Housing Insecurity Resource Fair

New Haven Legal Assistance Association was founded in 1964 to serve low-income neighborhoods in New Haven and provide free lawyers to people who could not afford to pay for help with every day issues like eviction, family law, and income support. Over the past 50+ years we have witnessed and experienced how the legacy of slavery, white supremacy, disenfranchisement, disinvestment, and over-policing have ravaged the Black and Brown communities which we serve. We witness the legacy of police brutality in Black and Brown women afraid to call the police when they are abused. We witness the legacy of exclusionary and violent immigration policies to today’s separation of families where children are held in cages. We witness the legacy of controlling Black and Brown communities by mass incarceration in prisons and detention facilities in which people incarcerated are sentenced to death by unhealthy conditions. We witness the legacy of racist housing policies in the fact that your zip code determines your life expectancy and cruel eviction laws that disproportionately harm Black mothers and children. We witness the legacy of a health care disparities that place Black and Brown people in the bullseye of COVID-19.

And now, as we grieve the murders of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and locally, Mubarak Soulemane (and the many, many, too many, who came before them), we also commit ourselves to dismantle the racist structures that have made their deaths possible. While representing individuals living in poverty can have an enormous impact on one family, legal aid lawyers are too often part of deeply racist legal systems.

We are committed to do the work to balance the individual clients who need our help with the impact litigation and organizing work that is part of the fight to dismantle structures of oppression. We are committed to the communities we serve, and in this fight to end police brutality we at New Haven Legal Assistance stand with CTCORE and Black Lives Matter New Haven, and our own LAA staff member, Kerry Ellington, as they personify our mission: access to justice for all.

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Since 1990, New Reach has developed a continuum of housing interventions and supports, helping thousands of vulnerable households and families achieve stability and self-reliance. Commitment to long-term impact, focused strategic planning, and talented leadership have grown New Reach from a single ten-bed shelter for women, into a leader in homelessness services. Today, we serve thousands each year throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties, providing a full spectrum of housing services from eviction prevention for public housing residents, to the development of affordable and supportive housing, and everything in between.

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DESK began in 1987 as a grassroots, community response to the sudden rise in homelessness on the New Haven Green.

Over the years, our program and services have grown to respond to an increase in the need with more complex services, progressive strategies, and empathic approaches. Originally a program of Downtown Cooperative Ministries, DESK was incorporated as an independent, non-denominational organization in 1989.  In 2003, we expanded to serve dinner five nights per week and added a weekly Food Pantry program, all based out of Center Church’s Parish House at 311 Temple Street.

In 2021, DESK opened New Haven’s first low-barrier, Downtown Drop-in & Resource Center for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness at 266 State Street.

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MOFJ is a grassroots component of AEP. Founded in 1993 as Mothers for Justice by women seeking to influence welfare reform efforts, by 2018 the group included members who were not mothers and its name was revised to reflect all its members committed to social, economic and racial justice.

Members use their individual and collective voices, based on experiences, to influence state and local policy and decision makers to implement solutions that help people to become self-sufficient. Their participation is transformative, with many returning to school, serving their communities, working on political campaigns, or running for office. Issues being addressed by MOFJ include: affordable housing, safe communities, and quality healthcare for all Connecticut residents, spearheaded by HEALTH (Helping Everyone Achieve Lifelong Trusted Healthcare).

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