University of New Haven Students Spend Alternative-Spring-Break as NHS Volunteers

The staff in Community Building and Organizing (CBO) had the pleasure of hosting four students from the University of New Haven for four days of community service during their “Alternative Spring Break,” March 13 through March 17.  Although the cold temperatures and Tuesday’s disruptive blizzard created challenging circumstances for outdoor service work, the students persevered.

On Monday afternoon, CBO Specialist Adam Rawlings supervised the crew as they spread wood chips for walking trails in a section of Beaver Pond Park bordered by Sherman Parkway, commonly known as “Sherman Forest.” In doing so, the students chipped into ongoing efforts that have transformed this park space over the last few years, thanks to the joint effort of NHS of New Haven, Urban Resources Initiative, the New HavenDepartment of Parks and Recreation, and the Friends of Beaver Pond Park.   

After Tuesday’s snowstorm brought Greater New Haven to a standstill, the students returned on Wednesday and contributed to snow removal efforts in the Newhallville neighborhood.  Elias Estabrook, AmeriCorps VISTA and Residential Engagement Specialist, coordinated the crew as they joined ten employees of EMERGE CT, Inc. to clear snow and ice from the sidewalks around NHS-owned vacant properties (in NHS’ portfolio for future development). In the afternoon, Adam and Elias led the students in freeing the sidewalk around the Ivy Street Community Garden, a resident-run garden routinely supported by NHS. 

On Thursday, the students got a break from the cold and assisted staff of the CBO department and HomeOwnership Center by preparing attendees’ handouts for upcoming classes. By devising a coordinated “assembly line,” they printed, stapled, hole-punched and compiled the materials in record time.

Over the course of the week, the four volunteers gave a boost to all three NHS’ departments and witnessed the breadth of our organization’s programs. We greatly appreciate their service.

If you or your organization is looking to volunteer with NHS of New Haven, visit our website and submit a volunteer application.

Cleaning up Beaver Ponds Park with Local College Students

Update (3/23/16):
We received this great note this morning:

"Thank you, UNH students, and Neighborhood Housing Services, for your heroic work cleaning up the badly neglected Sherman Avenue side of Beaver Ponds Parks. We, as Friends of Beaver Ponds Park, thank you for your arduous work clearing old bottles and even the kitchen sink out of the park.

Nan Bartow 

Bill Bidwell

Friends of Beaver Ponds Park"

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All this week (March 14-18), University of New Haven students have been working with NHS to clean up Beaver Ponds Park, along Sherman Parkway. They were joined on Friday, March 18 with a few more students from Yale, and together they picked up trash and debris from the site.

Stephen Cremin-Endes (NHS) addressing the group

Beaver Ponds Park is owned by the City of New Haven and is an approximately 107-acre park that includes athletic fields (including Bowen Field) and an approximately 86-acre wetland and pond system. Friends of Beaver Ponds Park is a community group active in preserving and enhancing the pond areas for recreational uses.

Trash funneling into the pond.

A trash study was conducted in 2009. The study found that residential waste including plastic bags, bottles, cigarette butts, food wrappers, etc. from the areas surrounding Beaver Pond Park are improperly discarded and are transported by the stormwater system into the pond. Click here to learn more about this issue.

5 trash bags collected in just one morning!

UNH Student, Brianna

University of New Haven student, Brianna, says, 
"I haven't done a ton of community service and wanted some new experiences. We're always learning about other students going to exotic places for spring break to clean up, but sometimes where you really need the help is locally."

LtR: UNH Students Jen & Sarah

Sarah, a sophomore at UNH says, "I chose to volunteer as part of an Alternative Spring Break. I wanted to get more involved. When I first got here, [the Pond] was disgusting. There were bottles everywhere, from one end to the other."

Jen says "I’ve never really done anything like this. So I thought why not? And you have an entire week to do it. I actually enjoy it. It’s nice to feel like you’re making a difference." 

Cleaning up everything -- including the kitchen sink!

Thank you to all our volunteers! 

For more information about this activity, or any of our other volunteer opportunities, feel free to reach out to Stephen Cremin-Endes, Director of Community Building & Organizing at NHS: scremin-endes@nhsofnewhaven.org.