Poli Sci Grad Tackles Real Life In The Hill

March 1, 2018 - 

Alejandro Pabon-Rey started attending community management team meetings after his college advisor told him that the monthly meetings were a good place to learn about local politics and issues.

One year later, the lifelong Hill resident and Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) graduate is working as the team’s community liaison for a new experimental, pre-arrest diversion initiative designed to keep his neighbors who struggle with addiction out of jail and on the path to recovery, employment and stable housing.

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Cowboys Fans Bring Bikes, Toys & Football Love To Preschool

Essence Bennett gets a brand new bike from the CT Cowboys Fan Club.

Friday, Dec. 22, 2017 - 

Essence Bennett arrived at preschool on Thursday expecting a regular day of reading, singing and naptime.

The Newhallville 5-year-old left preschool at the end of the day with a free new bicycle, courtesy of a local group of hardcore Dallas Cowboys fans who are as dedicated to community service as they are to professional football.

On Thursday afternoon at the Harris and Tucker School, a preschool, afterschool and childcare center on Newhall Street near the Hamden border, the CT Cowboys Fan Club held their first ever toy drive and bicycle give away.

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Hundreds Rally Against Student’s Dad’s Deportation

Demonstrators march through Downtown and Yale’s campus on Tuesday night in support of a Yale undergraduate’s father who is facing deportation.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017 - Hundreds of Yale students, immigrant rights activists, and community allies rallied through the streets of downtown New Haven on Tuesday night in support of a Yale undergraduate’s father who has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Colorado and faces deportation to Mexico.

Wrapped in scarves, coats, bullhorns, and posters, around 400 demonstrators marched and chanted along Crown Street, High Street, and Elm Street from 8:30 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday in opposition to an immigration enforcement system that they said unjustly tears families apart.

The protesters then gathered on the quad outside of Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library for another hour to listen to speakers pledge their support for the immediate release of Melecio Andazola Morales, a 41-year-old construction worker who has been held for the past week at the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado.

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Millennial Takes Downtown-Wooster Helm

New management team chair Smith: Next-generation civic leader.

Thursday, June 29, 2017 - When Caroline Smith first moved to New Haven from Lexington, Kentucky, she would never have defined herself by her relationship to a city.

Seven years later, Smith has become nearly synonymous with the city she proudly calls home. The energy, enthusiasm, ambition, and kindness that she brings to each of her community-building endeavors have made her a familiar face to residents throughout New Haven.

“I never thought about cities as an entity that you could form identity around until New Haven,” Smith told the Independent during a recent interview at Whole G Cafe on Orange Street. Smith, 24, first moved to New Haven to attend Yale as an undergraduate, and is now the the co-director of marketing at the local tech start-up SeeClickFix.

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