As Temps Drop, Tiny Shelter Residents Double Up

Jabez Choi, Dec. 6, 2024, New Haven Independent

A group of unhoused neighbors have taken to sleeping two or even three to a room inside unheated pre-fabricated tiny shelters that are still standing in a Rosette Street backyard.

“When we do bundle up, it’s tolerable being in there,” said Robert Harris, as he pointed at a row of white Pallet shelters. “But sometimes it’s colder in these because it can be like an ice box.”

There are currently 14 people living in six different under-100-square-foot shelters that have stood for over a year in the backyard of the Amistad Catholic Worker House at 203 Rosette St. in the Hill.

Harris, who has been residing in that Rosette Street backyard since May, said that all the residents have numerous blankets and sleeping bags to keep warm throughout the night. Currently, he sleeps outside in what is called the “hut.” If the cold becomes unbearable, he sleeps inside the Amistad house, on a chair.

A group of homelessness activists — led by Amistad’s Mark and Luz Colville and their neighbors and supporters — first erected these six single-room shelters last fall to provide a roof for people displaced from cleared homeless encampments and who otherwise had nowhere else to go.

In July, the city called on UI to turn off the power in these shelters, following the expiration of a 180-day state permit allowing electricity to the backyard, thereby rendering those shelters “illegal dwelling units.” (The shelters do not have individual kitchens and bathrooms. As part of a suite of zoning relief granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals in March, the Amistad Catholic Worker House has to make available the main home’s bathroom and kitchen to the backyard residents.)

In the intervening five months, people have continued to sleep inside these six tiny shelters — which have only become more crowded with the onset of winter weather…

read the entire article at https://tinyurl.com/yck8s6yv

Resource Sheet for Warming Centers

Please take note of the insert about warming centers (also available at https://www.newhavenct.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/16742/638370255582500000).

We hope our PAR readers make copies of the flyer to carry around and keep in their car. People who need help and ask for money need to know how they can access resources. In addition to giving those in need some money, you can give them information about these organizations and agencies that can help sustain them in a more consistent way.

Information about soup kitchens and food pantries can be found at https://www.getconnectednewhaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Food-Assistance-Resource-Guide-ENG.pdf).

Yale Students Overwhelmingly Pass Divestment Referendum

by Nora Moses, Dec 08, 2024, Yale Daily News

The Yale College Council announced today that the student body has passed the divestment referendum by a large margin.

The referendum, proposed and written by the pro-Palestine Sumud Coalition, asked three questions. The first two ask whether Yale should disclose and divest from its holdings in military weapons manufacturers, “including those arming Israel,” and the third asks whether Yale should “act on its commitment to education by investing in Palestinian scholars and students.”

The first question received 83.1 percent “yes” votes, the second 76.6 and the third 79.5.
For all three questions, the total number of respondents who voted “yes” also amounted to over one-third of the student body. All three referendum questions therefore met the requirements set by the YCC constitution to officially pass.

Read the entire article at yaledailynews.com/blog/2024/12/08/yale-students-overwhelmingly-pass-divestment-referendum.

CT Jews Commend Sen. Chris Murphy for Voting to Block Arms Sales to Israel Fueling Gazan Genocide

by Miranda Rector, JVPNH and Sarah White, HJOC

Jewish Voice for Peace of New Haven (JVPNH) and the Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective (HJOC) commend U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy for his vote Nov. 20, 2024, to block the sale of weapons to Israel such as Joint Direct Attack Ammunitions and 120 mm mortar rounds that are being used to kill thousands in Gaza in the ongoing Israeli genocide.

Sen. Murphy joined 18 other US Senators in voting to approve Senator Bernie Sanders’ Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block the Biden administration’s 20 billion dollar arms sale to Israel. Although the resolutions did not pass, this was the first Senate vote ever to stop arms sales to Israel. Sen. Murphy was among the 7 of the 11 Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that voted in favor. Three of the nine Jewish members of the Senate also voted in favor. The vote signals growing support within the Democratic party that cutting off the flow of weapons to Israel is the only way to end the US-backed genocide that has killed more than 44,000 Gazans so far, including at least 16,000 children, with the actual death toll far higher.

JVPNH and HJOC joined organizations across the state in urging Sen. Murphy to vote in favor of the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, including by organizing a constituent letter with over 440 signatures, hosting a Children’s Day where participants colored drawings for Sen. Murphy, organizing more than 60 Jews to call Senator Murphy at a Shabbat dinner, canvassing local neighborhoods, and participating in numerous phone banks.

“The organizing that went into persuading Sen. Murphy is a huge victory. We showed both that Connecticut Jews and allies support blocking weapons to Israel and that we’re a powerful voice for change,” says Miranda Rector, a Chapter Coordinator for JVP New Haven. “We must continue to use our collective power to stop arming Israel and end the genocide.”

“The U.S. government is actively enabling the Israeli government’s genocidal campaign, offering it unconditional funding and weapons, as well as impunity, in direct violation of international laws. This makes every taxpayer complicit in this ongoing genocide and the Israeli military’s more recent assaults on Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen,” says Sasha Zoldessy, an organizer with HJOC.

To contact Jewish Voice for Peace of New Haven, phone Miranda Rector at 203-850-7183 or email [email protected].

To contact Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective, phone Sarah White at 206-388-7222 or email [email protected].

The Elm City’s Commitment to LGBTQ+ Equality

City of New Haven Press Release Nov. 22, 2024

Mayor Justin Elicker celebrated the City of New Haven receiving a score of 100 on the 2024 Municipal Equality Index (MEI), a comprehensive assessment of LGBTQ+ equality in the areas of municipal policies, law, and services, which is conducted annually by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization and the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. As part of its work, the HRC Foundation conducts the MEI, which was released nationally on Thursday. The MEI “examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ+ people who live and work there” and “cities are rated based on non-discrimination laws, the municipality as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement and leadership on LGBTQ+ equality.”

New Haven received a score of 100 on the 2024 [MEI], the highest score that can be received by a municipality. This marks the first year that the City of New Haven has achieved this distinction, and New Haven is one of only two cities in Connecticut to receive an MEI score of 100, with the other being Stamford.

The index evaluated and recognized New Haven’s commitment to LGBTQ+ equality across several key areas, including: non-discrimination laws, the municipality as an employer, municipal services, law enforcement policies, and leadership on LGBTQ+ equality.

One item of note is the city’s support of and partnership with the New Haven Pride Center, which provides a variety of critical services, free resources, and meaningful programming for LGBTQ+ residents of all ages. This includes monthly community dinners and social events, affinity social spaces, professional and personal development, a community food and toiletries pantry, a clothing closet, a lending library featuring LGBTQ+ books, among other services.

The score is also reflective of the city’s efforts to ensure LGBTQ+ residents are included and able to access city services and programs. Residents can connect with the city’s LGBTQ+ Liaison, Killian Gruber, at [email protected] or 203-946-4984, or the New Haven Youth and Recreation Department’s LGBTQ+ Liaison, Ernest Cloman, at [email protected] or 203-946-4939.

Read the entire article at https://www.newhavenct.gov/Home/Components/News/News/509/144

A response to the 2024 U.S. presidential election

by New Haven Sunday Vigil for Peace and Justice

The reason we have been out here during five presidential administrations

— and will be here for the next one, too

The genocide that our government has been funding and fueling in Gaza for more than a year underscores our decision to continue our weekly vigil for peace and justice in New Haven, begun in 1999 to speak out against global, national, and local atrocities — especially those in which our own government plays a primary role. And the horrifying results of the 2024 election make citizen resistance and action more urgent and important than ever.

The Democratic party failed miserably in its one job for 2024: to change course and to put forward a program to address the existential problems facing our country and the world. Here was an opportunity to break with the Biden administration on Gaza; to denounce the demonization and deportation of immigrants; to propose concrete plans to deal with the climate crisis; and to plan to deal with the other serious issues threatening our lives, such as the disastrous housing crisis, the exorbitant cost of living, the broken health care system, and the criminal, ever-growing concentration of wealth into the hands of fewer and fewer people. Instead, the Democrats cultivated war criminals and appeased their corporate donors. This appeasement did not win them win the election, but it did help hand the victory to Trump and his Republican sycophants.

We will soon face a cohort of rulers whose only goals are to solidify the existing concentration of global wealth and power into the hands of a few by dismantling every single protection and gain won from decades of struggle; destroying or rendering inoperable every department of the federal government that does not give strict allegiance to their authoritarian demands; and underwriting the corporate donors who are embedded within both parties — the weapons manufacturers, AIPAC, the gun lobby, and the fossil fuel industry. Obviously, this will make conditions exponentially worse for all, starting but not ending with the most vulnerable among us. This is exactly what the Trump machine promised. Believe them.

WHAT “Endless War?”

Since 1999 when our Sunday vigil began, passersby have asked us what “endless war” we’re talking about, what we mean by the phrase. We mean this: the serial wars fought throughout the world are one war being waged on many fronts. Adults and children continue to be slaughtered, maimed, traumatized, and driven from their homes everywhere so that immense wealth and power can be concentrated in the hands of a very few people.

Here in the United States and globally, bigotry, discrimination, and widespread economic injustice serve the same end of enriching the few at the expense of the many. The weapons of the endless war include:

  • continued development and production of an ever more deadly nuclear arsenal
  • the funding and fueling of criminal wars and genocide
  • aerial drone strikes against human beings many thousands of miles away (targets whose bodies the bombardiers, operating their weapons by remote control, will never have to see)
  • mass incarcerations and deportations of immigrants and refugees (condemning them, in many cases, to a future of torture or death)
  • the systematic dismantling of the infrastructure and social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security that most of us not only depend upon but have funded with our hard-earned tax dollars all our lives
  • the destruction of our environment
  • the racist use of the police force to terrorize Black and brown communities
  • the never-ending attacks on women’s and LGBTQIA+ people’s rights
  • the systematic, vicious undermining of citizens’ rights to vote
  • the destruction of labor unions and the creation of a “gig economy”
  • the refusal to pass a living, national minimum wage
  • the propagation of a vicious, profit-driven healthcare system that discriminates against the poor, elderly, and disabled.

We believe that our tax dollars should instead be spent on the things we need to sustain and improve our lives and our planet: universal, unrestricted, comprehensive and not-for-profit quality health care for all; emergency, full-scale, and sustained action to address and do everything possible to ameliorate climate change; and excellent housing, education, and resources for everyone.

People throughout the world are risking their lives to open this path and to resist and overthrow the authoritarian regimes that stand in their way. As U.S. citizens, we cannot evade our responsibility. Silence is not an option.

May we all have the wisdom of discernment and the courage to act to protect and serve our communities, in this moment, and in the coming years.

RESIST THIS ENDLESS WAR
https://newhavensundayvigil.wordpress.com
Sunday, November 24, 2024

 

Many Are in Financial Crisis Because of Exorbitant Electric, Gas and Oil Rates

There are programs that can help lower-income people with electric and heating bills. To find out about eligibility, contact the Community Action Agency of New Haven at 419 Whalley Ave.

You can call 203-285-8018, or email [email protected]. More information is on their website at https://www.caanh.net/energy-assistance.

If you live outside of New Haven, call 211 for the appropriate agency in your town or city.

Internationally Known Palestinian Speaker in CT Dec. 9

by LouAnn Villani, Middle East Crisis Committee

Mazin Qumsiyeh, who has spoken all over the world about Palestinian rights and also on science issues, will talk in Connecticut on Monday, Dec. 9, in three different
places.

First he’ll be in New Haven at the central New Haven (Ives) Library, 133 Elm St., across from the Green at noon. The Middle East Crisis Committee is sponsoring the event along with the Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council. Qumsiyeh lived in Connecticut at the start of the 2000s as he headed the Cytogenetic Department at Yale Medical School. His books include Sharing the Land of Canaan and Popular Resistance in Palestine. Back in occupied Palestine in the West Bank he founded the Palestine Museum of Natural History and the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability. He has written Mammals of the Holy Land, The Bats of Egypt, and scores of scientific papers.

He has spoken in most U.S. states and in dozens of countries around the world. He helped found the Right to Return online movement and was an early proponent of the “one-state solution.” See qumsiyeh.org and palestinenature.org. His emails that go out weekly to thousands are known for their humanity and optimism mixed with mention of the terrible oppression and murder inside Palestine. He signs off with the slogan, “Stay Human.”

Later on Dec. 9 he’ll speak at Wesleyan University and Trinity College. See TheStruggle.org for details in early December.

New from Greater New Haven Green Fund

by Lynne Bonnett, GNH Green Fund

Our 2025 grant application is going live. Check out our grant opportunities for community projects to improve our quality of life through environmental and sustainability initiatives. We serve residents in New Haven, Hamden, Woodbridge and East Haven. Visit our website: www.gnhgreenfund.org for details, and / or contact us at [email protected] with any questions. Applications will be due Jan. 31, 2025. You can expect to hear from us in the spring in time to work on your project over the summer or next year. Grant awards are for amounts up to $10,000.

We also offer smaller microgrants and sponsorships throughout the year for up to $1,000. We look forward to supporting your projects. Let us hear from you what you would like to do

People’s World Amistad Awards on Dec. 14

by People’s World Amistad Awards Committee

This year’s People’s World Amistad Awards will be held Saturday, Dec. 14 at 4 p.m. at the Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School, 177 College Street in New Haven. The 2024 Awards are themed “We Who Believe in Freedom Will Not Rest Until It’s Won.”

People’s World is honored to present the Amistad Award to three wonderful allies and working-class champions. Together they represent the kind of unity, solidarity and vision needed to build the movement that can transform our country to put people, peace and planet before profits. Seth Freeman, president of Congress of CT Community Colleges (4Cs), is an inspiring and passionate union leader and coalition builder for racial and economic justice in public higher education who courageously envisions funding human needs instead of corporate greed and wars. Maribel Rodriguez, first Latina president of the Western CT Labor Coalition, former healthcare worker, tireless champion for respect and dignity of all workers in the community, on the job, in the legislature, is beloved for her courage and dedication.

Teresa Quintana, Housing Equity Organizer at Make the Road, rose up against exploitation as an immigrant from Bolivia to achieve a life of dignity and rights for all, with unapologetic extraordinary commitment, and is the proud mother of two.

The event will stand “IN SOLIDARITY” with Unite Here Local 217 and NE1199 SEIU for their courageous organizing, campaigning and strikes to take on corporate greed and build worker power, This annual event is hosted on the 105th anniversary of the Communist Party USA, in the spirit of building unity against racism, red-baiting and all forms of bigotry, and standing for workers’ rights, equality, peace, democracy, and a better world. Tickets are $10. For more information, please email [email protected] or phone 203-624-8664.

Yale School of Public Health Seeking Focus Group Participants

by The Yale School of Public Health

The Yale School of Public Health wants to hear from you about interest in electric heating and cooking systems, and awareness of and concerns about indoor air pollution and health.

Do you live in New Haven? We are most interested in residents of the following neighborhoods: Annex, Dixwell, Dwight, Edgewood, Fair Haven, Fair Haven Heights, The Hill, Newhallville. West River, West Rock / West Hills. Participants will be asked to take an online survey and then answer questions about the survey. Participants will receive $30 in cash for participating in an in-person focus group (approximately 60 minutes).

If you would like to participate in a focus group, please contact us by text or phone at (203) 936-9518 or email at [email protected].

No-Excuse Absentee Voting Was Approved by CT Voters. What Happens Next?

by Kat Struhar, Nov. 18, CT Mirror

Connecticut voters have approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution that removes restrictions around absentee voting, allowing for universal access.

The amendment passed with around 58% of voters in favor and 42% against, a 16% margin of difference… But its passage doesn’t mean so-called “no-excuse absentee voting” will automatically take effect; rather, it means lawmakers are now free to pass a law allowing for it.

No-excuse absentee voting describes absentee voting that is accessible universally. In other words, one does not need to provide a reason in order to vote by absentee… No-excuse absentee voting does not take effect immediately.

For it to become law, state legislators must take it up during the 2025 legislative session. Because Connecticut voter law is written into the state constitution, it is difficult to amend. Any changes to it must first pass through the House and Senate with three-fourths majority support, or a simple majority in both chambers in two successive legislative terms, and then majority support among voters. Now that those steps have been completed, lawmakers are free to pass a law to enact no-excuse absentee voting statewide.

Though lawmakers could technically opt not to pursue passing a law to permit no-excuse absentee voting further, that is not the plan for [Rep. Matthew] Blumenthal.

If lawmakers approve it, Connecticut will join the more than half of the U.S. states that utilize no-excuse absentee voting.

Source  https://ctmirror.org/2024/11/18/ct-no-excuse-absenteevoting-ballot-question-passed

Fed Bill Would Boost Tenants Unions

by Thomas Breen, Nov. 12, New Haven Independent

Last Thursday, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal joined a half dozen members of the Blake Street Tenants Union, along with leaders of Connecticut Tenants Union, to announce his co-sponsorship of that proposed federal legislation. … As Blumenthal explained on Thursday, the proposed bill would support tenants union organizing in the following ways:

* By explicitly prohibiting landlords from retaliating against tenants who participate in or try to organize such unions.

* By providing federal “resources” — aka money — to support tenants union organizing. Per a draft version of the law, that would include no less than $1 million for a nationwide outreach and training program for tenants in housing covered by this law, as well as $40 per unit per year for tenant resident councils.

  • By covering all tenants who live in “government supported housing” … Blumenthal said that a quarter of all rental housing across the country would fall into this “government-supported” category.

To read this article in its entirety, visit https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/tenant_organizing_2

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