Category: Uncategorized

NHFPL Hosts Holiday Bazaar

by Gina Bingham, NHFPL

The New Haven Free Public Library invites all residents to support small businesses and entrepreneurs this holiday season and is excited to host a holiday bazaar featuring participants in the library’s Ives Squared Make to Sell program.  The Make to Sell Holiday Bazaar will be Saturday, Dec. 4, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Main Ives Library, 133 Elm Street. Products featured include bath and body luxuries, candles, baked goods, leather accessories, face masks, and more. Please note that some vendors may only accept cash.

Vendors who will be present at the bazaar include:

  • Dimitri Cotman of Z.Nith Point LLC
  • Shelara Pullen of Glam-TShields
  • Zara Salmon of CRAVEinfused
  • Jordan Taylor of LegallyBlack
  • Donna Berlanda of Sustainable Accessories and Fiber Art
  • Michael Ziff Leather Goods
  • April Snell of Cake Confessions

The Make to Sell program is a new endeavor by NHFPL’s Ives Squared team in conjunction with CT Next and the New Haven Innovation Collaborative to help provide underserved, early-stage entrepreneurs with concrete tools to build and launch online sales businesses. Fifteen individuals were selected for the first Make to Sell cohort and have worked diligently to launch their small businesses by taking classes taught by local small business experts, meeting with library staff mentors, and consulting with an onsite Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Creative-in-Residence.

Ives Squared inspires and augments the vibrant civic and entrepreneurial culture of New Haven by offering open access to a free business coworking co-op and makerspace.

For more information, please contact Gina Bingham: (203) 946-8835; gbingham@nhfpl.org.

Community Mobile Crisis Response Team Is Hiring

by Annie Harper, PhD, Program for Recovery and Community Health

JOB ALERT!! People from New Haven – come work for the new Crisis Response team. CommuniCare is hiring for multiple positions for a Community Crisis Response Team being developed with the City of New Haven, CMHC, Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health, and The Consultation Center.

Jobs include Community Crisis Coordinator LCSW (FT), Community Crisis LMSW (FT/PT), Community Crisis Peer Supporter (RSS or Recovery Coach) (FT/PT).

Info: communicare-ct.org – look for the jobs titled ‘Community Crisis…….’

DesegregateCT Looks to Year Two!

Lindsay Mathews, DesegregateCT

Sixty years ago, when I was growing up in a small town in central Connecticut, I hardly saw a single Black child in our schools, parks, or places of worship.

Today, nothing has changed.

That our state is still segregated is no accident. In part, our state is deeply segregated because many Connecticut communities have adopted “exclusionary zoning” laws to restrict the kinds of housing most Black people can afford to buy. Research shows that the vast majority of Connecticut towns practice exclusionary tactics like large minimum lot sizes, bans on multi-family housing, and minimum unit size requirements. Black ownership is further stymied because of a lack of access to subsidized mortgages. This financing gap has been well-documented by organizations like the Brookings Institution and the Federal Reserve.

After the murder of George Floyd, many grassroots organizations formed in order to tackle the weighty legacy of structural racism that surrounds us and our communities.

DesegregateCT is one such organization. It is a statewide organization of activists and more than 70 coalition members who are passionate about the idea that through legislation, our commitment to equality can be realized by working to change zoning laws. Over the last year, the group successfully advocated for legalizing accessory apartments, reducing parking mandates, requiring zoning regulations to “affirmatively further” fair housing, instituting commission-er training requirements, and more.

After DesegregateCT’s legislative victory, Sara Bronin said, “A year and a day after we first met – thanks to our coalition, team, and supporters, and the many housing advocates that laid the groundwork over the years – Public Act 21-29 (HB6107) became law. It is an important step toward a more affordable, sustainable, and economically dynamic state, and it marks the first significant update to the State’s Zoning Enabling Act in decades.”

Governments at every level may have forced us to live apart. However, DesegregateCT has proven that it is possible to pass zoning laws that will bring us together, if we are willing to do the work.

Go to desegregatect.org to join the fight to undo restrictive zoning laws in Connecticut.

The Potential of Solar Canopies in Connecticut

by People’s Action for Clean Energy

Learn about solar canopies at an on-line workshop Friday, June 4, 9:30-11:30 a.m. As Connecticut looks for new places to site solar, our forests and farmlands are under increasing threat.​ ​One way to avoid these conflicts is to take advantage of land already “degraded,” including​ ​parking lots. People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) has conducted groundbreaking research into the potential for solar on parking lots​ ​and Kieren Rudge will present the results of this research. We will also hear the practical​ ​experiences of Tim White, a member of the Cheshire BOE, in siting a solar canopy in​​ h​is​ ​town​. ​Stephan Hartmann and Eric Virkler of Ear​thlight Technologies​ will also share insights​ ​from their extensive experience building solar canopies across the state. For registration information, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-potential-of-solar-canopies-in-connecticut-tickets-156088536013. You can also e-mail PACE at PACE4CT@gmail.com or phone (917) 843-7214.

Tax Information from the War Resisters League

Pie Chart Flyers – Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes

Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes FY2022

ORDER NOW!

Perfect for Tax Day leafletting, as a focus for forums and panels and workshops and more!

The  new War Resisters League’s famous “pie chart” flyer, Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes, analyzes the Federal Fiscal Year 2022 Budget (FY 2022 is 1 October 2021 – 30 September 2022.  This FY2022 issue was published in March 2021.

Each year War Resisters League analyzes federal funds outlays as presented in detailed tables in “Analytical Perspectives” of the Budget of the United States Government. Our analysis is based on federal funds, which do not include trust funds – such as Social Security – that are raised separately from income taxes for specific purposes. What federal income taxes you pay (or don’t pay) by April 15, 2020, goes to the federal funds portion of the budget.

HOW THESE FIGURES WERE DETERMINED

These figures are from the FY2022 column in the Analytical Perspectives book of the Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2021, issued last year, as the new budget with Covid relief has yet to be released this year. The figures are Federal funds, which do not include Trust funds — such as Social Security — that are raised and spent separately from income taxes.

What you pay (or don’t pay) by May 17, 2021, goes to the Federal funds portion of the budget. The government practice of combining Trust and Federal funds began during the Vietnam War, thus making the human needs portion of the budget seem larger and the military portion smaller.

Analysts differ on how much of the debt stems from the military; other groups estimate 50% to 60%. We use 80% because we believe if there had been no military spending, most of the national debt would have been eliminated.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Leaflet with this flyer year-round and on Tax Day, May 17, 2021, and during the Global Days of Action on Military Spending, April 13-May 9, demilitarize.org, and year round.

Get involved in WRL’s organizing and education work: nonviolent direct action training, counter-military recruitment, internationalist work, and more. Visit WRL’s membership handbook at warresisters.org/joinwrl. Find resources to challenge militarism, curb police and border patrol power, strengthen nonviolent action and lift up community resilience!

Write elected officials  letters-to-the-editor, and posts online. Send and share copies of this flyer. Explain your budget priorities for a better world.

Divest from war! Refuse to pay all or part of your federal income tax. Though illegal, thousands of people openly participate in this form of protest.  Whatever you choose to refuse—$1, $10, 48% or 100%—send a letter to elected officials and tell them why. Contact us for information or referral to a counselor near you. Contribute resisted tax money to groups that work for the common good.

For more about refusing to pay for war, brochures, and other resources, contact the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, (800) 269-7464 or see nwtrcc.org.

Order a DVD of NWTRCC’s film, Death and Taxes from WRL’s online store.

Read and use War Tax Resistance: A Guide to Withholding Your Support from the Military, a 144-page handbook with history, methods and resources. Available for $5 plus postage from WRL’s online store.

You can also download the flyers and print them locally:

Fiscal Year 2022 (Released March 2021) Pie Chart Flyer
in English, in color (pdf)
in English, black & white (pdf)
in Spanish, in color (pdf)
in Spanish, black & white (pdf)

We offer these downloads free of charge, but we really appreciate your donation to support the work of producing this important resource each year.  If you can, donate today!

For Pie Charts from previous years, check out the Pie Chart Archives

Discounts applied at check out:

1-199        $.15
200-499    $.12
500 +        $.10

ORDER NOW!

Job Opening at Neighborhood Housing Services

Neighborhood Housing Services is looking for a Resource Development Specialist. In this position, the Specialist is responsible for identifying and securing new grant opportunities and maintaining existing partnerships, event sponsorships, individual donations, and in-kind donations to fund/support the programs and initiatives at Neighborhood Housing Services and the New Haven HomeOwnership Center.

NHSNH requires that the applicant has a bachelor’s degree (B.A.) in English, Marketing, Public Relations, Communications, or a related field; plus two (2) or more years’ experience in grant writing and/or fundraising.

For additional details about skills requirements and how to apply for the position, see the job posting on Idealist: https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit-job/ec42ed20c56c49ed9ca4e3090a54f58a-resource-development-specialist-neighborworks-affiliates-new-haven.

COVID-19 Vaccine Information

By now, we hope PAR readers know that residents 65 years of age and older can get the COVID-19 vaccine. As of this printing, eligibility will shortly be given to front-line workers and people with underlying health conditions. Please call 2-1-1 for updated COVID-19 information. As we said last month, we want all of our readers to continue to wear masks and observe the recommended 6-feet anti-social distance guidelines. It won’t be for too much longer. Remember, it’s better to be patient than to be a patient.

You can get an appointment online or by phone.

To register online, please visit the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS) at https://dphsubmissions.ct.gov/OnlineVaccine. When accepted into the registration portal, you will receive emails detailing the next steps necessary in the scheduling process.

To register by phone, please call (877) 918-2224 during weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
You can also call the City of New Haven Health Department at (203) 639-2245, and Yale New Haven Health at (833) ASK-YNHH [(833) 275-9644)].

For more information on Coronavirus and the vaccine, visit: https://portal.ct.gov/coronavirus. Or call the CT Virtual Assistant: (833) 250-7633. For those who are deaf or hard of hearing, please use 7-1-1 for relay services.

Scholarships Available for New Haven High School Seniors

New Haven high school seniors going on to college or technical school are invited to apply for financial help through the New Haven Scholarship Fund. The Fund, which has been around more than 60 years, has begun taking applications for this year’s batch of scholarships.

To see if you qualify and to apply, go to www.newhavenscholarshipfund.org. On the Subscription Information tab, click on “How to Apply.”

“No country has suffered the way the United States has. Americans make up less than 5% of the global population, but account for nearly one in five of the world’s 2.3 million deaths. […] If the nation is serious about learning the lessons from this pandemic, it should reconsider implementing a universal health care plan like Medicare for All.” ~ from the Medicare for All CT Facebook page

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