Where Are They Now?

Shelter Beds at Immanuel Congregational Church, Hartford CT

This photo haunts me. How are the Hartford area homeless families that once slept in these beds coping today? Where are they? Where is home? 

On a freezing February 11, 2020, one of the fifteen Tuesday nights from this past December through March that Hartford's Immanuel Congregational Church volunteered as an overflow shelter during the coldest months of the year, I paused to take this photo of the shelter's "bedroom." The photo's image has stuck in my mind ever since. An Immanuel teammate and I had just set up Hartford Fire Department supplied cots in the church chapel, covering them neatly with fresh, clean sheets and pillows, and warm blankets. The converted chapel would sleep twelve members of homeless families that night. Where are they now? How are they?  Where is home?

In November 2019, with Hartford's citywide shelter system rightly anticipating being pushed beyond capacity, Immanuel Congregational Church leadership answered the city's call for help. It rallied eighty church members and friends to volunteer hosting an ad hoc shelter with the express purpose of serving overflow homeless families: parents, teenagers, and toddlers unable to secure shelter anywhere else in the Hartford. 

Championed by church members Nancy Rion and Barbara Shaw (no relation), the Immanuel team was one of several Hartford faith communities committing one night a week during the winter to host homeless families. Its mission was to welcome, feed, and house stressed and confused families desperately seeking warmth, comfort, and nourishment. Homeless families swallow their pride moving from one place to another night after night, eating dinner with strangers, sleeping in crowded lodgings, accepting their surroundings silently, all the while tearfully hoping for a miracle. Their stories are complex, heartbreaking, and compelling.

With the current COVID-19 crisis mandates to stay home and maintain social (physical) distancing, the participating faith communities closed their volunteer shelters mid-March. Wreaking countrywide havoc, the pandemic is affecting our lives in ways never imagined. Thousands of individuals and families heretofore living within relatively stable and secure comfort now face the daunting, if not overwhelming, challenges of finding food, employment, childcare, housing, and healthcare. The homeless are even more vulnerable. So, what do we do?

We need to learn from this critical moment engulfing our world. We need to learn what's truly important in life. We need to learn the importance of dignity, equality, and respect. We need to learn to share our world's abundance. We need to learn the importance of healing healthcare for everyone.  We need to learn how to help others help themselves. We need to recognize that everyone has a personal story of a real life filled with the hopes and dreams most of us share, and most of all to be accepted and pursue a purposeful life.

While I may be haunted by the photo of the empty beds, and thoughts of the safety and well being of the homeless we served, I believe we all need to step up and learn how to build a better world. How do we begin? Consider the words of my friend Rev. Dennis P. (Denny) Moon, Senior Minister, South Congregational Church of Granby CT; "Living in our society isn't just about individual rights, but also the common good. In order to understand the common good, you must enter into the suffering of others."

Don Shaw, Jr.
Director Emeritus, Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity

RedTruckStonecatcher.com

Celebrating Fifty Years of Hands On Hartford

It's Time to Celebrate Fifty Years of Hands On Hartford!
That's right, fifty years! Fifty years of Hands On Hartford helping Hartford. Since its founding as Center City Churches in 1969, Hands On Hartford has been committed to feeding, clothing, housing, and caring for Hartford's most vulnerable residents, all with the helping hands of countless generous donors, volunteers and collaborative community partnerships. Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 24, 2019, from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm at the Hartford Marriott Downtown to celebrate Hands On Hartford's 50th anniversary. Details about sponsorships are posted at the following links: Sponsorship Package and Sponsorship Form. Tickets for the celebration will be available soon - contact kshafer@handsonhartford.org for more information.

To learn more about Hands On Hartford's fifty year impact, I recently met with Hands On Hartford Board Chair Rev. Donna Manocchio and Executive Director Barbara Shaw for lunch at The Café at Fifty-Five. It's a café with a cause in its third year of operation serving up many new HOH opportunities for community engagement.

The Café at Fifty-Five
55 Bartholomew Avenue, Hartford CT

The Café at Fifty-Five
Located at 55 Bartholomew Avenue in Hartford's Parkville neighborhood, the Café is HOH's mission-driven restaurant offering healthy, everything-tastes-good selections for breakfast, snacks, and lunch, including specialty crepes and a full coffee-tea-smoothie menu. And what makes frequenting this bright, welcoming eatery even more nourishing is that the Café's proceeds feed directly into HOH's revenue stream supporting its many services to people in need throughout Hartford. To make this happen the Café employs people committed to overcoming employment barriers, engages volunteers as kitchen team members, and offers a pay-for-a-neighbor program to help bring together people from all backgrounds and means to enjoy food and camaraderie together. Additionally, the Café's licensed commercial kitchen is in high demand for shared use membership. Currently, thirty-two qualified entrepreneurs and organizations schedule time 24/7 for their food preparation operations. And topping it all off in the spirit of good neighborship, its convenient and comfortable community spaces are available to the public for meetings, conferences, or social events.

Crepes are a Café specialty. 

During lunch, where my Sweet Chili Asian Slaw Wrap with grilled chicken proved a delicious introduction to the Café's offerings, Rev. Donna and Barbara recounted one success story after another explaining how each program helps realize HOH's "commitment to increasing food security and nutrition, improving health, and providing housing" by engaging volunteers and connecting communities. Barbara summarized HOH's mission in just six words, "serving neighbors, engaging volunteers, and connecting communities. "

The Next Success: Affordable Apartments Planned for Bartholomew Avenue
Following in the path of the Café's success a new initiative to provide much-needed affordable housing is on the table for 2019, the construction of thirty affordable rental apartments.

A rendition of the planned apartments after renovating the adjacent coal power plant,
which is shown in the background advertising the old Spaghetti Warehouse

In a 2015 initiative to consolidate its scattered site operation under one roof, HOH purchased a vacant building (formerly home to the Spaghetti Warehouse, and then Trout Brook Brewery & Pub), and an adjacent abandoned circa 1912 coal powered energy plant. With Fifty-Five Bartholomew Avenue now housing its community center and café, HOH has turned its attention to renovating the power plant into affordable housing. Twenty-three one-bedroom units and seven efficiencies are planned. Four units will be designated for disabled homeless people, with the remaining available as affordable rentals for people with incomes between 30 - 80% of local average median income (AMI). With a groundbreaking expected later this year, apartment occupancy is planned for mid to late 2021. The new units are certain to give a quality of life boost to this corner of Hartford's historic Parkville neighborhood.

And There's So Much More to Celebrate
Throughout its fifty year history of fostering collaborative community engagement, Hands On Hartford has provided hope for the homeless, nourishment for the hungry, and aid for the ailing. To fully appreciate the scope of HOH's services, all one needs to do is checkout its website, which is replete with information about its programs, services, and opportunities to put your helping hands to work. HOH's seven broad-based programs, as noted below with direct website links (red text), encompass all of HOH's essential community services.

MANNA Food and Neighborhood Services

MANNA food programs provide basic needs to thousands of individuals in Hartford each year. Through Community Meals, Community Pantry & Neighborhood Services, and its Backpack Nutrition Program, HOH provides food and other supportive services to those in need.

HOH's halal friendly Community Pantry, which offers a wide selection of food,
always has been at the core of HOH's mission.

The MANNA program also provides supportive health screenings and a 

Backpack Nutrition Program serving more than 250 students every Friday 

to ensure they have food each weekend.

HOH Housing

In addition to its planned new thirty unit apartment building, HOH Housing provides safe and affordable supportive housing and related support services for individuals and families with serious health issues (including those living with HIV/AIDS), both on site and throughout the Hartford area.

Community Engagement

Through its Community Engagement program HOH involves the public by engaging volunteers in the following ways: serving lunch at its soup kitchen, helping in its food pantry, organizing customized day-of-service projects, and hosting team building service immersion programs, including HOH's unique Dash for a Difference events.

Faces of the Homeless

The Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau travels throughout Connecticut (and beyond) to share personal experiences of homelessness, dispel myths, educate audiences on the causes of homelessness, and encourage others to get involved in making positive changes in the community. Groups or organizations are encouraged to host a speaking event or get their feet-on-the-street by engaging with Faces of Homelessness speakers in a walking tour on the streets of Hartford, which includes a visit to a local shelter, to learn about the challenges people face when experiencing homelessness. 

The Café at Fifty-Five

As previously highlighted, the Café is a mission-based restaurant at HOH's Center for Community offering an excellent menu with low prices, and a pay-it-forward option so that all who enter may enjoy the Café.

Caterers Who Care

You can support Hands On Hartford by having Caterers Who Care, HOH's mission-based catering service, custom prepare and deliver breakfast, lunch or dinner for your next meeting or event at your offices or off-site location, including one of the beautifully restored meeting rooms in HOH's community center. 

The Shared Use Kitchen is an invaluable asset to the community. Currently, thirty-two
qualified entrepreneurs and organizations schedule time for their food preparation operations.

Shared Use Kitchen and Meeting Space

Through annual memberships, HOH offers 24/7 scheduled use of its well equipped, licensed commercial kitchen to qualified food operators, such as food truck vendors, specialty catering services, and small bakeries supplying local markets.

Time to Celebrate!

Hands On Hartford's fifty year history of turning caring into action has affected thousands of lives by creating paths to better futures for people in need. As helping hands and advocates gather to celebrate HOH's fiftieth year in October, may they join their hands in thanks and shout a cheer for the next fifty! 

Don Shaw, Jr.

RedTruckStonecatcher.com

Photos and images courtesy of Hands On Hartford, and by Don Shaw, Jr.
Program and mission description texts courtesy of Hands On Hartford.

A Blossoming Partnership Grows Beautifully

Monrovia team ready to plant at the West Granby Habitat for Humanity house.

On a cool November 3, 2016 morning, a tractor trailer, emblazoned with the Monrovia logo, arrived promptly at 9:00 a.m. It was loaded with fresh, locally grown stock from its Granby, CT nursery ready for planting at the new Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity home in West Granby, CT. With tools in hand, a skilled Monrovia team led by Mark Hixson and Jess McCue descended on the site to dig, plant, mulch and water an expertly selected variety of plants, shrubberies, and trees in an artfully designed plan; the  perfect finishing touch to the home being readied for its new owners. With the plantings completed by noon, the seeds for a perennial partnership had been sown.

The Habitat-Monrovia partnership germinated when Mark, Monrovia's East Coast Inside Sales Coach, contacted me after reading about our Granby build on a flyer that I posted widely throughout town. Mark said Monrovia would be keen on donating plants to the local endeavor. It would even include Monrovia's design team's expertise led by Jess. The results speak for themselves. Since the Granby home, Monrovia has helped beautify twelve more Hartford Habitat homes, the latest being in 2018 on East Hartford's Bliss Street and Moore Avenue this past June.

Headquartered in Azusa, California, Monrovia Plant Company is a national nursery whose trademark is Grow Beautifully®. "Since 1926, Monrovia has been the nation’s leading premium consumer plant brand, led by a passion for growing the healthiest plants to enhance the beauty of American landscapes." Monrovia has four growing operations: California, Georgia, Oregon and Connecticut covering the four corners of the United States.

Habitat for Humanity has always emphasized the need for its homes to compliment the architectural styles and needs of the neighborhoods and communities in which it builds. House designs are adapted to ensure they support a city's long-term vision and plan of development. One aspect of that design is best described as "curb appeal," which not only considers what the house looks like, but also how it sits on its property and the landscape around it. For Hartford Habitat, Monrovia's willingness to partner is proving strategic. It's an essential element for elevating the profile of what affordable housing really is, and what it can do for a community. Not only does Hartford Habitat build new homes to create home ownership opportunities, it also rehabilitates homes in disrepair. This is especially critical as Habitat looks to work with the City of Hartford's Blight Remediation Team to eliminate blight and return properties to productive use. It's all part of Hartford Habitat's commitment to Habitat for Humanity International's Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative.

The following series of photographs and captions are representative of Monrovia's commitment to Habitat and the greater Hartford community. As Habitat Executive Director Karraine Moody explains, "It's a blessing to have Monrovia on board as a generous partner dedicated to improving the lives of others by sharing the natural beauty of the world that grows around us."

Monrovia's first endeavor in West Granby village was also Hartford Habitat's first rural build; a build much welcomed by Granby townspeople.

Team Monrovia busy planting a pine barrier along West Granby Road,
along with a Birch tree and Lilacs bordering the driveway entrance.

Planting Hydrangeas, Hostas, Day Lilies, and
Carex along the foundation and front walk.

Mark Hixson explains to homeowners Jaime and Ralph Wyman the plant varieties
Monrovia provided, as well as instructions on how best to care for them. 

Next it was on to Main Street in Hartford on June 14, 2017, site of three single family Habitat homes nearing completion, where Monrovia teamed up with Hartford's Capital City YouthBuild to plant shrubberies, perennials, and ornamental trees around each home. 

Monrovia's tractor trailer arriving with plants for
three Habitat homes at 2636, 2644, and 2650 Main Street in Hartford

Moving plants into place takes some muscle.

Karraine Moody (left), Habitat Executive Director, and
Tracy Thomas, Habitat Family Services Director, set
plants in place along the front porch.

Jess McCue and Hartford YouthBuild leader Frank Mangiagli
were thrilled with the results of the collaboration.

Two YouthBuild team members were still
all smiles after a hot day's work.

On October 19 2017, Monrovia arrived on Hartford's South Marshall Street to landscape the three soon to be completed duplexes. 

Monrovia, with the assistance of Eversource volunteers, landscaped the
South Marshall Street duplexes in half a day!

The results are spectacular!

The curb appeal of Habitat's three new duplexes at
161/163, 171/173 and 181/183 South Marshall Street was
greatly enhanced by Monrovia's landscaping

Most recently, Monrovia landscaped new homes at 66 Bliss Street and 9 Moore Avenue in East Hartford. Again, the results are excellent! As Construction Director Kris McKelvie noted, "People have been slowing down as they drive by to compliment the gorgeous gardens." And later this summer, Monrovia plans to plant similar gardens at the new Habitat homes under construction at 35 and 37 Armistice Street in New Britain.

66 Bliss Street, East Hartford.
The garden is thriving as the lawn begins to sprout.

As of the end of 2018, Monrovia's team will have assisted on fifteen Habitat homes since November 2016, which includes the specialty walkway entrance plantings at a rehabilitated home on Hartford's Roosevelt Street. Monrovia's generosity is making a visible difference in the lives of Habitat families, and the neighborhoods where they live. By working together Habitat and Monrovia have grown a blossoming partnership.  Long may it bloom!

Don Shaw, Jr.

Writer and Editor

RedTruckStonecatcher.com

Photos by Don Shaw, Jr.

Fresh Starts Begin with Grace

One of Fresh Start's original furniture offerings, a hand painted garden bench.

As I walked in with Pastor Rick Kremer to tour Asylum Hill's unique non-profit furniture making business, Waseem was feeding a board into a planer, Ron was putting the finishing touches on a cabinet, and two volunteers were crafting tables and lamps. It's a typical busy morning scene on Fresh Start Pallet Products LLC's shop floor. Discarded pallets and distressed furniture are recycled into "attractive, sturdy, and affordable furnishings for home and garden." Fresh Start's mission is to offer meaningful jobs and job training, along with essential life skills to people -- typically unemployed, often homeless, sometimes with severe health or addiction issues -- seeking a way back to reclaim their dignity and self-esteem, all toward becoming productive members of society. Reclamation and renewal are what Fresh Start is all about.

Waseem working at the planer.

Ron putting the finishing touches on a cabinet.

In the Beginning ...

Launched three years ago as a mission-based enterprise, the idea for Fresh Start germinated when artist and community outreach organizer Louisa Barton-Duguay thought that the idle, but fertile, lawn of Hartford's Grace Lutheran Church would be a comforting place for people, especially the neighborhood's homeless seeking a respite from the street, to sit and chat, or simply relax in a moment of quiet solitude. Louisa, Grace's artist-in-residence, thought a garden with simple benches should be the first "seeds" planted. Her vision sparked a spiritual call to action. Lee Whittemore, a retired Hartford Master carpenter, heard it and took the next step with Louisa. At her request, Lee volunteered to build the benches.

Together, as they surveyed the proposed garden location, Louisa and Lee spotted a pile of discarded pallets piled near a recently renovated apartment building across the street. Whittemore quickly rescued them from a fate destined for the the landfill. It was free lumber. As he began constructing basic benches and chairs with the salvaged pieces, more surprises were in the offing.

Whittemore's work attracted the attention of homeless men who had come to Grace for its weekly Friday Gatherings, a free dinner with all the trimmings. They asked if they could help. Instantly, Whittemore had eager assistants. As it came to life, Grace's new garden, with its colorful pallet furniture, drew broad community praise encouraging others to support the effort.

Recently called to Grace's ministry at that point, and moved by the neighborhood's "stories of hungry people with little hope, and many lost dreams," Pastor Rick often wondered about how it came to be that Louisa's wonderful idea, a pile of discarded pallets, and Lee's talents all converged at the right moment to initiate a program destined to become a new church mission. Divine inspiration? Pastor Rick believes so, which led him to ask Louisa and Lee a simple question, "Did you ever think about creating a business?" Without skipping a beat, conversations about starting a business began in earnest. That's when David Eberly, a pianist of note, unknowingly took the baton to orchestrate the next steps.

A Musician Plays the Next Verse 

After overhearing conversations concerning the church's financial challenges, Eberly, blind from birth, called Pastor Rick suggesting they meet with Phil Rockwell and Pete Mobilia, two retirees formerly involved in development and public relations at Asylum Hill's St. Francis Hospital. He thought they might have ideas that could help get Grace on a more stable financial footing.

Eberly spoke with Rockwell and Mobilia, and they set a meeting at Hamilton Heights, the senior living facility Eberly and Mobilia call home. In the meeting Pastor Rick outlined several issues affecting church finances, which generated several comments, but nothing revelatory. However, as a last minute thought when wrapping up his talk, Pastor Rick mentioned the church's latest idea for a neighborhood mission: "building furniture out of used shipping pallets, and in that way inviting people to a new start, a second chance." Another moment of divine inspiration struck. The idea instantly captured the imagination of Rockwell and Mobilia. Taking root strong and deep, the idea ultimately blossomed into what it is today, Fresh Start Pallet Products LLC, a social enterprise with a mission to provide "employment and training opportunities for economically disadvantaged area residents."

Fully on board, Rockwell and Mobilia recommended marketing and public relations ideas to advance the cause. They also knew other people who would leap at the chance to help. The small group soon grew larger. Many volunteers stepped forward to lend a hand. From the very beginning they reached for help from other organizations serving the same population. Discussions with neighboring organizations such as St. Francis Hospital, Chrysalis Center, and Catholic Family Services were encouraging. With enthusiasm running high, a small working team quickly gelled. Its first order of business was funding -- securing enough money to launch the enterprise on a path to succeed. A fundraiser proved just the ticket.

In June 2015 the pallet project team sponsored a night of music hosted by Hamilton Heights. It featured The Great American Songbook with Eberly on the keyboard accompanied by the vocals of Bob Lally, a project advocate and partner at Federman, Lally & Remis LLC. Nearly 100 people attended the concert, which also exhibited recently completed pallet furniture products. Netting more than $23,000, it raised enough money to get the business underway in earnest, and it attracted more advocates from which a vital network of relationships grew. Helping hands quickly multiplied, and a diverse and talented team -- a working committee -- was built that could turn an idea into reality.

With the engine to drive the business firmly in gear, the team worked full speed ahead on the details. It took the necessary steps to establish Fresh Start Pallet Products as a recognized non-profit business with a formal business plan. With Fresh Start's official legal standing assured, the team proceeded to make sure that accounting, insurance, payroll and personnel processes were securely in place.

Fresh Start Opens for Business

Under tents in Grace's backyard, Fresh Start officially opened its "doors" for business in 2015, as a social justice mission focused on changing lives and providing second chances; befitting its motto, Building Furniture -- Rebuilding Lives. "For years, Grace Lutheran has sponsored missions of mercy through its year round Friday night public dinners, and its Janet's Closet clothing shop, both serving people in need," Pastor Rick told me. "Now we have a business focused on justice with a mission that helps people in need who want an opportunity to change their lives."

Soon the furniture offerings evolved from benches and chairs, to a variety of products including tables, planters, window boxes, shelves, and stools.  As sales revenue and donations increased, and winter loomed, the need for more manufacturing space grew. Nearby Trinity Episcopal Church offered its basement where operations continued to grow. What was meant to last for a winter, carried on for two years as Fresh Start added equipment, and engaged in a comprehensive process learning about hiring, personnel selection, productivity, quality, and marketing. As the business continued to grow, it soon became evident a larger, more functional and permanent location would be needed.

Right on cue, committee volunteers found a solution in Asylum Hill with room to house more trainees, as well as its core of dedicated volunteers. Fresh Start had an ideal spot to change more lives. It could focus unrestrained on conducting additional technical training, manufacturing more efficiently, improving its quality, expanding its offerings, and, most important of all, hiring more people in need of a fresh start.

A custom bench ready for final finishing.

Fresh Start's fan-backed chair.

The quality of Fresh Start's furniture has improved significantly under the direction of operations manager Ron Bell (a former trainee and now full time employee) and his team of trainee-employees and volunteers. Its products are becoming hot commodities. Thanks to Mike McGarry's support, Fresh Start's full line of products was featured at February's Connecticut Flower and Garden Show at the Connecticut Convention Center. McGarry, an Asylum Hill Neighborhood advocate and head of Hartford Blooms, the city's annual flower garden tour, was enthusiastic to assist.

In its new location, Fresh Start continued to develop new and amazing products. Along with its benches and chairs, it has built in vogue "steampunk" lamps, display racks for two Salvation Army thrift stores, and creatively modified used furniture acquired from Hartford Habitat's ReStore  -- all of these have contributed to building an inventory of unique and functional home furnishings. As Pastor Rick told me, "Our furniture design has advanced to skilled artisan quality. We call it 'Fresh Start Version 2.0.'" As a prime example, he had me sit in a wooden chair built with the seat contour of a Mercedes. It was so comfortable I felt like driving it home right from the showroom.

The "Mercedes" chair.

Table in Pastor Rick's study.

A handcrafted display table.

A custom "steampunk" lamp.

Awaiting front drawer facades, an old bureau has been transformed 

into a fully functioning potting bench plumbed for water.

A small harvest table ready for delivery.

Progress to Date and Looking to the Future

During the past three years, Fresh Start has offered a second chance to fourteen people, three of whom were hired as full time employees, and has generated revenue approaching $100,000. However, much more is required to grow and sustain the real business -- the business of changing lives; of saving lives. Through improved public relations and marketing, Fresh Start is taking steps to strengthen its bottom line. It's in the final stages of becoming an independent non-profit. As a stand-alone 501(c)(3), Fresh Start's opportunities to raise much needed funding are expected to grow dramatically. Increasing individual and corporate donations, along with obtaining access to more grant funds, are essential to ensuring the healthy cash flow required to grow the business. It would enable Fresh Start to hire more trainees, as well as upgrade tools and equipment -- tools and equipment essential to ensure its trainees obtain the market-ready skills necessary to re-enter the workforce.

Fresh Start welcomes all who want to support the program. Interested parties seeking more information about Fresh Start's business, either to purchase furniture, volunteer, or donate money, tools, or equipment, are encouraged to write to Grace Lutheran Church, 46 Woodland Street, Hartford, CT 06105, or call the church office at (860) 527-7792, or contact Fresh Start Board Chair Pastor Rick Kremer at rickkremer@aol.com.

Tour Fresh Start on Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Of special note, on June 13, Fresh Start will host an open house as the last stop on Hartford Blooms' Asylum Hill neighborhood tour. The Asylum Hill tour is part of Hartford Blooms Garden Tours' annual nine-day, June 9-17, bus and walking tour of Hartford neighborhoods.  The open house will feature music, food and flowers befitting the tour's theme: "Jazz, Arts & Flowers." It will be an excellent opportunity to see Fresh Start's operations first hand. Event details, registration and ticket information can be obtained on Hartford Blooms website: http://hartfordblooms.gdn; or by calling its office at (860) 296-6128.

It's spring. It's a time of renewal.

Fresh starts renew lives.

Fresh starts begin with grace.



Don Shaw, Jr.
Writer and Editor
RedTruckStonecatcher.com

Photos by Don Shaw, Jr. and Fresh Start Pallet Products LLC