Program Descriptions

Advocacy

CCA maintains a policy of speaking out on issues that affect families that are poor who live in New Haven. The CCA staff participate in coalition- building efforts at the local, state and national levels. CCA draws on its social service experience and knowledge to advocate for policies that will effectively combat the problems of poverty and injustice.

For more information about this program, contact Merryl Eaton at (203) 777-6072 or meaton@ccahelping.org

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CCA is committed to the many children served by our programs. After-school programs are available on selected days at our Hillside Family Shelter and Stepping Stone sites. These programs focus on nurturing the children and helping them develop the skills they will need to succeed in school and in their interactions with other children and adults. The program also includes mentoring and tutoring.  CCA also offers a Children’s Summer Program that brings together children from all the housing program sites for a six-week "camp" focused on the development of socialization skills. Activities include arts, crafts, games and field trips.

For more information about this program, contact Magda Rodriguez at (203) 777-7167 or mrodriguez@ccahelping.org for the Stepping Stone children’s program; Sophia Rivera at (203) 777-7848 or srivera@ccahelping.org for all other children’s programs.

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Food Pantry / Neighborhood Services

Since the early 1970’s, CCA has made a food pantry available to families with children, senior citizens and people with disabilities in the Hill section of New Haven, Connecticut. Over the years we have served more than 35,000 people. Starting in the spring of 2001, we have offered a "Client Choice" Program. Food pantry participants are given the opportunity to "shop" for their food items rather than receiving a pre-made bag. During the winter of 2002, CCA (who partners with the Connecticut Food Bank) was given a freezer to help us continue our efforts of providing a wide range of food items, especially meats and produce.

For more information about this program, contact Juan Marquez at (203)777-7848 or  jmarquez@ccahelping.org

As part of providing services to the Hill neighborhood, CCA also serves as an application site for Connecticut Energy Assistance Program and the Community Fuel Bank.  We also provide assistance by helping people tap the resources available to them, making referrals to other agencies, intervening between individuals and bureaucracies and helping people through crisis, such as fires, evictions and utility shut offs. We also provide notarizing services as well.

For more information about this program, contact Maria Maldonado at (203)777-7848 or  mmaldonado@ccahelping.org

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Hillside Family Shelter

CCA's Hillside Family Shelter provides temporary housing for families who are homeless. Working from two sites, the Hillside Family Shelter has ten furnished apartments at our Sylvan site and seven at our Davenport site. Apartments range in size from 1 room efficiencies to three bedrooms, accommodating a range of family sizes.  CCA is committed to empowering families to move toward self-sufficiency. Within the 60-90 day period families live at Hillside, goals for tenants include increasing family stability, decreasing family stress and searching for permanent housing and employment.   The philosophy at Hillside Family Shelter is that families that are homeless deserve to be treated with dignity, which is an essential first step toward breaking the cycle of homelessness. In addition, we believe that reducing stress in families’ lives by providing adequate living space will increase their chances of making the initial steps towards self-sufficiency. It is because of these two beliefs that we provide a furnished apartment for 60-90 days through a program that is not overburdened with rules and regulations. This keeps living conditions roughly comparable to living conditions families’ would have if not homeless, while giving them a time limit and guidance for locating permanent housing. 

The name "Hillside" was chosen for this program, both because we are located on the "hill side of New Haven," and also because the dictionary defines "hillside" as "the point between the bottom and top of a hill." We thought it was an appropriate name, given that the goal of the program is to help the families we serve move up from homelessness and to reach the "top of the hill" and achieve self-sufficiency.

For more information about this program, contact Lillian Marquez at (203) 777-7173 or lmarquez@ccahelping.org.

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LifeWorks Center

Currently in its early developmental stage, the LifeWorks Center, located on Willow Street in New Haven, will combine CCA’s advocacy and enpowerment efforts, such as its Advocacy and Education Program and its Mothers for Justice group, together with a business / workplace environment in which participants can acquire the experience and skills they need to obtaining quality employment. Watch this space and the CCA in the News section for updates on this program’s progress.

For more information about this program, contact Merryl Eaton at (203) 777-6072 or meaton@ccahelping.org.

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Mothers for Justice

Mothers for Justice was founded in 1993. Sponsored by CCA’s Advocacy and Education  Project , Mothers for Justice is a group of women from the New Haven area dedicated to improving the lives of families who are low-income. The goal of Mothers for Justice is to empower women and their families, increase awareness of social issues through advocacy and action and improve the quality of life for families and the community as a whole. By taking steps to educate and organize women in the community, Mothers for Justice seeks to increase awareness of the important issues that will improve the capabilities and circumstances of families, thereby improving the community of New Haven.

Mothers for Justice meet monthly.  Childcare, transportation and refreshments are provided.

For information on upcoming meetings, contact Carolyn McClendon at (203) 777-6072 or cmcclendon@ccahelping.org

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Advocacy and Education Project

The Advocacy and Education Project originated in 1977 as the Welfare Reform Project. Its goal then and now was to promote social change and justice for all by focusing on issues such as empowerment, grass-roots organizing, leadership training and economic justice.   In recognition of the displeasure of many with the federal welfare reform law passed in 1996, the project changed its name to the Welfare Justice Project in 1996. In 2001, it changed its name again to Social Justice Project in recognition of the need to broaden and deepen its mandate from simply changing the welfare system to promoting social change and justice overall.

Among the programs the Social Justice Project offers are an annual Leadership institute,  to help people develop leadership skills for use in their personal and professional lives and an annual Public Policy Institute, featuring elected officials and policy makers, which teaches how our governmental system works and how people can create positive change within that system.  

For more information on this program, contact Merryl Eaton at (203) 777-6072 or meaton@ccahelping.org

Program for Internships, Vocational Opportunities and Training (PIVOT)

PIVOT is one of CCA’s newest programs.  It is designed to provide people of low income (in particular,  people living in our Hillside Family Shelter or participating in our Stepping Stone Transitional Housing  Program) with preparation / training, paid internships with area businesses and ultimately, good jobs that pay living wages and offer opportunities for advancement and growth.  Since it was created in late 2004, PIVOT has been able to help more than 100 persons in their efforts to become self sufficient.

 PIVOT is based on research that showed that many of the people CCA serves have vocational skills and some actual work experience which, with help, could be developed  so that they could become independent and self supporting.  This is what PIVOT seeks to do.

 CCA was able to launch PIVOT, thanks to a $150,000 grant from Empower New Haven.  Employers interested in becoming a part of PIVOT (at no cost, since all costs associated with any internships are covered by the program), should contact Gail Chambless, vocational placement coordinator, at (203) 777-6072 or by e-mail at gchambless@ccahelping.org.  Persons who live in New Haven’s empowerment zones and interested in enrolling in PIVOT should also contact Ms. Chambless.

Health Advocacy Voices Emerging Network (HAVENetwork)

HAVENetwork is designed to give people of color who are poor the opportunity to have  their voices heard and their ideas considered in the ongoing debate over how best to fix what nearly all experts say is our nation’s dysfunctional health care system.  To this end, the program has sponsored a number of meetings and forums designed to educate people on how our health care system operates currently and what changes would improve it in terms of making it more accessible to everyone and more affordable.  Participants in HAVENetwork will also be addressing a number of specific issues related to health care in the 2007 sessions of the State Legislature.  These include the lack of dentists available to people enrolled in the state’s HUSKY managed Medicaid program, the lack of specialists, the high cost of prescription drugs and how these costs affect accessibility and finally, funding for the State Administered General Assistance (SAGA) Program. 

Persons wishing to learn more about this program should contact Merryl Eaton, Director of CCA’s Advocacy and Education Project at 777-6072 / meaton@ccahelping.org.

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Stepping Stone Transitional Housing Program

Stepping Stone is a comprehensive transitional housing program, accommodating families in a single site housing complex. Residents may stay for up to 24 months. Families throughout the Greater New Haven, Connecticut area who are homeless or at risk of homelessness are eligible for the Stepping Stone program. This includes two parent, one parent, male or female headed households. 

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Thanksgiving Distribution

Annually, CCA sponsors a Thanksgiving distribution to more than 1,000 families and seniors in the Hill neighborhood of New Haven, This effort could not be possible without the assistance of hundred of volunteers from greater New Haven. Working individually or as a group through their churches and schools, these volunteers make this event possible by sponsoring food drives, donating money, sorting food and distributing baskets.