Trauma- Trauma- Trauma- Relief………………………
 

This is the way to describe the experience of Isaac and his teenage daughter at Christian Community Action’s Hillside Family Shelter (HFS).
 
With only a “very” part time position and a car payment, he lost his apartment and was forced to rely on friends for temporary housing. That arrangement did not work and, for six months, he and his daughter slept in his car and showered where they could.
 

A two parent, family of five was in need of rental assistance. The father of the house, lost his job due to a layoff. Which left only the mother's salary to care for the family. The car was in need of repairs, the family also needed food and household supplies, and were concerned about school supplies for the children. When talking with this family they were very stressed because of their situation. They were feeling very hopeless.

War tears apart families. It changes people’s lives forever. Many refugees—persecuted people from around the world—are victims of war.  In the chaos of fleeing from the war in Iraq, Maryam was separated from her husband.  With her three grown children, she made it to safety in New Haven, thanks to the U.S. refugee resettlement program.  Maryam (we’ve changed her name to protect her privacy) and her family are now clients of IRIS—Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, New Haven’s refugee resettlement agency.

Through the Martha’s Place and CareWays shelters at New Haven Home Recovery, we help single women or female heads of households and their children experiencing homelessness due to an exacerbation of existing mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, financial crisis, or other chronic stressors. NHHR provides temporary safe shelter along with individualized services that promote the independence and self-sufficiency of women and children served at the shelters in a safe, supportive environment. No woman or child is required to line up for admission daily, nor are t

N2N has been a blessing to us in our efforts to help families in the community with their grocery needs. We participate in a program called Angel Food Ministries where anyone can purchase $60.00 worth of groceries for $30.00 once a month. Because of N2N we are able to double our purchase to help more families in the community.  
 
Below are two families who are appreciative of help in their time of need:
 

David* has been a client with Harbor Health Services for more than 8 years.  He has always struggled with health issues, but this particular winter was exceptionally hard on him.  His income is equal to the amount of rent and bills he has and when his health coverage changed, he found himself in a dilemma.  He suddenly had co-pays and expenses that were not anticipated.  By providing him one month of rental assistance, he was able to obtain his medicines, pay off a medical bill and obtain other medical supplies that h

Did you know that according to End Hunger CT, in our state alone, 8.8% (122,000) of households, many of them with children, are food insecure (based on latest USDA figures).
• 45,000 (3.2%) people in Connecticut suffer from very low food insecurity at some point during the year (based on latest USDA figures)
• One out of five children, 102,000 youngsters, under the age of twelve, are hungry, or at risk of hunger.

This month, the volunteers from Mishkan Israel’s Life Is Delicious group not only cooked dinner for the guests of Columbus House’s overflow shelter, but also had a group of volunteers who served the meal that had been prepared that day. Many of these, including the children, had never been to a shelter before. One volunteer relayed the experience.
 

There may be an economic downtown in the country, but the N2N project shows me that there is no recession of hope in New Haven.
Those of us in the non-profit world lead a duel existence. Every day we work with, live with, and share in the lives of needy people. We know people who have nothing and they count on us for help.