Homicides and gunshots in New Haven fell by more than 30% in 2024, even as the city saw a jump in nonfatal shootings. Part of the reason for this success is more effective commuity outreach programs, like CTOP grantee partner CTVIP. CTVIP received a grant from the state's Commi9ssion on Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention which allowed them to canvass the community and prevent retaliatory shootings and relocate potential victims. Read more.
Dr. Kerri Raissian, director of University of Connecticut's Advancing Research, Methods and Scholarship in Gun Injury Prevention, discusses the disparities that exist in gun violence in Connecticut. She believes targeted resources should be allocated to nonprofits, like COMPASS Youth Collaborative, that provide trauma-informed therapy to youth affected by gun violence and a hospital bedside intervention model to ensure victims have the care they need to reduce gun violence in Hartford.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
COMPASS Youth Collaborative operates a Training for Employment (TEP) program, where COMPASS young people work at the Joan Dauber Food Pantry at St. Francis Hospital to build transferrable skills to prepare for the workforce. COMPASS Peacebuilders, trained in cognitive behavioral therapy, support young people during their shifts by reminding them of their goals and values when they get off track.
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.
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.
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.
At COMPASS Youth Collaborative's Annual Meeting, they convened a panel of experts, advocates, and lawmakers to celebrate COMPASS's work and its success in helping to reduce gun violence in Hartford. According to U.S. Senator Chris Murhy, federal funding to organizations like COMPASS have led to the largest drops in gun violence in the U.S. in decades. Read more of Senator Murphy's comments.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Watch the Connecticut Conference on Municipalities round tables discussing the findings of Connecticut's Unspoken Crisis, a quantitative research report on disconnected youth in the state, commissioned by Dalio Education. Representatives from Connecticut Opportunity Project grantee partners participated on the panels and highlighted their efforts to re-engage disconnected youth and offered their perspectives on what needs to be done to address this crisis.
A recent report by Boston Consulting Group, commissioned by Dalio Education, reveals that 63,000 young people in Connecticut are disconnected from work and/or school. Hear from a young person enrolled in Compass Youth Collaborative, a grantee partner of the CT Opportunity Project, explaining the impacts the program has had on his life trajectory after reconnecting him to the Hartford community.
Domus Youth Service Corps is part of a program of CTOP grantee partner, Domus Kids, where participants learn life and trade skills to reconnect to their community and get on a career path. Read more about how Domus has partnered with the City of Stamford to spruce up High Ridge Road, while employing young people and helping them learn key life skills.
