Comments (0) Although City Council took its first official action of 2012 last week, Monday evening was its first regular (read: not accompanied by ceremony) meeting.
The public comment session showed two prevailing issues on residents’ and stakeholders’ minds: housing and employment. Continue reading 'On Residents’ Minds'»
During what he called a “grueling 3 1/2 years” without a permanent address, Harry Mitchell, who recently found a place to call home, learned firsthand about the “ridiculous stigma” surrounding homelessness.
During Wednesday’s memorial service for the homeless in Hartford, Mitchell spoke about what how society treats homelessness and those who experience it. Of this problem’s cause, Mitchell said “people say it’s the system,” but it’s actually caused by “our own neighbors” who do not want shelters “in their backyards.” Continue reading 'A Full House for Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service'»
How bad has the bed bug situation gotten? Enough, apparently, to call for an amendment to the Pest Extermination Ordinance. On Monday, there will be a public hearing to allow residents to chime in on the matter.
In a letter to the Council, Mayor Segarra calls for an amendment which would fine tenants who either create or refuse to deal with bed bug situations:
Two years ago, a handful of vocal residents and stakeholders more or less evicted the homeless population from Downtown. Center Church had offered part of its property for use as a no-freeze shelter, as demand for housing exceeded spaces available in existing year-round shelters. A compromise was reached when a location on Lafayette Street, outside of Downtown, was determined as another possibility.
The message was very clear: this population was not welcomed by all in the business community, and certainly not by all Downtown dwellers. It was also clear whose voices mattered, and whose did not.
In the thick of that controversy, and since then, people living with homelessness and their supporters have begun to speak up.
In January 2011, the newspaper Beat of the Street, hit the streets. Though a few of those directly involved expected it to fizzle out after a few issues, it still appears to be going strong a year later. The newspaper includes poetry, narratives, resource lists, and articles about issues related to homelessness, written by those who are experiencing or have experienced it, as well as by advocates for those in need of shelter.
On December 21st, in the sanctuary of the Charter Oak Cultural Center, there will be a memorial service beginning around 12:45 for those in the homeless community who have passed away in the last year. Rabbi Donna Berman will be saying a few words; a poem for the occasion will be read by Justin Sweetwater. There will be musical performances by Margaux Hayes and Richard McGhee.
Today, in the middle of December, homeless individuals could be seen sleeping in Bushnell Park. This does not take into account those who select more hidden locations, like under the bridges, to rest. For many, homelessness is something they can avoid confronting.
To make this issue visible, on December 21st, after the indoor service, there will be a procession from Charter Oak Cultural Center to the Ancient Burying Ground, which is located next to Center Church Continue reading 'Taking Action on Homelessness'»
December 21st is National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. This will be marked here in Hartford with a service held at the Charter Oak Cultural Center.
Typically, the names of homeless people who have passed on in the past year are read to “bring attention to the tragedy of homelessness and to remember our homeless friends who have paid the ultimate price for our nation’s failure to end homelessness,” explains the National Coalition for the Homeless. Continue reading 'Save the Date: Memorial for the Homeless'»
The tents are still up at Turning Point Park, but Occupy Hartford has shown few signs of life in recent weeks. After a strong showing at their kickoff march in early October, active participation has waned. There has been high turnover of activists, both those living in the tents, and those dropping by or showing support from afar.
The declaration of its impending death comes from those who have worked closely with the group, saying that those still involved in the encampment “don’t even know they are on a sinking ship.” In recent weeks, there have been hints that Occupy Hartford was on the verge of imploding.
The inexcusable mishandling of the sexual assault on site may have been the final straw for many who had previously offered their support for the local incarnation of the Occupy movement.
The move away from Occupy Hartford appears to be taking two forms Continue reading 'Occupy Hartford: Post Mortem'»
Three police on horseback kept themselves at a respectful distance from activists near the Bank of America 
on Park Street. Saturday morning’s march had been billed as a family-friendly, law-abiding event, yet a speaker from Occupy New Haven threw around phrases that could be interpreted otherwise, at one point telling the throng to “seize the banks,” while the crowd stood opposite one. It is this uncareful rhetoric that escalates tense situations and alienates others who would have joined in. It makes one curious as to who this “99%” actually is if there is a lack of sensitivity toward those with children (this, in effect, primarily excludes mothers from the movement), those who can not risk arrest because they can not afford to be bailed out from jail, and those who can not risk injury because they lack health insurance.
Ignoring the weight words carry only further dilutes the message.
As the anti-Bank of America activists walked down Broad Street and Park Street, residents and shop owners, for the most part, looked puzzled. Sometimes the chants were about banks getting bailed out, but 
other times, the chanting called for an occupation of Hartford; little thought seems to have gone into what this might sound like in a neighborhood where many residents’ native countries have actually experienced occupation.
And this population along Park Street is not one Occupy Hartford activists should want to alienate. If anyone knows something about poverty, unemployment, rental housing, and medical bills, it’s Hartford locals. According to data from HartfordInfo.org, 42% of Frog Hollow residents live below the poverty line; the median household income for this neighborhood is just above $17,000. Almost all of the housing in this area is rental. The Park Street corridor might not have as much to say about student loans as some of the Occupy Hartford activists, but the residents could offer more insight about what it is like to live paycheck-to-paycheck and worry about whether or not the electricity will not be shut off that month.
Despite the lapse in judgement by a few, Saturday’s march remained peaceful. The police-to-activist ratio was something like 10-to-1, perhaps in part to the public announcement that civil disobedience was being discussed as a possible tactic. While activists stood across from Bank of America, one was inside closing her account, which was, after all, the purpose of Bank Transfer Day. Continue reading 'Occupy Hartford: Marching through el barrio'»
The City of Hartford has been providing periodic updates for residents who are temporarily living without electricity. The latest press release states:
Schools are high on the priority list when it comes to restoring power to the City of Hartford. CL&P officials have also assured all town and city leaders that municipal offices and large industrial and commercial sites are high on the list as crews work to get electricity back on line.
“These areas are critical to our residents as we work to get back to some sense of normalcy. Please remember that downed lines need to be treated as energized lines, so please do not go near them. To help ensure public safety, police, fire, and public works are all teaming-up with CL&P crews to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible, but we need your cooperation,” said Mayor Segarra reiterated.
Committed resources include 5 CL&P crews with an additional 6 going active about 1:00 p.m., this will bring 11 total crews active by day’s end. They will be focusing their efforts along Prospect Avenue, Kane Street, Reserve Road, Maple Avenue, Nelson Street, and Blue Hills Avenue, among others. In addition, 8 city and contracted crews will be working to remove debris and open roads. Two of those crews are dedicated to the Blue Hills neighborhood, which is one of the hardest hit neighborhoods in Hartford.
Hartford residents are reminded that even without power, we have advantages that those in rural areas do not. Continue reading 'Power Restoration'»
“These make us look like the Village People,” Mayor Segarra commented while he and other officials donned construction helmets before digging with their ceremonial shovels at Friday afternoon’s groundbreaking for the “Capewell Townhomes.”
Future site of the Capewell Townhomes
Although plans had been announced months ago for the development of townhouses on the vacant parcel of land between Wyllys Street and Popieluszco Court, some details have changed. Continue reading 'Groundbreaking Ceremony for Capewell Townhouses'»
This pig lives at Holcomb Farm, a farm that provides produce to Foodshare
It’s not accurate to describe Hartford as being a food desert. This term implies that food is unavailable. The obesity rate says otherwise.
Instead, we should be calling it what it is — a food swamp. Prof. Molly Anderson used this phrase during her presentation at a recent forum held at the Lyceum. Rather than a lack of food being the problem, it’s that there is, in these areas, “far too much of the wrong kind of food,” she argued.
Food security was the topic of discussion at the “IForum” in late June. Anderson, the keynote speaker, delivered her presentation, “A Home’s Not Just a House: Why Food Security Must Be Part of a Strong, Affordable Community”; a response panel comprised of Julia Pon, Margaret Williams, and Martha Page followed. Continue reading 'The Great Food Swamp'»
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