Yale Focus 2013

Yale Focus 2013 @ NHS of New Haven 

By Kimberly Langin, Resident Engagement VISTA

During the week of August 19th, NHS hosted a group students participating in Yale FOCUS 2013. Yale FOCUS is a weeklong volunteer-based program for Yale students who hope to engage themselves within the City of New Haven by partnering with a local non-profit, learning more about local issues, leaders, and resources, and ultimately finding their own role within the greater New Haven community.

On Monday, the Community Building and Organizing team and the Yale FOCUS Group did some landscaping and street clean-up on West Division Street in Newhallville. We planted some trees and other plants before placing mulch in the yard of 319 West Division Street, a renovated NHS home that is waiting for a homebuyer.The FOCUS Group then connected with some other residents on the street and helped to add mulch to their yards, as well.

On Tuesday, the group continued their landscaping activities on West Division Street before picking up litter on several blocks in the area. Later in the afternoon, the group prepared and stained the fence surrounding the Stevens Street Community Garden in the Hill neighborhood. The day concluded with a few hours of undertaking property observation surveys, noting the exterior conditions of many properties in the Newhallville community to determine areas in which we should focus our community revitalization efforts. Wednesday continued the surveying theme, this time by taking property observation surveys of 100 houses on Newhall and Lilac Streets. Wednesday afternoon was dedicated to collecting resident experience surveys, which involved knocking on doors and engaging many Newhallville residents.

Thursday, the final day, was hampered somewhat by some less-than-perfect weather. Nevertheless, the FOCUS group took a thorough tour of the Home Improvement and Energy Conservation Lab, learning about its green and energy-efficient features. Afterwards, as the rain continued to pour, the group was able to spend some time in NHS’ office, helping to mail out 90 resident experience surveys to Newhallville residences. Later that evening, Stephen, Daniella, and Kim of the CB&O team attended the FOCUS dinner event at Dwight Hall to thank the student volunteers and their host organizations. Overall, it was a great week filled with community engagement, learning experiences, and both personal and community growth. Thank you to our Yale FOCUS volunteers!

Overall, it was a great week filled with community engagement, learning experiences, and both personal and community growth. Thank you to our Yale FOCUS volunteers!

The Greenhouse Project

The Greenhouse Project

In order to shed light on the abundance of wonderful and successful community gardens scattered all throughout the Newhallville neighborhood, a group of community leaders has begun a project to construct a greenhouse on site at one of these urban farms. After much discussion, the group selected the Ivy Street Community Garden as the future site of this greenhouse.

The Ivy Street Community Garden, located at the corner of Ivy Street and Shelton Avenue in Newhallville, is an ideal location for a greenhouse because it is nestled between the Lincoln-Bassett School and St. Andrews Church, which is a host site for the Solar Youth programming. The garden is also meticulously maintained by a number of avid neighborhood gardeners, who have now become an integral party in the planning process. Eight additional groups have committed to the success of the greenhouse project: the City of New Haven’s Livable Cities Initiative, the New Haven Land Trust, Lincoln-Bassett School, Solar Youth, SEEDnh, Common Ground High School, and Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven.

The planning committee wants to ensure that this greenhouse will be a neighborhood icon that is built to stand all tests of time and weather. The greenhouse will measure 15 feet wide by 30 feet long. It will serve as a model facility where gardeners will be able to extend their growing season while both students and community residents will be invited to learn urban farming practices and sustainable energy techniques. We are also hoping that this greenhouse will inspire the construction of similar structures in other Newhallville gardens.

The Ivy Street Community Garden Greenhouse Planning Committee is very excited about this project and thrilled at the progress it is making. Groundbreaking should take place in early fall. When the greenhouse is completed, the committee will be hosting an open house, inviting everyone from across the city to see the finished product!

If you are interested in learning more about the greenhouse project, please call the Chair of the Greenhouse Committee, Velma George, at (203) 432-6189. The planning team has also broken down into three committees: Design & Build, Programming, and Resource Development. If you have a special skill or interest in any of these areas and would like to volunteer as a committee member, please reach out to us by emailing Stephen Cremin-Endes, the Community Building Specialist at NHS of New Haven.

Yale EXPLO Volunteers

Ivy Street Garden

Yale EXPLO Volunteer Event

 

NHS recently hosted a group of Yale EXPLO Volunteers at Ivy Street Garden and neighborhood resident Ida Felder’s home. EXPLO is a summer program that provides courses at Yale and community service experience to 10th-12th graders from around the world. Volunteers assisted local gardeners in weeding, raking, mowing, and picking up trash at both sites.

We were thrilled with the work we were able to accomplish and thank everyone for their efforts!

If you'd like to find out more about the Yale EXPLO Program, check out their website here.

Winfred Rembert: Art in Motion

Art in Motion

Winfred Rembert Visits NHS of New Haven

On Wednesday, July 31, NHS hosted an organization-wide screening of the documentary "All Me: The Life and Times of Winfred Rembert." We were thrilled that Rembert and his wife Patsy, both residents of Newhalville, were able to attend the screening and speak to NHS staff about their experiences. A self-taught artist, Rembert inspired us with his powerful, intricate paintings along with his incredible life experiences growing up in the segregated South. His works are largely autobiographical, depicting daily life along with traumatic encounters with bigotry and discrimination. Using sheets of carved and dyed leather as his medium, he composes a narrative of his time working in the cotton fields, being incarcerated, and serving in a chain gang. One of his most painful and moving pieces, on display at the Yale Art Gallery, depicts his experience surviving a lynching.

His remarkable abilities as an artist and storyteller are only surpassed by his ability as a human being to triumph in the face of adversity. We at NHS felt truly privileged to spend an evening with Winfred and Patsy, and encourage everyone to watch the documentary and provide their support to the artist.

If you'd like to watch "All Me: The Life and Times of Winfred Rembert" yourself, check it out here.

Contemporary Architecture Bike Tour

Touring New Haven

Touring New Haven’s Contemporary Architecture - by Bike!

On Saturday, June 29th, as part of the final day of the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Elm City Cycling organized an architecture tour that lead participating bikers to architecturally significant houses located across New Haven’s neighborhoods. Since 1989, first-year Yale architecture students have participated in an annual competition, held during their spring semester, for which they must design an innovative, affordable, and livable housing scheme. One winning design is selected, and the architecture students (and some faculty members) construct the house over the course of the summer. Along with Habitat for Humanity, Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven has frequently partnered with the Yale School of Architecture for the annual Building Project; NHS funds the project and sells the house to a first-time homebuyer. 

The tour biked along a 10-mile route to visit 12 of these projects, all houses with the exception of the first completed project, which was the East Rock Park gazebo. There was no better way to view some of New Haven's best architecture sights! At tour's end, the 28 participants biked to 20 King Place in the Hill neighborhood. There, the homeowner greeted them with refreshment and a spread of snacks for the weary bikers. The real reward for many of the visitors was getting to see the inside of the contemporary-styled house and having a discussion with the homeowner about her experiences residing in it.

To read more about the Yale Building Projects that Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven has collaborated on, click here. To read more on the history of the Yale Building Project and more from the Yale School of Architecture, click here.

NW America Features Tammy Chapman

NeighborWorks® America’s Website: New Haven’s Feature!

Tammy Chapman's Featured Impact

Our parent organization, NeighborWorks® America, is a federally funded organization that oversees a network of more than 235 organizations- all with a mission to stable communities and create affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income individuals and their families. In an effort to quantify all the work accomplished by the NeighborWorks® network, a state-by-state interactive map and infographic was devised. By clicking on any state on the map, you will see a profile of NeighborWorks® organizations’ impact on the state PLUS a story from a featured NeighborWorks® Organization.

Check it out here!

Emerge Literacy Program

Emerging Connections

Emerge Adult Literacy Program

 

NHS recently collaborated with Emerge Connecticut, Inc. and First Presbyterian Church in an effort to expand EMERGE’s adult literacy program to include one-on-one academic tutoring. Emerge is a local offender re-entry program aimed at providing men and women with skills, training, and paid work opportunities that will allow them to attain long-term stable employment and economic independence. As part of this, Emerge clients are able to participate in a literacy program to increase their reading comprehension, writing, and math skills.

Volunteers were trained to use Khan Academy, an online program that provides free educational tools for a variety of learners. We’re excited about the program and commend Emerge and their staff for the valuable contributions they make towards community stabilization. We’d like to thank our volunteers from First Presbyterian who devoted their time, as well as the dedicated staff at Emerge!

If you'd like to find out more about Emerge Connecticut and their services, check out their website here.