A joint message from the Board President and the Executive Director

There is nothing more empowering than a community leading its own change. John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson knew this back in the 1960s and it led to the passing of legislation that created Community Action Agencies. Throughout the last 42 years this legislation has been molded and changed by different administrations, and the grassroots efforts which established Human Resources Agency of New Britain became a secondary feature to ensuring the fiscal survival of programs and services that best served New Britain Residents.

This past year HRA has begun to make changes to this evolution. Without a doubt the programs and services provided by HRA, and other New Britain agencies, are important tools in helping people achieve self-sufficiency. However, we have come to understand that in order to truly end poverty, and that is what we strive for, communities and the families that live in them, must involve themselves in the process of change. HRA is making changes both administratively and programmatically to better support the communities in New Britain to take charge of change that will transform New Britain’s neighborhoods.

This approach has proven successful in New Britain’s North Oak Neighborhood. This fiscal year marks the end of pilot funding for the Head Start Program Free to Grow that HRA received from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to address the affect of substance abuse and violence in families and communities in the North Oak Neighborhood These funds, which were augmented with local dollars, created significant and lasting change. With the belief that strong families and strong communities serve as a buffer against substance abuse and violence, Head Start’s Free to Grow addressed the community, its physical surroundings as well as relationships between community members; while Head Start Family Workers addressed internal workings of families. The assumption was that addressing community issues in partnership with strengthening families, you create positive lasting change. The assumption proved true.

The new North Oak Community Center, purchased and renovated through the advocacy of North Oak residents, now acts as a hub for all ages. Children attend Head Start classes during the day, youth attend after school computer training and adults use the community room to meet and discuss community-wide issues. And if anecdotal success is not enough, the crime statistics in North Oak tell a similar story of success: between 2003 and 2004 larceny arrests in the neighborhood dropped from 495 to 160, nearly 68%; and drug arrests dropped from 340 to 153, a 55% decrease.

It is an exciting time at Human Resources Agency of New Britain. As we confront the challenges of the future by supporting residents to develop the strength and skills to lead change, we will create new opportunity and potential for New Britain, its Communities, and the families that live in them.

Human Resources Agency of New Britain
180 Clinton Street, New Britain, CT, 06053
Phone: (860) 225-8601 • Fax: (860) 225-4843

Copyright 2004 Human Resources Agency of New Britain, All Rights Reserved