, who plays the trumpet, burst into a smile when asked what a chance to play in D.C. would mean for him. For years, music—first the flute, and now horn—has helped him navigate academics and relieve stress. At Hillhouse, he said, that's largely credit to Smith's dedication as a teacher.
"It's a really big opportunity and I'm so happy to be going!" he said before scurrying back to his seat. "If we don't go, it's gonna crush my dreams. I want everyone to know the Hillhouse Band."
"When I play, all my stress goes away because I'm doing something that I love,” he added just a moment later.
As she struck up an arrangement of David Bowie's "Let's Dance," junior Brenda Zecua perked up in the front row, her flute suddenly light and nimble between her fingers. Born and raised in New Haven, Zecua doesn't get many chances to travel beyond New Haven, she said. Visiting the nation's capital would be huge. "I feel excited," she said, adding that she’s only been playing the flute for a year, and soaking up information like a sponge. "I really enjoy seeing the smiles on everyone's faces when they hear the music."
The Hillhouse Band has accepted the invitation to represent the state of Connecticut in the official 2025 Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. The trip features a tour of the memorials (MLK, Vietnam, WWII, etc.) and more, which would take place over the Memorial Day weekend. This trip will not only be for performing arts, but this trip will be educational for our students.
We are looking for sponsors and donors to help us reach our financial goal to cover the cost of transportation, lodging, food, the tour, and uniforms & equipment (including repairs), which totals about $45,000. We have hosted a few fundraisers since the start of the school year, but it is not enough to cover the cost of trip. We are calling out to the community for support.
by Laura Glesby
More than 56 percent of real estate value throughout the city or $10,132,855,885 in total cannot be taxed this year.
Acting City Assessor Alexzander Pullen presented that finding to the Board of Alders Finance Committee on Monday evening as part of an update on the 2024 Grand List.
The City Hall meeting came less than two weeks after Mayor Justin Elicker officially proposed a $703.7 million general fund budget for Fiscal Year 2024 – 25 (FY25), which, if approved by the alders, would take effect on July 1.
Pullen broke down the city’s property and motor vehicle tax base to alders including the net taxable real estate grand list, which is currently valued at a total of $7,709,148,919. And he shared that New Haven real estate worth a total of
$10,132,855,885 is tax-exempt. That means that 56.79 percent of all real estate value across New Haven is currently off the tax rolls.
In comparison, last year, taxable real estate value was worth $7,761,587,276 and non-taxable real estate value was worth $10,008,373,997, meaning that a total of 56.32 percent of all city real estate value was not taxed.
Finance Committee Chair and Westville Alder Adam Marchand asked Pullen how much of that non-taxable property value belongs to Yale University and Yale New Haven Health.
Pullen responded that the university and the hospital system collectively own 43.4 percent of that tax-ineligible property, or a combined total of around $4.3 billion in tax-exempt real estate value.
The rest is a combination of government and nonprofit-owned real estate, as
well as recently constructed buildings for which taxes have been deferred or adjusted in agreements with the city.
The taxable portion of the grand list including real estate, personal property, and motor vehicles is currently $9,044,330,907. That represents a slight decrease, of 0.39 percent, from last year’s net taxable grand list $9,079,906,103.
The change is “such a small amount that I like to use the word ‘stable,’” said City Budget Director Shannon McCue, “but it does have an impact.”
Even as new construction continues across the city, those buildings are not immediately taxable at their full post-development values, thanks to New Haven’s tax assessment deferral program. There are often further tax abatements or deferrals laid out in agreements with the city for new developments.
“A new property would have to have a
value of over $128 million to swing the grand list by 1 percent,” Pullen said. Pullen said that the latest grand list saw an increase of about $82 million from declining or ending tax breaks for new developments.
However, he said, that revenue was offset in part by Yale’s purchase of the biotech building at 300 George St., which removed $56 million from the grand list. (Yale will pay the equivalent of full taxes on that property to the city in a separate contribution for the next three years, and then 10 percent less each year for the next decade, per a city-Yale agreement approved in 2022.)
The grand list also took a hit from appeals of the 2021 property revaluation that resulted in decreased assessments for some property owners, Pullen said.
by Dereen Shirnekhi
Police arrested a 21-year-old who participated in a Long Wharf street takeover just days after Mayor Justin Elicker testified before the state legislature in support of a bill that would expand penalties for street racing.
The New Haven Police Department (NHPD) announced that arrest in a press release posted on X on Sunday.
According to police, two officers were patrolling the area of East Street and Water Street at 12:17 a.m. Sunday when they saw a street takeover: Around 50 cars were “blocking the intersection, spectating, spinning their tires in place and generally driving recklessly.” The release states that officers saw cars leaving the Sports Haven parking lot at high speeds in different directions.
One driver, in a red Honda Accord, jumped the curb in an attempt to flee police but wound up stuck, which “heavily damaged” his vehicle. Police arrested the 21-year-old driver and New Haven resident and charged him with being a racing participant. He was issued a misdemeanor summons and his car was towed.
Less than 48 hours before, on Friday, Elicker testified before the Connecticut General Assembly Judiciary Committee in “strong support” of Senate Bill No. 1284.
The raised bill, co-sponsored by Republican state lawmakers Paul Cicarella of North Haven and Craig Fishbein of Wallingford, would allow for Connecticut municipalities to create an ordinance that would prohibit street takeovers, to issue fines to anyone in violation of that ordinance, and to impound vehicles of operators who haven’t paid those fines. If drivers are convicted, the bill also offers guidelines that would allow the state to revoke or suspend an operator’s license. Penalty fines are listed as up to $1,000 for
a first violation, up to $1,500 for a second offense, and up to $2,000 for a third and subsequent violations.
The bill would also allow for the seizure and impoundment of ATVs, dirt bikes, mini-motorcycles, and snowmobiles used in illegal street takeovers. Previously, municipalities had to sell seized vehicles at public auctions, which Elicker said put them back on the streets. There are also new fines: up to $1,000 for a first violation, up to $1,500 for a second offense, and up to $2,000 for a third and subsequent violations. That’s up from the current state-allowed maximum fine of $250.
Elicker submitted written testimony in support of the bill, and also spoke via videoconference online at Friday’s hearing.
In his testimony, Elicker expressed the need for a “strong, state-wide continued commitment” to provide municipalities and cities across the state with more tools to combat “this persistent, growing, and shared challenge” of street takeovers.
“Street takeovers and dirt bike riding and ATV riding are extremely dangerous,” he said, not only to participants themselves but to law enforcement and bystanders. While he expressed that New Haven has “done a lot and what we can,” the city needs more tools.
Elicker did suggest adding license suspension penalties to cover illegal dirt bike riding and ATVs as well, rather than just street takeovers.
New Haven State Sen. Gary Winfield, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, asked committee members whether they had comments or questions to ask Elicker.
“I don’t see any, probably because we’ve heard this bill many times and I think many of us would actually like to finish it this time,” he said.
In a separate phone call with the Independent, Winfield said that when efforts to pass a bill like this one first began, there weren’t as many street takeovers.
Legislators had to have conversations about when and the degree to which to penalize people participating in or observing street takeovers.
“We’ve had conversations about that, we’ve worked on it, and I think given how these street takeovers have developed, given the work that’s been put in, I do believe that we can get it done in the right way this session,” Winfield said.
Attorney General William Tong and Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Ronnell Higgins joined Elicker in testifying in support of the bill Friday. Higgins wrote that state police have noticed an increase in street takeovers, which “disrupt local
communities, overwhelm law enforcement resources, and pose grave dangers to public safety.”
Meanwhile, Deborah Del Prete Sullivan, director of the state Office of Chief Public Defender, submitted testimony opposing one specific part of the bill: a note that qualifies “people who gather with the intent to observe and actually observe the street takeover” as subject to penalty.
“Section 4 would subject anyone present at such an event, to having their operator’s license or privilege permanently revoked for a third violation,” Del Prete Sullivan argued in her written testimony.
“By doing so, everyone, including simply spectators and/or spectators who perhaps
may share information in anyway, including social media, will be treated as harshly as a person who owns a motor vehicle used in the takeover or who acts as a ‘starter, timekeeper or judge’, places a ‘wager’ on it, or ‘knowingly incite or recruits’ to advance the street takeover.”
Because the bill mandates that an operator’s license is revoked after a third violation, and the increased penalty would qualify those under 18, and that even those watching street takeovers would be subject, Del Prete Sullivan wrote that the penalty is “extremely punitive especially for youth who lack the maturity to appreciate their actions or who may be in a place with no way to remove themselves due to where they reside.”
She noted that the General Assembly has recognized brain development science when addressing lengthy sentences for people under 18 and some under 21 who have committed serious crimes.
“The permanent revocation, for life, of a person’s license, with no possibility of obtaining such, will carry with it severe collateral consequences which can impede a person from obtaining, among other things, employment, education, and training,” she wrote.
She closed her office’s testimony by requesting that legislators remove the bill’s language about “the permanent revocation of an operator’s license” and narrow the application of ordinances that would allow for the penalization of those who gather to watch street takeovers.
“I take her concern very seriously,” Winfield said when asked about Del Prete Sullivan’s testimony. “I work on most bills very closely with her office, so as we move forward with this bill, we will be in conversation with them about how to address those concerns. I think that if we put our heads together … we are really good at coming up with solutions for the problems that we can identify.”
By BlackDoctor.org
In 2025, an economic blackout can be a significant tool for driving social and economic change. These organized efforts are designed to send a powerful message to corporations and institutions about the economic strength of the Black community. By strategically withdrawing financial support, these blackouts highlight the impact and influence of collective action.
What is an Economic Blackout?
An economic blackout is a coordinated effort where a community collectively refrains from spending money at specific businesses or sectors for a determined period. The aim is to leverage economic influence to demand corporate accountability, fairness, and investment in Black communities.
Why Economic Blackouts Matter
The Black community in America wields over $1.6 trillion in annual buying power. Redirecting or withholding this spending can drive significant change, pushing companies to reconsider their business practices and social responsibilities. Economic blackouts are a form of protest and advocacy, demonstrating that economic justice is integral to social justice.
Upcoming Economic Blackout Dates
The 2025 Economic Blackout Tour
outlines strategic periods for boycotts targeting corporations that have been critiqued for their business practices. Here are the key dates and targets:
• March 7-14: Amazon Boycott – Addressing concerns over labor practices and corporate accountability.
• March 21-28: Nestle Boycott – Highlighting ethical concerns related to sourcing and environmental impact.
• April 7-14: Walmart Boycott – Advocating for fair labor practices and community investment.
• April 18: Economic Blackout 2 – A reaffirmation of economic solidarity and collective strength.
• April 21-28: General Mills Boycott –Calling attention to product sourcing and community representation.
• May 6-12: Amazon Boycott 2 – Con-
tinuing the push for better corporate responsibility.
• May 20-26: Walmart Boycott 2 – Renewing efforts to advocate for change within the retail giant.
• June 3-9: Target Boycott – Challenging corporate inclusivity and equitable business practices.
• June 24-30: McDonald’s Boycott –Addressing health equity and community
responsibility.
• July 4: Independence Day Boycott –Highlighting the importance of true independence and equitable freedom. How to Participate
1. Stay Informed: Follow credible sources to understand the goals and impacts of each boycott.
2. Spread the Word: Share information within your community, online platforms, and social groups.
3. Redirect Spending: Support Blackowned businesses and local enterprises during blackout periods.
4. Engage Politically: Advocate for policies and leaders that promote economic equity and justice.
The Bigger Picture Economic blackouts are not just about withholding spending but about fostering accountability, promoting equity, and encouraging longterm community investment. They serve as a catalyst for broader conversations about corporate responsibility, consumer power, and systemic change.
Conclusion The 2025 Economic Blackout Tour is a call to action for those committed to justice and equity. By participating in these strategic boycotts, individuals can help shape a future where economic power drives meaningful change for Black communities nationwide.
Together, we can turn moments of protest into movements for progress.
By Malkia Payton-Jackson, National Head Start Association
Cicely Simpson is the founder and CEO of Summit Public Affairs in Washington, D.C., a long way from her beginnings in the small town of Woodbury, Tennessee. She credits her Head Start for her successful journey from small-town roots to attending law school and working in congressional offices, all leading to the launch of her own company. Cicely’s educational journey began at the Cannon County Head Start program, which set her up to excel in kindergarten and high school. Cicely went on to pursue higher education, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from Lipscomb University in Nashville. From there, with her heart set on practicing law, Cicely left Tennessee for Pepperdine University School of Law in California. Cicely achieved her goal, starting her career as a criminal prosecutor in Los Ange-
les, but deciding California was not for her, Cicely returned to Nashville and continued her legal career there. Next came a professional turn that Cicely herself would not have predicted.
“When one door closes, one door opens,” Cicely said, explaining the shift in her career and the start of her journey in Washington. Soon after returning to Nashville, a couple of friends convinced Cicely to join them in working for Rep. Lincoln Davis’s first Congressional campaign. When he won the election, Rep. Davis invited Cicely to join him in Washington as his Legislative Director. Cicely accepted, and over the next six years, she worked with Rep. Davis and Rep. Jim Cooper on furthering their public policy goals in the U.S. Congress. Then came the next professional turn. Cicely left the Hill and began her lobbying career by opening a Washington, D.C., government relations office for Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins. This role led her to the National Restaurant Association, where she served as the executive vice president of public affairs at the trade association for
years. Now, as the president and CEO of her own company, Cicely is applying her years of experience and expertise in public affairs to support a wide range of clients with their advocacy, risk management, and communication needs.
Big Believers in Head Start, Then and Now
“I’m blessed to have come from a family who are big believers in Head Start, both then and now,” she said. “My brother attended Head Start, I went to Head Start, my nephew went to Head Start, my cousins went to Head Start, and we all went to Head Start in the same community.” Cicely’s firm belief that Head Start was imperative to her own educational and professional journeys, as well as those of her family members, makes her a dedicated Head Start advocate. “When I was in Congressman Davis’s office, as well as Congressman Cooper’s office, we signed on to every letter, every bill, we supported every opportunity to support Head Start financially from the Capitol Hill perspective,” Cicely explained, “We knew, and we know—I won’t say past tense because currently, we know— how important it is.”
At Yale New Haven Health, we’re delivering pioneering research from Yale School of Medicine to improve people’s lives every single day. Like Dr. Ozan Bahtiyar and the team who perform in utero surgery to successfully treat spina bifida before birth. Together, we’re powering breakthroughs with the greatest of care.
By Stacy M. Brown BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia
The Trump administration has taken its first steps in dismantling the Department of Education, slashing more than 1,300 jobs and closing regional offices in cities including New York, Boston, Chicago, and Cleveland. According to Rachel Oglesby, the department’s chief of staff, employees were informed via email Tuesday that the Washington headquarters and regional offices would be closed Wednesday for unspecified “security reasons” before reopening Thursday. “Today’s reduction in force reflects the Department of Education’s commitment to efficiency, accountability, and ensuring that resources are directed where they matter most: to students, parents, and teachers,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said. The layoffs are part of a broader effort led by Trump and the Elon Musk-headed Department of Government Efficiency to shrink the federal government. The 1,300 affected employees will officially be terminated in 90 days, with severance packages based on their length of service. In addition, 63 probationary employees were dismissed last month under a White House directive, while more than 300 workers accepted buyouts of up to $25,000, and another 260 opted for deferred resignations. McMahon confirmed that the cuts are just the beginning. Trump has vowed to eliminate the Department of Education, a move that would require congressional approval.
Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who served under the Obama administration, described the cuts as a direct threat to vulnerable students, particularly those in Black and Brown communities.
“It is our time to have courage and fight for kids,” Duncan previously said in a recently published interview. When asked about the impact of Trump’s proposed education cuts, he said there was a “chance to have an extraordinarily damaging and detrimental effect.” The Department of
Education plays a vital role in ensuring equal access to education, particularly for historically disadvantaged communities. It enforces civil rights protections under laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in education based on race, sex, and disability. It also administers federal funding for Pell Grants, supports students with disabilities, and provides critical financial assistance to high-poverty schools.
The administration’s decision to gut the department aligns with Trump’s long-standing pledge to shift education entirely to state control. His 2024 cam-
paign platform describes the agency as a “woke” bureaucracy that interferes with local decisions. Far-right conservatives have taken issue with the department’s efforts to promote racial equity, diversify the teacher workforce, and protect LGBTQ+ students. However, the department’s biggest K-12 funding programs support the communities that stand to lose the most. The Biden administration had secured more than $300 million to increase school integration through programs like the Magnet Schools Assistance Program and the Fostering Diverse Schools initiative. These programs, fund-
ing for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and efforts to expand teacher diversity are now at risk. Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, warned that eliminating the department would devastate public education. “If it became a reality, Trump’s power grab would steal resources for our most vulnerable students, explode class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle-class families, take away special education services for students with disabilities, and gut student civil rights protections,” Pringle said. The administration has also pushed a wave of directives that could further destabilize public education, including stripping schools of federal funding, promoting school voucher programs, and expanding funding for private charter operators with less oversight. Additionally, Trump’s policies have allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct raids on public schools, further creating fear among immigrant families. Ninety percent of U.S. students—and 95% of students with disabilities—attend public schools, which depend on the Department of Education for oversight and resources. Pringle described Trump’s education agenda as a “wrecking ball to public schools,” warning that marginalized students will bear the brunt of the fallout. “Americans did not vote for, and do not support,” she said, “ending the federal government’s commitment to ensuring equal educational opportunities for every child.”
by Stephen Nartey, Face2FaceAfrica.com
Eight years after leaving the White House, former First Lady Michelle Obama has opened up about the challenges of supporting Barack Obama’s presidential run.
On the debut episode of her podcast IMO with her brother Craig Robinson, Michelle, 61, revealed that her initial reaction to Barack’s decision to run for president was, “No way.” The episode premiered on Wednesday, as reported by the New York Post.
“I couldn’t have gotten through eight years in the White House without my big brother,” Michelle said, referring to Craig, 62, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Michelle’s remarks about the challenges of supporting Barack’s presidential run surface amid speculation about the state of their marriage, as the couple has rarely been seen together in recent months.
“Being married to the president of the United States [is a] thing that none of us kind of banked on. We knew Barack was smart and ambitious, but, you know,” she went on.
“You talked me into supporting his run,” she said, referring to Craig.
“And he [Barack] was smart enough to know that he needed to come to you and sell you on the idea. Because I was definitely like, no, no way,” Michelle said on the podcast.
Michelle, who has been vocal about her disdain for politics, shared her frustrations over Barack’s habitual tardiness when they began dating at the Chicago law firm Sidley Austin.
“Barack had to adjust to what ‘on time’ was,” she said. “You know, I’ve got this husband who, when it’s time to leave, he’s getting up and going to the bathroom. And I was like, dude, like three o’clock departure means you’ve done all that. It’s like, don’t start looking for your glasses, you know, at the three o’clock departure,” she said, before admitting, “he’s improved over 30 years of marriage.”
In the debut episode of her podcast IMO, Michelle and her brother also reflected on their South Side Chicago upbringing.
Robinson further discussed his divorce from his first wife, Janis Robinson, and his decision not to speak to his sister Michelle about it. “I know my sister and I said if I tell her about this she’s never going to get over it. And if we ever got back together, it wasn’t going to be good for my first wife.”
“She was so mad that I hadn’t told her,”
Robinson said, adding that he “vowed” to never keep issues from her again.
Michelle said that she realized “something was going on” at the time, adding that “there was a disconnect” between Robinson and her.
She continued, “When you see your brother, or your sibling or somebody you care about, and you think everything is good and you’re rooting for them and then you learn that things are falling apart— because, I thought I saw some things that
were red flags, but I would always be like: ‘How you doing?’ and your reply would be: ‘We’re great, we’re good.’”
“After that, once it all unravelled, I said your definition of ‘fine’—I was was like, don’t ever tell me that you’re ‘good’ because I’m not going to trust that!” Michelle said.
“Even though you think I wouldn’t have been able to handle it, I would have gotten myself together to give you sound advice and be able to stay neutral,” Michelle said.
In her new podcast IMO, she will interview guests like Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer while sharing advice alongside her brother, Robinson. Some guests, such as Tyler Perry, previously appeared on The Michelle Obama Podcast.
In the new podcast IMO (short for “in my opinion”), Michelle and her brother Robinson have opted to steer clear of current affairs.
The podcast launch comes amid speculation about the Obamas’ marriage, including rumors linking Obama to actress Jennifer Aniston. Aniston, 56, denied the claims during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, stating she had only met the former president once.
“I know Michelle more than him,” the former “Friends” star said.
By Allyson D. Andrews, MSW, LLMSW, Director of Early Childhood Education, 20 Degrees
The Reality…
Running a childcare center is more than a job — it’s a labor of love. Providers pour their hearts into nurturing children, creating safe and enriching environments, and building relationships with families. But behind the joy of watching little ones grow, there’s the exhaustion of endless paperwork, financial worries, and the daily hustle to keep everything running smoothly. Many childcare providers wear multiple hats: teacher, administrator, mentor, and problem-solver. There’s never enough time in the day, especially when so much of it is spent buried in compliance reports, payroll issues, and operational challenges. For nonprofit centers, keeping up with financial leadership and board expectations can feel like an uphill battle. And the bureaucracy? It’s overwhelming. Repeating the same information across different systems steals precious time, time that should be spent with children.
On top of these operational hurdles, providers are also navigating a workforce crisis. High turnover rates, difficulty retaining qualified staff, and inadequate compensation create instability within childcare programs. Many providers struggle to offer competitive wages, leading to burnout and staff shortages that directly impact on the quality-of-care children receive. Without systemic changes and community support, the burden on providers will only grow heavier. Providers can't do it alone and when families play a vital role in supporting their childcare community, it is better for everyone: children, families, and providers. Here’s how parents and families can partner with childcare providers:
10 Ways that Parents and Families Can Partner with Their Providers:
1. Show Appreciation: A simple thank-you note, small gift, or words of encouragement can go a long way in boosting morale. Childcare providers dedicate countless hours to caring for and
educating young children, often going above and beyond to create a nurturing environment. Taking the time to acknowledge their hard work, whether through a handwritten note, a kind message, or a small token of appreciation, can make them feel valued and motivate them to continue providing high-quality care.
2. Be Patient and Understanding: Recognize that providers are juggling many responsibilities, so trust their expertise in caring for your child. Childcare professionals manage multiple children, planning educational activities, ensuring safety, and meeting administrative requirements, all at the same time. Instead of expressing frustration when challenges arise, approach them with patience and empathy. Giving providers the benefit of the doubt and trusting their professional judgment strengthens the relationship between families and caregivers.
3. Support Communication Efforts: Respond to messages, forms, and updates promptly to help providers stay organized. Childcare providers rely on clear communication with families to ensure the best care for children. Whether it’s filling out required forms, reading important notices, or providing updates about your child's needs, timely responses allow providers to stay on top of operations and minimize administrative burdens. When families actively participate in communication, it creates a smoother and more supportive environment for both children and caregivers.
4. Advocate for Fair Wages and Funding: Join local advocacy efforts to push for better wages and resources for childcare professionals. Childcare providers are among the lowest-paid professionals, despite the critical role they play in early childhood development. Many
struggle to make ends meet while providing high-quality care. Families can support them by advocating for fair wages and increased funding, whether through signing petitions, attending local meetings, or voicing their concerns to policymakers.
5. Volunteer Time or Skills: Offer to help with small projects like organizing supplies, reading to children, or sharing your professional skills. Many childcare providers operate with limited staff and resources, making extra hands invaluable. Parents can assist by helping organize classrooms, preparing materials, or volunteering during special events. If a parent has a specific skill — such as graphic design, accounting, or event planning, offering those services pro bono can significantly ease the administrative burden.
6. Respect Policies and Procedures: Following health, safety, and payment policies allow providers to maintain quality care. Policies are designed to ensure the safety and well-being of all children. Arriving on time for pick-up and drop-off, adhering to illness policies, and making timely tuition payments contribute to the smooth operation of a center. Respecting these guidelines means providers can focus on creating a positive learning environment instead of resolving avoidable conflicts.
7. Recommend the Center to Others: Positive word-of-mouth referrals help providers grow and sustain their business. Families play a crucial role in supporting centers to maintain enrollment and financial stability. Sharing positive experiences on social media, leaving online reviews, and recommending the center to friends or colleagues can help providers attract new families, ensuring long-term success.
8. Contribute to Wish Lists or Fundraisers: Donating supplies or participating in fundraisers helps ease financial strain. Many childcare providers operate on tight budgets, and even small contributions — such as donating books, art supplies, or cleaning materials — can make a significant impact. Families can
also organize fundraising initiatives, such as silent auctions or community donation drives, to aid providers in acquiring necessary resources that enhance the learning environment.
9. Stay Engaged in Your Child’s Experience: Build a partnership with providers by asking questions, sharing feedback, and showing interest in your child’s daily activities. Engaged families lead to a stronger learning environment. Ask your child about their day, communicate regularly with teachers, and attend events when possible. This involvement reinforces the importance of early education and shows providers that their work is valued.
10. Celebrate Their Hard Work: Recognize the dedication and passion that goes into creating a nurturing environment for children. Recognizing and celebrating childcare providers’ dedication fosters a culture of appreciation and respect. Consider organizing appreciation events, writing positive testimonials, or highlighting their efforts in community newsletters. A little recognition can go a long way in sustaining their motivation and reminding them that their work is valued by the families they serve. By working together, families and providers can create thriving childcare communities where both children and those who care for them are supported and valued. Allyson D. Andrews leads a team at 20 Degrees working to support child care, which offers shared services and backoffice programs to ensure its provider-centric approach delivers new business solutions for childcare leaders so educators, families, and, most importantly, children, all benefit.
With over 12 years of experience in Early Childhood Education, Allyson founded and operated four childcare centers in the Detroit area, serving hundreds of children. Allyson has deep consulting experience in start-up operations, business development, finance, and operations for non-profit and for-profit sectors with a specialization in education.
By Dr. Christy Valentine
Dr. Christy Valentine's passion for healthcare is both deeply personal and profoundly impactful. A New Orleans native and lifelong advocate for equitable healthcare, she brings a unique perspective to her role as CEO of Healthy Blue Louisiana. For her, healthcare isn't just about treatment, it's about access, education, and breaking down barriers so that every person, regardless of background or income, can get the care they deserve.
From an early age, Dr. Valentine knew she wanted to be a doctor. Growing up as the sixth of seven children, she learned the importance of communication, patience, and advocacy—lessons reinforced by her older brother, who has special needs. His experiences played a pivotal role in shaping her perspective on care and advocacy. When she opened her private practice, it quickly became clear that she wasn't just treating patients, she was becoming a trusted source for other families that have children with special needs. "I had my private practice in the New Orleans metro area; I had a couple of locations. There were many patients who also had children with special needs. It's a small community so once the word gets out, they're coming in droves," Dr. Valentine said. "They know that you're
going to be open to their needs, the special needs of their family, and really hear them."
This ability to translate medical expertise into compassionate, relatable care became a cornerstone of her career. Dr. Valentine's deep connection to New Orleans has shaped her approach to healthcare. The city is known for its rich culture and strong sense of community, but it also faces stark inequalities in wealth and healthcare access. "There's a disconnect between people who have resources and those who don't," she explained. "New Orleans is a checkerboard city— For example, St. Charles Avenue has beautiful mansions. You go one street over, you could be in the heart of the hood," Dr. Valentine continues, "The resources are there, but they're not always reaching the
people who need them most."
This reality fuels her drive at Healthy Blue Louisiana, where she works to ensure that healthcare isn't just available but truly accessible for all. She believes in meeting communities where they are, listening to their needs, and making healthcare easier to navigate. One-way Healthy Blue Louisiana closes the gap is through community listening sessions. These sessions provide a space for members and healthcare providers to have real conversations. "We have internal listening sessions for our associates, but we also have them for the community," Dr. Valentine said. "We're asking, 'What works for you? What doesn't work for you?' One thing I'm especially excited about is helping people actually understand what their provider is saying in the
exam room."
Education and prevention are also at the heart of Healthy Blue Louisiana's mission. The organization regularly hosts health fairs, workshops, and wellness events, equipping people with the tools they need to take charge of their health. With a deep commitment to improving health outcomes, Healthy Blue Louisiana continues to expand its reach and strengthen partnerships across the state. Through its innovative programs and a focus on health equity, the organization is making a tangible difference in people's lives. Under Dr. Valentine's leadership, Healthy Blue Louisiana isn't just providing healthcare—it's building trust, breaking down barriers, and creating a system where every patient feels seen, heard, and valued.
Black Information Network
The Black Lives Matter plaza erected in Washington D.C. following George Floyd’s murder is set to be removed. On Tuesday (March 4), D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced that the plaza, just one block from the White House, will be repainted and renamed, per NBC4 Washington.
The move comes amid threats to interfere with the city’s management from Congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump. Bowser made the announcement just a day after GOP Rep. Andrew Clyde introduced the legislation forcing the city to repaint and rename the Black Lives Matter plaza or be at risk of losing millions of dollars in transportation funding.
“The mural inspired millions of people and helped our city through a very painful period, but now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional
interference,” Bowser said in a statement on Tuesday. “The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern.”
The two-block stretch of 16th Street NW north of the White House was designated as the Black Lives Matter Plaza in 2020 as protests erupted across the nation over police brutality.
Legislation introduced by Clyde requires the city to remove the Black Lives Matter lettering from the street, rename the intersection to Liberty Plaza, and remove any mention of Black Lives Matter from the city’s websites and official documents. Bowser said Tuesday that the plaza would be repainted as part of a citywide mural project in celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday next year.
In a statement, Clyde said he was “pleased” with Bowser’s move to remove the plaza but noted that he would keep pushing his legislation until it’s “officially gone for good.”
A federal court has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze essential federal funding to states, marking the second legal setback for the administration in as many days. The ruling comes after Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul led a multistate lawsuit challenging the funding freeze, arguing it would have devastating consequences for state programs and research institutions.
“States and research institutions rely on federal funding to provide services our residents depend on,” Raoul said. “These two preliminary injunctions will prevent the Trump administration’s ludicrous and unlawful policies from being enacted.”
Raoul emphasized how the freeze could have crippled programs in Illinois, including efforts to protect children from online predators and medical research initiatives at state universities. His office runs the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, which depends on federal grants to investigate child exploitation crimes and train law enforcement.
The court’s preliminary injunction came after Raoul and a coalition of at-
torneys general sued to stop the administration from blocking a wide range of federal agency grants, loans, and financial assistance programs. The judge found that the states were likely to succeed in their claim that the funding freeze was unlawful, citing the critical role federal money plays in programs ranging from childcare to emergency response and workforce development.
Raoul and other attorneys general first took legal action on January 28, securing an initial temporary restraining order (TRO) on January 31. They later sought a preliminary injunction to ensure federal funds remained available. In a ruling issued today, the court not only granted the injunction but also ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to prove by March 14 that it was complying with the order to unfreeze funds. Without access to FEMA grants, states could struggle to respond to disasters, including terrorist attacks, wildfires, mass shootings, and cybersecurity threats.
Yesterday, a separate court ruling blocked another Trump administration policy that sought to cut billions of dollars
in funding to universities and research institutions. The Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had planned to reduce funding for medical and public health research, prompting a lawsuit from Raoul’s coalition. The court ruled in favor of the states, preventing the cuts while the case continues.
The NIH is the primary source of federal funding for medical research in the U.S., supporting advances in cancer treatment, Alzheimer’s research, and early detection of diseases. Illinois institutions have benefited significantly from these funds, with recent grants helping the University of Illinois develop new treatments for drug-resistant bacteria and childhood cancer, among other breakthroughs.
Joining Raoul in the lawsuits are attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
360 Management Group, Co. is currently seeking proposals from a qualified Elevator Consultant. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from 360 Management Group’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing. cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on
Wednesday, February 26, 2025, at 3:00PM.
South Central Regional Council of Governments
The public is invited to offer comments from March 3, 2025, until April 18, 2025, on the Draft Public Participation Guidelines for the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG). The Plan documents the actions taken by SCRCOG to facilitate public participation in transportation planning, in accordance with Title 23 CFR 450.316.
Copies of the Draft Public Participation Plan are available at www. scrcog.org. Hard copies are available upon request to James Rode at jrode@scrcog.org.
Public comments may be emailed to jrode@scrcog.org or mailed, postage prepaid, to James Rode, Principal Transportation Planner, South Central Regional Council of Governments, 127 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor West, North Haven, CT 06473 with receipt in both cases by no later than April 18, 2025. Public comments may also be offered at a Hybrid Public Meeting on April 9, 2025, at 12 pm. Instructions for participating in the Public Meeting will be posted at www. scrcog.org no later than 10 days before the event.
360 Management Group, Co. is currently seeking a qualified contractor to provide Fire Panel System Repair & Service. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from 360 Management Group’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on
Monday, March 3, 2025, at
360 Management Group is currently seeking proposals from qualified firm for Marshall Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on
Wednesday, February 19, 2025, at 3:00PM.
Members of the public are invited to
State Project No. 0173-0542
Southwest Connecticut (District 3) Traffic Control Signal Replacements
Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.
Learn More & Register: https://portal.ct.gov/DOT173-542
The purpose of this meeting is to provide the community with an opportunity to learn about the proposed project and allow an open discussion of any views and comments concerning the proposed improvements. A Q&A session will immediately follow the presentation.
The purpose of this project is to upgrade or revise existing traffic control signal equipment to current standards. Existing equipment will be replaced with updated infrastructure at existing signalized intersections on state roadways.
Right-of-way impacts are expected to be minimal around new signal equipment and newly installed sidewalks at some project intersections.
Construction is expected to begin winter 2026. The estimated cost is $16 million, with 100% state funds.
The public can submit comments and questions during the two-week public comment period following the meeting. Please direct comments and questions by April 8 to DOTSignalReplacements@ct.gov or (860) 594-2189.
This meeting will be livestreamed on CTDOT’s YouTube channel at youtube. com/@ctdotofficial, and closed captioning will be available. Non-English translation options will be available on Zoom and YouTube. The recording will also be posted immediately following the meeting in the list of CTDOT virtual public meetings at portal.ct.gov/ctdotVPIMarchive.
For limited internet access, call (877) 853-5257 with Meeting ID 854 7788 3366. Project information can be mailed within one week by contacting Kaethe Podgorski at DOTSignalReplacements@ct.gov or (860) 594-2189.
For hearing/speech disabilities, dial 711 for Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS). Request language assistance from CTDOT’s Language Assistance at (860) 594-2109 at least five business days before meeting.
The Town of Wallingford is seeking qualified applicants for Deputy Fire Chief to perform highly responsible fire service administrative work. The position requires a high school diploma or the equivalent, plus 10 years of progressively responsible career fire department experience including at least 4 years as an officer in a career fire department, or any combination of experience and training which provides a demonstrated potential for performing the duties of the class. Applicants must also possess Connecticut or National Registry certification as an (EMT) or higher, a valid State of Connecticut class D driver's license, and certifications as a Fire Officer I and Fire Instructor I or higher from the Connecticut Fire Academy. Salary: $105,509 to $134,115 annually. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, individual and family medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. To apply online by the closing date of March 28, 2025, please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE
IS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR ELDERLY HOUSING! APPLICATIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM MARCH 1st, 2025 – MAY 31st, 2025. APPLICATIONS RECEIVED OR POSTMARKED AFTER MAY 31st, 2025, WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Eligible applicants must be 62+ OR 18+ if disabled. Rent calculation is based on 30% of your income. Tenants cannot pay lower than the base rent: $420/efficiency, $430/one -bedroom and ADA. Applications can be picked up at the office Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 9-2 pm at: 358 Wheeler Road, Monroe, CT 06468, or by email at: housing@monroect.gov. Those that need assistance with obtaining the application and/or applying can call 203-261-7685. Assistance in another language will be made available to those that need it. Eligible applications will be chosen by lottery system and subject to background checking. The Monroe Housing Authority does not determine eligibility based on age, ancestry, color, sex, race, creed, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, lawful source of income, familial status, learning disability, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,
The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking proposals from qualified firms Energy Consultant Firms. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on
Monday, March 10, 2025, at 3:00PM.
Immediate opening for a full time Service Assistant. This position required knowledge of navigating waters in and around the CT Shoreline. This includes marine experience and must have a valid driver’s license and boater’s license. Send resume to: Human Resource Dept. P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.
THE ELM CITYCOMMUNITIES, HOUSING AUTHORITY OF NEWHAVEN (ECC/HANH)
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE LIPH ADMISSION AND COMTINUED OCCUPANCY PLAN (ACOP) AND HCV ADMINISTRATIVE PLAN (ADMIN PLAN)
Elm City Communities, the Housing Authority of the City of New Haven (ECC/HANH) is proposing to amend sections of its Low-Income Public Housing Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP) and the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Administrative Plan (Admin Plan).
Copies of the amendment to the ACOP and the Administrative Plan will be made available on Monday, March 9, 2025, on the agency website www.elmcitycommunities.org or via Facebook www.facebook.com/ElmCityCommunities or Instagram @elmcitycommunities_hanh.
You are invited to provide written comments addressed to: ECC/HANH, ACOP & Admin Plan Revisions; Attn: Evelise Ribeiro, 360 Orange Street, New Haven, CT 06511 or via email to: eribeiro@elmcitycommunities.org.
A public hearing where public comments will be accepted and recorded is scheduled for Monday April 7, 2025, at 3:00pm
Via RingCentral: https://v.ringcentral.com/join/553075769?pw=df5d7fa05943d7cfd1779b59f8d54312
Meeting ID: 553075769
Password: hwj2gFCY9q
Any individual requiring a Reasonable Accommodation to participate in the hearing may call the Reasonable Accommodation Manager (203) 498-8800, ext. 1507 or at the TDD Number (203) 497-8434.
AUTORIDAD DE VIVIENDA DE NEWHAVEN (ECC/HANH) ENMIENDA PROPUESTA AL PLAN DE ADMISIÓN Y OCUPACIÓN CONTINUA (ACOP) DE LIPH Y AL PLAN ADMINISTRATIVO DE HCV (PLAN ADMINISTRATIVO)
Elm City Communities, la Autoridad de Vivienda de la Ciudad de New Haven (ECC/HANH) propone enmendar secciones de su Política de Admisión y Ocupación Continua de Vivienda Pública para Bajos Ingresos (ACOP) y el Plan Administrativo de Vales de Elección de Vivienda (HCV) (Plan Administrativo).
Se pondrán a disposición copias de la enmienda al ACOP y al Plan Administrativo el lunes 9 de marzo de 2025 en el sitio web de la agencia www.elmcitycommunities.org o a través de Facebook www.facebook.com/ElmCityCommunities o Instagram @elmcitycommunities_hanh.
Se le invita a proporcionar comentarios por escrito dirigidos a: ECC/HANH, ACOP y Admin Plan Revisions; A la atención de: Evelise Ribeiro, 360 Orange Street, New Haven, CT 06511 o por correo electrónico a: eribeiro@elmcitycommunities.org.
Se ha programado una audiencia pública en la que se aceptarán y registrarán los comentarios públicos para el lunes 7 de abril de 2025 a las 3:00 p.m. metro.
A través de RingCentral: https://v.ringcentral.com/join/553075769?pw=df5d7fa05943d7cfd1779b59f8d54312 ID de la reunión: 553075769 Contraseña: hwj2gFCY9q
Cualquier persona que requiera una adaptación razonable para participar en la audiencia puede llamar al Gerente de Adaptaciones Razonables (203) 4988800, ext. 1507 o al número TDD (203) 497-8434.
Last fall, my sister-in-law and BFF recommended a book that her book club was reading titled, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. She thought that I would enjoy it because of my relationship with Rose, the lady that basically raised me and was so important to our family.
It was the first book I downloaded to my Kindle app on my new iPad. As I began to read the story about early 1960’s Jackson, Mississippi and the struggles of black maids working for white families, pangs of familiarity began to churn in my gut. It wasn’t so much the dreadfulness of Civil Rights’ indignities of the day — I am all too familiar with the effects of those days — as it was the stories of the women who were charged with white parents’ most precious possession (their children), but were not allowed to use the restroom inside the lily white homes of these Southern hypocrites.
I was captivated by the historical context and of course, by the personal story of Skeeter Phelan, who sets out to write a book about stories of “the help” — both good and bad. Yes, there were some good stories about relationships between the races, even though very few see the light of day. I read it in two days and was touched in a way I hadn’t been since I read The Horse Whisperer many years ago.
Perhaps the story resonated so deeply with me because of Rose. Throughout my childhood and early adulthood, Rose was a constant except for the year or so that she and my mother had a falling out…but more on that later.
My parents were married in May, 1952 and my father moved into my grandparents’ home with my mother so they could save up to build a house of their own. They had my sister nine months after they were married and starting building their house “in the country” about six miles from “town”. My father owned a plant nursery with his father right around the corner from their new homestead. Once the house was finished, they prepared to move their small family into the home that they would occupy for the next 40 years.
My parents were not rich folks, but it had been decided that my mother would need “help” as she only had the use of her right arm, her left arm paralyzed from polio when she was two. Additionally, they had just found out that their daughter was deaf. My father employed alot of field hands at the nursery and was particularly close to his foreman, nicknamed Shawee (which, incidentally, means racoon in french). Shawee’s wife, Rose, also worked at the nursery. They had a growing family and some of the older kids helped out at the nursery in the summer. My father arranged a meeting between my mother and Rose to see
if she would be a good fit to “help” my mother in the house. They immediately hit it off and Rose became a fixture in our house and synonymous with our family for the rest of her life.
A short while later, my brother was born and became Rose’s child. He called her “Mamma Rose” and followed her everywhere. He spent most of his days with Rose as my mother was taking my sister to speech therapy and classes each day, trying to prepare her for school. Rose’s kids often spent time with our family and were fantastic playmates.
Rose had nick names for everyone, particularly her kids. Pictured above is Gros Bay Bay (meaning Big Baby in French). There was also Tougi, Tee-an, Sis, and Teeny. The twins would come later…but, more of that later. She also was instrumental in assigning my brother’s moniker as she called him a “chip” off the old block. Since he was a Jr., the name stuck — Chip, or Chippo as she preferred.
Nine years after my brother….surprise, surprise, my mother was pregnant. My sister was off at school in Baton Rouge and came home most weekends, but the house had basically been my brother’s domain with Rose attending to his every
need. Rose indicated that this new baby would be a girl and decided upon Suzy-Q as an appropriate name. Rose’s youngest son, Teeny, was a toddler, but she hadn’t had a little girl to spoil in a long time. So, when I was born in the fall of ’64, Rose was in her glory. Many nights, she and one of her daughters would spend the night and baby sit, dressing me up like a little doll and of course, spoiling me rotten.
We loved that lady. I mean truly loved her. Then, when I was about five, Rose was gone. I don’t remember anyone saying why or what happened, I only knew that she was gone and another lady was there to “help”. She was nice enough, but she was no Rose. I missed Rose so much, but I didn’t know where she was. Then, almost magically, she returned when I was starting 2nd grade. It was like she never left. I was soooo happy to have her back. It appears that I had acted out pretty severely at the new lady and looking back, I’m sure I saw her as an impostor and wanted the real deal.
I would find out, years later, that Rose and my mother had a falling out around Rose taking up with a new man after she and Shawee divorced. Not that it was her
had disrespected one of them. My mother trusted Rose with her most intimate secrets and as a true confidant. Rose knew and understood all our family dynamics and she was often the sounding board for problems, cheerleader for accomplishments and overall, just an objective observer of our lives.
I learned so much from her. Friendship, loyalty, humbleness, integrity, compassion, faith and love, not to mention how to cook the perfect round steak. Probably the most touching part of the story of The Help was the maid, Aibileen, trying to instill confidence into Mae Mobley, the toddler in her care and whose mother was a bit “detached”. Each morning when Aibi arrived and took the little girl from her crib or when she read her story books, she had Mae Mobley repeat: “You is kind, you is smart, you is important.” Rose did the same kinds of things, making us feel good about ourselves and setting her expectations high for us, even though she was always right there and helping to pick up the pieces when we stumbled. Rose died the week of Thanksgiving, 1993 on the same day and hour that my brother’s daughter was born. It was such a bittersweet day in our family, but we knew that this new baby was likely kissed and blessed with Rose’s spirit. A few days later, I delivered the eulogy at her funeral…it was such an honor. Her headstone reads: “In Loving Memory from ALL her children” and lists her name as “Mama Rose”, a tribute from all of her children.
business, but my mother was concerned for Rose and her children so she applied some kind of tough love and basically told her not to come back if she was going to continue living with the man. So Rose quit or Mamma fired her. After a few months, Rose’s older daughter, Sis, let Mamma know that Rose was pregnant, with twins. My mother was NOT happy and I’m sure she let it be known. She was pissed at Rose because she knew how hard her life was already and now she was supporting a man and two babies and dragging young Teeny through it all.
To my mother’s credit, she finally came to her senses and asked Rose to come back. I don’t know if she felt sorry for Rose and wanted to help or if she really just missed her best friend, but I was happy as pigs in shit that Rose was BACK!!
My mother and Rose had an unusual relationship for black and white women in the South in the ’60s. But, then again, southwest Louisiana was a little different in terms of tolerance. Not that there wasn’t racism, but there were more accounts of close relationships between black and white families. My parents demanded our respect for Rose. If we talked back, we were punished just as if we
I tell this story because there’s so much talk about racism, bigotry and inequality, but little about love and mutual respect between the races. When little children find a caring, loving and trusted friend who instills self-confidence, the color of their skin or the differences in their cultures fade away. There is only love…and loyalty…and remembrance. So, when I read the book and found out that the movie was being made, I made a promise to watch the movie, alone with Rose. Since I couldn’t have her next to me, live and in person, I brought along this picture of her from my grandmother’s 90th birthday party and of course, her spirit. I laughed and I cried at familiar and compelling parts, knowing that Rose was laughing and crying right along with me. So, needless to say, I highly recommend going to see The Help. And, when you do, consider the relationships of those women with those children and what an integral part they were in forming these children and giving them such a strong foundation — some who grew up to be priests, teachers, businessmen, doctors, authors and others who are simply “good” people, in part, from the values and teachings of the “help”.
Yale New Haven Hospital is pleased to offer patients and their families financial counseling regarding their hospital bills or the availability of financial assistance, including free care funds. By appointment, patients can speak one-on-one with a financial counselor during regular business hours. For your convenience, extended hours are available in-person at Yale New Haven Hospital once a month.
Date: Monday, April 21, 2025
Time: 5 - 7 pm
Location: Children’s Hospital, 1 Park St., 1st Floor, Admitting
Parking available (handicapped accessible)
An appointment is necessary. Please call 855-547-4584
Spanish-speaking counselors available.
• Cremation (Choose to be cremated at Evergreen.)
• Columbarium in the Most Beautiful Cremation Garden
• Reserve your Niche in a secure location pre-need.
• Reserve a Niche for family and friends or purchase at-need to safely place your Loved One in the Columbarium.
• Burial Lots (infant, single, two-grave, or four-grave)
• Monuments & Markers (black, gray, or pink granite)
• Flower placement (single or multiple placement)
• All orders can be placed at the Evergreen office or the website.
By April Ryan
The federal government has many loose ends to tie after firing massive numbers of government employees and contractors, particularly in one department that once dealt with diversity. To protect fired employees from retaliation, an anonymous contractor terminated on Valentine's Day, February 14, has expressed concerns that they still have government devices and equipment and active government emails.
The devices include laptops, monitors, computers, printers and more. The fired contractual workers have access to their government email as well as keycards that give admission for parking, building, computers, and government website access. The program manager over the department's contract in charge of the fired contractual employees called the Program Management Officer of the federal agency that handles these matters to return the devices. It was said the call “was not two minutes” and the PMO said she could not talk to the project manager anymore as she was threatened with jail if they talked again. The PMO official stated, another agency “OAS will contact
you.”
About a month later, the employees are now being told the government is in the process of returning the equipment. Fired government employees who still have active government emails received messages on those government emails and their emails. The fired workers who received no severance will be directed on when and where to return their government devices. Those who live too far away will be directed how to mail the items back to the government. In the meantime, there is a very real concern that someone who could be disgruntled could decide to do something harmful on a government website if they still have active keycards. On a related note, before the employees were told they were fired they were mandated to scrub websites of any words of diversity and equity even if it was not related to culture, race, or gender. This group of contractual employees were also told to tell on other employees who were not following the mandate of Elon Musk and DOGE. Without identifying the department, location, and workers, this group of fired contractors worked on a specific federally funded program that dealt with race and gender.
