New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Mentorship program shuts down, citing lack of funding
HAMDEN — At a time when some argue the need for youth programs is greater than ever, a Hamden mentorship program is shutting down.
Its leaders, who launched Hamden Youth Connections a year ago, say a lack of funding has forced them to bring the initiative to an end.
“(I’m) very disappointed,” said founder Cheryl Kasprzycki. “All of our board— we all did this for the community. None of us have kids in middle or high school. … We wanted to do this because we knew that Hamden needed it.”
Seeing the program fail to garner enough support to keep running was disappointing, she said.
“Even though we’re all volunteers, (Hamden Youth Connections) doesn’t run on nothing,” Kasprzycki said. “You have to have money for insurances, programming … and supplies.”
When Kasprzycki decided to launch the program a year ago, she said, she was promised financial support from the town. Though Hamden did provide some building space, the money never came through, she said.
And as time went on, she failed to get answers about the funding from the town, she said.
“You just feel bad because it was a wonderful program, and you feel a little disappointed,” said fellow board member Kim Washington. “You feel a little hurt because a lot of kids benefited from the program.”
For a time, Kasprzycki was able to keep the program going through a grant from the Rotary Club, her own personal funds and some money earned through fundraising, she said.
“I couldn’t continue to fund it ... without backing from the town,” she said. “I reached out to various senators, the governor, different charitable organizations. We did some Facebook fundraising but none of it really amounted to enough to get us through.”
Though Hamden Youth Connections recently was awarded some money through a grant, it would not have been enough to keep the initiative running for more than two months, Kasprzycki said, so she turned it down.
Former Mayor Curt Balzano Leng, who was in office when the program began, said he intended to
fund Hamden Youth Connections and other youth programs with money from the American Rescue Plan Act but was unable to disburse any of it before he left office.
Leng did use money from the first tranche of ARPA funds to make up for lost revenue in the municipal budget, he later said in a written statement.
“The remainder of the funds ... (were) completely undesignated for anything other than future programs and community improvements,” he wrote. “My desire was to see funding for positive youth programs and violence reduction efforts, as well as major renovations to the Keefe Community Center.”
Kasprzycki said she has tried — and failed — to get answers about the ARPA money from the current administration.
Sean Grace, chief of staff to Mayor Lauren Garrett, issued a statement indicating the town has not decided how to spend the ARPA funds.
Earlier this year the town put out a request for proposals for after-school programs, he said, and awarded the money to The Village. It is unclear whether Kasprzycki put in a bid.
Possible funding from the Board of Education also fell through, Kasprzycki said.
About 50 middle and high school students participated in Hamden Youth Connections, according to Kasprzycki. Activities included classes on subjects including carpentry and financial literacy.
The program also had a community service aspect to it, she said.
Community leaders involved in youth programming spoke to the impact that losing services like Hamden Youth Connections can have.
“Any opportunity that is lost, it’s gonna be impactful, and from everything I heard about (Hamden
Youth Connections), it was good,” said Leonard Jahad, who heads the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program.
Yet Jahad said there are other valuable services in town. Hamden Youth Services, which runs out of the Keefe Center, does “a phenomenal job” with the resources it has, he said.
Sometimes, engagement is just as big a challenge as program availability, according to Jahad.
Rich Mutts, who runs the Born Rich Foundation, said running youth programs can be stressful “because a lot of us are nonprofit or volunteers, so we’re always scrambling” to get funding and get people engaged.
To Mutts, recent community strife shows how important youth engagement is.
“(If ) we take a look at some of the violence and just some of the things that are going on locally, it’s very apparent that these things are needed more than ever,” he said.
Earlier this month, 15year-old Hamden High School student Elijah Gomez was shot and killed in broad daylight near the canal line.
The past year has brought other challenges to the school district, including a rash of threats of violence and a stabbing.
“Any time you lose funding or lose different programs that are geared towards resources or assisting youth, it’s not only detrimental to the youth in the community but the community as a whole,” said Mutts.
To support youth, Mutts said, it is important to have “innovative programming that’s constantly evolving, which means we need constant funding.”
“It’s important that leadership in the municipality … understands that the youth shape the community,” he said.