In the News

Learn more about the Connecticut Opportunity Project and its grantee partner organizations through media coverage below.

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12/11/2024

Opinion: Youth interventions can prevent future violence and stabilize CT neighborhoods

Marc Donald, CEO of CTOP Grantee Partner, Catalyst CT, writes this op-ed about exposure to traumatic events during childhood results in significant risk factors for both experiencing and committing violence. To address this crisis impacting youth all over the state, LifeBridge and Catalyst CT, in partnership with local schools, promote critical protective interventions through programs that strengthen youth's social and emotional health.

11/1/2024

Anti-Violence Rx: Food. Laundry. Community

U.S. Senator Blumenthal visited our grantee partner, Connecticut Violence Intervention and Prevention (CTVIP), to celebrate $275,000 in Federal funds to the organization for capital improvements to their facility in New Haven. The renovations will allow CTVIP to build a full kitchen, laundry room, and computer lab to provide young people in New Haven with basic needs, which are forms of violence prevention.

10/31/2024

CT’s unspoken crisis: Elevating the voices of young people

In this op-ed, CTOP Portfolio Director, Samantha Miller, underscores the importance of the final installment of the Connecticut's Unspoken Crisis report series entitled Elevating the Voices of Young People. This final report is based on interview data from 74 young people in Connecticut experiencing disconnection so that we can better understand and learn from the circumstances that led to their disconnection and hear what they need to succeed.

10/28/2024

Community Violence Prevention Group Receives $198K in Federal Funding

Our grantee partner, COMPASS Youth Collaborative, received $198,000 in grant funding from the Department of Justice to provide wraparound services and basic needs to victims of violence in Hartford. US Senator Blumenthal and Mayor Arulampalam of Hartford joined the COMPASS team to announce this funding award. Read more about the press conference and the impact this funding will have on young people in Hartford.

10/10/2024

October — a month to focus on improving CT children’s lives

In this op-ed, Josh Brown, tri-chair of the CCM 119k Commission and employee of CT Grantee Partner, Domus Kids, calls for more partnerships between across sectors to provide more supports to young people facing more obstacles to getting on the path to success. With more communication, collaboration, and support, young people can build resiliency to overcome their challenges. Read more about instances where CT is already providing these supports and the impacts they have.

10/9/2024

Former ‘at-risk youth’ talk resources as CT weighs investments

Connecticut's Conference of Municipalities' 119k Commission created a 10-year strategy that aims to reduce the number of at-risk and disconnected young people in our state by half. With the release of that statewide strategy, Gov. Lamont met with young people from Our Piece of the Pie to better understand the circumstances that led to their disconnection and the supports that OPP provided to get them back on track.

10/7/2024

$100K grant for New Haven organization aims to help at-risk youth

Our grantee partner, Connecticut Violence Intervention and Prevention (CTVIP), received a $100,000 grant from Everytown Community Safety Fund in support of their violence reduction work in New Haven. CTVIP provides at-risk and disconnected youth with resources, life skills, and mentorship to help young people live a healthy and sustainable life. Read more about their work and the impact this funding will have.

8/5/2024

Silver Linings Talk Show Ep 42: Compass Youth Collaborative with Jacquelyn Santiago Nazario

Watch grantee partner COMPASS Youth Collaborative's CEO, Jaquelyn Santiago Nazario, speak with Silver Linings Talk Show on Valley Shore Community Television in an inspiring conversation about her life in Hartford, her servant leadership mindset, and how COMPASS is transforming lives of young people through hospital violence intervention and street outreach programs.

8/2/2024

CT youth facing obstacles need additional support

In this op-ed, CTOP Portfolio Director, Amanda Olberg, highlights the data in additional analysis done by Boston Consulting Group showing young people’s wages at 22 can be linked to various risk factors and their previous educational attainment. Young people who are disconnected need intensive supports provided by community-based organizations to help them reconnect to education and employment pathways.

7/12/2024

Commission On Gun Violence Finds Large Racial Gap In Fatal Shootings

The Commission on Community Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention found that Black males in Connecticut were about 30 times more likely to be killed by gun violence in comparison to White residents from 2020-2023. The findings demonstrate a need for violence reduction organizations, like COMPASS Youth Collaborative, Roca, CTVIP, and Catalyst CT.

7/10/2024

Hartford to address educational challenges by launching a Blue Ribbon Commission

Mayor Arulampalam of Hartford responds to residents concerns about Hartford Public Schools by launching the Blue Ribbon Commission to address challenges. The Commission will be led by three co-chairs, including Hector Rivera, CEO of CTOP Grantee Partner, Our Piece of the Pie. The commission aims to pinpoint issues, develop recommendations, and craft a report for the mayor and Hartford Board of Education.

6/21/2024

ER interventions try to cut down on Hartford gun violence

COMPASS Youth Collaborative, a CTOP grantee partner, provides patients admitted to Hartford hospitals with gun-related injuries with wraparound services during their hospital stay and afterwards, as well as supporting their families. Read more about how COMPASS is reducing gun violence recidivism in Hartford.

5/23/2024

New Stamford nonprofit to raise private dollars for ‘pocket parks,’ small green spaces

Stamford mayor, Caroline Simmons, announced the creation of the Stamford Parks Community Partnership, which will beautify parks across the city. The initiative will leverage the DomusWorks program, a workforce readiness initiative of CTOP grantee partner, Domus Kids, that provides job training and subsidized employment for program participants. Read more about the partnership.

4/28/2024

CT at risk: Uncovering what young people say is keeping them back

The final report of the Connecticut's Unspoken Crisis report series includes the voices of many of the 74 young people interviewed for the project. It will reveal their challenges, the obstacles they face and the ways they have overcome them. Read more about the systems that are causing challenges for Connecticut's at-risk young people.

4/24/2024

The price of a gunshot: Health impacts and the cost of violence on Latinos

Gun violence suffered by Latinos in the U.S. has increased. Survivors often face a difficult road ahead that includes medical bills and accessing mental health resources. Read more about COMPASS Youth Collaborative Peacebuilder, Diego López's experience, and how he builds transformational relationships with young people to help them down a better path.

4/22/2024

Opinion: Going deeper in the data on Connecticut’s 119,000

Senior Portfolio Director, Adhlere Coffy, highlights the obstacles facing young people in Connecticut who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing disconnection, and how this data can be used to inform positive change.

4/1/2024

Jacquelyn Santiago Nazario, 2024 Women in Business Honoree

COMPASS Youth Collaborative CEO, Jacquelyn Santiago Nazario, was named one of Connecticut’s Top 25 Women in Business for 2024 by the Hartford Business Journal. Read her interview about her career and accomplishments.

3/18/2024

Opinion: CT’s disconnected youth crisis has an enormous human, economic cost

Connecticut has a moral and economic imperative to get 119,000 at-risk and disconnected young people back on track. This group of young people can help fill 94,000 job openings in our state and bring in additional tax revenue to Connecticut.

3/7/2024

How a CT man rose from homelessness to leadership

Joshua Brown reflects on the impact that Domus Kids had on his life. He now works with Domus to re-engage at-risk and disconnected young people by providing them with the skills and resources to be self-sufficient. Now tri-chair of the 119k Commission, Brown strives to make systemic change to improve the lives of young people in Stamford. Read to learn more about Joshua's story.

2/13/2024

Adhlere Coffy and Amanda Olberg: How to address Connecticut’s unspoken crisis

Adhlere Coffy and Amanda Olberg, senior portfolio directors at CTOP, discuss how capacity building and improving nonprofit organizations can address Connecticut's Unspoken Crisis and help get young people back on track. Read more from their op-ed.

2/5/2024

When Fact is More Alarming Than Fiction, Action is Required

In this op-ed, Marc Donald, Executive Director, and Jeremy Kosbob, Philanthropy Manager, of CTOP Grantee Partner, RYASAP, describe the importance of taking action to address Connecticut's Unspoken Crisis because young people's futures hang in the balance. Read more to understand the supports and programming RYASAP provides to support this population of young people on their path to success.

1/31/2024

Preparing Connecticut’s youth for opportunity can’t wait

In this op-ed, Jackie Santiago Nazario, CEO of COMPASS Youth Collaborative, discusses her organization's relentless support to re-engage off-track and disconnected young people in Hartford. COMPASS helps young people develop key skills to be ready and willing to work and transform their lives, bridging a critical gap identified in Connecticut's Unspoken Crisis.

1/12/2024

Opinion: CT's children in crisis can learn that 'letting people help me is OK'

Mike Duggan, Executive Director of CTOP Grantee Partner, Domus Kids, writes an op-ed that calls attention to the crisis young people in Connecticut are facing. With 119,000 young people off-track or disconnected, there is a moral and economic imperative to help get young people in the state back on track through organizations like Domus.

12/20/2023

Connecticut’s young people on the state’s 'Unspoken Crisis'

Co-CEO of Dalio Education, Andrew Ferguson, speaks on Connecticut Public Radio's show, "Disrupted," about Connecticut's Unspoken Crisis, the recent report showing that 1 in 5 young people in Connecticut are at-risk or disconnected from prosocial institutions. The second half of the broadcast includes interviews with young people in Connecticut who got back on track through partnerships with CTOP grantee partners, Domus and Our Piece of the Pie.

12/7/2023

CT event raises $2.2 million. And no, it was not a political fundraiser.

The "Love Hartford Benefit Dinner" raised money for the Hartford Youth Service Corps, a program that supports young people (ages 16-24) in Hartford who are disconnected from work and school. The initiative was started by Mayor Luke Bronin's office and administered by CTOP grantee, Our Piece of the Pie (OPP). The benefit's fundraising efforts will support OPP in supporting 500 youth next year in the Youth Service Corps.

11/28/2023

7 organizations awarded state funding for community gun violence prevention

CTOP grantee partner, Connecticut Violence Intervention and Prevention, was one of seven organizations awarded a three-year grant from the state Department of Public Health. With this new funding, CTVIP will begin serving teenage girls in New Haven through the MakeHerSpace program. Other CTOP Grantees were also awarded the same grant, including Compass Youth Collaborative and Roca in Hartford.

11/16/2023

Growing truancy crisis grows In America's classrooms

Byron Pitts from ABC News' Nightline reports on the growing truancy crisis in American schools. In the video piece, he travels to Hartford, CT and follows Peacebuilders from COMPASS Youth Collaborative on a ride along and interviews program participants to understand the impact the program has on Hartford youth. Watch the piece here and learn what COMPASS Peacebuilders are doing to combat truancy and community violence.

11/2/2023

Roca Celebrates Two Years In Operation With Progress Report, Panel Discussion

Roca Young Women's program recently expanded to Hartford, CT, seeking to address community violence by supporting women who get caught up in it. To mark its two-year anniversary, Roca issued a report summarizing its work and the women who have utilized its services, including a panel discussion of the organization's impact on the Hartford community. Read about Roca's impact on young women in the Capitol region.

10/27/2023

Panelists: Young People Need More Support, And Earlier, But The Public Still Needs To Get Behind It

Connecticut Conference of Municipalities gathered leaders in education, nonprofits, and business to discuss Connecticut's Unspoken Crisis. Executive Directors from two CTOP grantee partners, Forge City Works and Catalyst CT (formerly RYASAP), weighed in on the problem of disconnection in CT and offered their perspectives on how to address it.

10/25/2023

A costly crisis: 119,000 CT teens are unemployed, unemployable or on their way

Connecticut Conference of Municipalities hosted a round table to discuss the findings of Connecticut's Unspoken Crisis, a quantitative research study commissioned by Dalio Education. Executive Directors of Forge City Works and Our Piece of the Pie (OPP) weigh in on their work with disconnected youth and how to improve their outcomes.

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