Spring Break Immersion: Volunteers from Yale Chaplain's Office

 Spring Break Immersion:

Volunteers from Yale University Chaplain's Office

On Monday, March 9, NHS hosted 9 volunteer participants from the Yale University Chaplain’s Office Spring Break Immersion Program.

These tireless volunteers worked with us from 10:00am-3:00pm. We started the morning with introductions and a conversation about the student’s interest in participating in the program. The volunteers all agreed that they shared a desire to explore and better understand the city that they currently call home. 

We then geared up with a host of shovels to tackle the snow and ice in the driveways and walkways around two NHS-owned properties on County Street. While shoveling, we explained NHS’ neighborhood revitalization philosophy, emphasizing how renovating clusters of houses on a block can have a greater impact than renovating just one house. Volunteers also got to see the quality of work NHS puts into its rehabs.

At lunch, we continued our conversation on housing issues in New Haven and how they connect to issues of socio-economic inequalities, access to healthy food, community and economic development, and transportation. 

We were so excited to engage with this group of volunteers and share such a productive day with them.