Arts for Learning Connecticut

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Arts for Learning Connecticut (AFLCT) is a nonprofit organization out of Hamden, CT focused on creative learning through art.

 

Mission

Through its diverse roster of artists, the organization’s mission is to engage participants of all ages and abilities in learning creatively through the arts.

 

Vision

AFLCT envisions people of all ages and abilities in Connecticut actively participating in the arts. The organization serves as an essential resource for arts engagement in the state. This engagement flows from a roster of professional teaching and performing artists who spread their artistic expertise and inquiry into multiple disciplines to stimulate life-long learning and creativity.

 

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AFLCT’s work transforms the public’s understanding of the value of the arts as an active and natural part of everyone’s life.

 

How they achieve their mission

AFLCT works tirelessly to match quality artists across every discipline with school, community, and corporate events across Connecticut. For schools this may mean providing arts programming that connects directly with curriculum. For communities, it may mean providing creative arts learning programs for various boys and girls clubs and community centers. For corporations, they create unforgettable art events and conferences.

 

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The organization has enjoyed over 30 years of community engagement providing families and seniors with arts, as well as teacher professional development programs that further connect the arts to classroom learning.

 

In the news

AFLCT recently hosted its “Spring into the Arts” auction. Tom Lee, Storyteller, received the 2018 Artist of the Year Award and Surcari received the 2018 Performing Artist Award. Additionally, David Maloney, Connecticut Association of Schools, was recognized as the 2018 Arts in Education Advocate.

 

Featuring numerous silent auction items, the event is the organization’s largest annual fundraising event. It raises funds for its education programming to underserved students in economically disadvantaged cities and towns around Connecticut.

 

Spring into the Arts

 

 

Performances by AFLCT artists are typically offered throughout the evening as guests are expected to engage and contribute to a cause that means so much to them.

 

Donate

AFLCT welcomes donations in all sizes from anyone interested in promoting arts education in Connecticut. You can donate on their website here.

 

Even donations as little as $50-$100 provide materials for visual art workshops or educational program guides to teachers.

Partnership for Strong Communities

Partnership for Strong Communities

Connecticut is making progress on reducing chronic homelessness. This headway can be credited to a statewide effort by both social advocates and government officials. Local nonprofit Partnership for Strong Communities is one of these players, making a significant difference across the state.

The Partnership’s HousingInCT2017 assessment points out that Connecticut has achieved a 62% reduction in chronic homelessness since January 2014.

Chronically homeless include those with disabling conditions who have been homeless either long-term or repeatedly.

The state’s median monthly housing cost declined by 2 percent to $1,366 in 2016, but still remained the nation’s sixth highest, making it hard for homeless to get out of the perpetual cycle of despair. Despite this slight improvement, an overall increase in rental demand over the past decade combined with the $25/hour wage required to rent in Connecticut, fighting homelessness is harder than ever.

Leading the charge in Connecticut, the Partnership for Strong Communities is a local leader in policy development, advocacy, and research on homelessness and its causes. It is responsible for conducting many important studies, informing state and local officials, and bringing together scholars, practitioners, business executives, and government officials toward creating change.

The Partnership staffs two statewide campaigns – Reaching Home, the campaign to build the civic and political will to prevent and end homelessness in Connecticut, and HOMEConnecticut, a statewide campaign aimed at creating more affordable housing throughout the state.

Here are some of the organization’s critical mission objectives:

Ending Homelessness
Homelessness comes in many different forms. For some, an episode of homelessness is a once-in-a-lifetime event and can be ended by an increase in their income or access to affordable housing. Others experience episodic homelessness – they may experience homelessness sporadically throughout their lives, but tend not to be living on the streets or in shelters for long periods of time. These individuals and families may have a short stay in a homeless shelter, but are also likely to be “doubled up” – living with families and friends willing to offer a temporary home.

Other homeless individuals experience chronic long-term homelessness, which requires a more holistic response. Often, those experiencing chronic homelessness have physical disabilities or mental illnesses that make it difficult for them to stay employed or housed. Many rely on emergency rooms for healthcare and are repeatedly incarcerated for minor offenses. They may also shuttle in and out of the shelter system, which offers temporary relief but cannot adequately address the root causes of their homelessness.

Affordable Housing
Affordable housing provides a solid foundation for a strong community. Residents who live in a home that is affordable have funds to purchase food, provide healthcare, and satisfy other living needs. Residents of affordable homes also have the economic means to purchase goods and services in their communities. Affordable housing helps to create economic stability.

Strong Communities
The ability to afford a residence – to not have to spend more than 30 percent of one’s income on housing so that enough is left for other necessities – is undeniably important. But an affordable house or apartment must also be linked to good schools, adequate community services, convenient transportation, access to affordable high-quality food and other necessities. The Partnership for Strong Communities has worked hard to focus the attention of policymakers on the creation of not just affordable homes but also vibrant neighborhoods and communities.

Visit the Parternship’s website here and learn more about the great work they continue to do and find out how you can help.

CT Addiction Services

Amid the increasingly prevalent opioid crisis happening across the country, one of the biggest challenges for users is finding treatment. A new, stand-alone website launched by Connecticut’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) can help change the way addicts can get the services they need.

The site, CTAddictionServices.com, allows people to see what beds are available at DMHAS-funded facilities. That includes detox programs, residential treatment and recovery houses.

Across Connecticut there are approximately 1,000 state-funded beds that exist for these purposes. With this new website, providers are encouraged to update as close to real-time as possible the status of their facilities.

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Users of the system have the ability to choose which type of program they seek and can see which facilities have capacity so they can make arrangements to check in.

By clicking on one of the providers’ names, users can find more details about the facility including what programs are offered, how many total beds there are, and what types of insurance are accepted.

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The website is funded through a federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant which runs from September 1, 2016 to August 31, 2019 and provides the state $1 million annually to “expand medication assisted treatment as well as strengthen outpatient resources and improve statewide infrastructure.”

An article posted in the New London Patch last September forecasted over 1,000 fatal overdoses across Connecticut for the year 2017—an 18% increase over 2016.

This map attempts to illustrate the density of the problem, with darker colors indicating higher concentration of overdose deaths. (For an interactive version of this map see the original article here.)

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Seeing how this is a growing problem in Connecticut, this website is a great step toward eliminating at least some of the roadblocks for people stuck in the downward spiral of drug abuse.

With any momentum the site could expand to include non-DMHAS-funded programs and create a sort of hub for all types of services people seek but have trouble finding.