The Foundation of Hope: How Basic Needs Fuel Broader Change (RECAP)

Greater New Haven has historically had sharp disparities between those living well and those going without. Food, clothing, shelter, and health and hygiene supplies are some of the bare necessities for survival that our neighbors struggle to find.  

On June 25th, The Foundation's Basic Needs Fund Advisory Committee hosted an in-person panel event to discuss how meeting basic material needs with dignity is the foundation for a healthy society. It also improves outcomes for people in education, job-training and other programs working to address social concerns.

The event was held at Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT), and included a viewing of "Countdown to Eternity," a photo exhibit documenting the last year of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life by the photographer, Benedict J. Fernandez.

Panelists

Rondraya Barron – Assistant Teacher, Friends Center for Children
Erik Clemons – President & CEO, Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT) and Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program (ConnCORP)
Joanne Goldblum – CEO, National Diaper Bank Network, co-author of Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding, and Ending US Poverty. 

Moderator

Rev. Todd Foster – Director of Global Missions, Cornerstone Christian Center; Basic Needs Fund Committee Member

What We Heard

• Poverty is not a natural law like gravity. It is created by people. 
• The struggle to meet basic needs forces painful decisions for families. Paying for food and rent often leaves nothing left over for other basics including clothes, medicine or transportation.
• While government assistance is available for housing and food, it does not provide for many basic material items including toiletries, bedding and dishes.
• People living in poverty are not afforded the same grace as people with means when filing paperwork or navigating a bureaucracy.
• Education and job programs that are essential to lifting people out of poverty will not succeed if participants are hungry. 
• Hope and community are also basic needs.  
• The Basic Needs Fund brings together funders and nonprofit program leaders with the goal of better supporting basic needs throughout Greater New Haven. 

Support Local Basic Needs Nonprofits 

The Basic Needs Fund has distributed more than $1 million in grant funding to a wide range of Greater New Haven organizations that are providing basic needs to local individuals and families through high-quality programming. But the need remains far greater than our available resources. According to the DataHaven Community Wellbeing Index, 20% of children ages 0-5 in Greater New Haven, and 40% in the city of New Haven, live in poverty. 

If you are interested in supporting local basic needs, please consider giving to the Basic Needs Fund or directly to a local nonprofit. The organizations listed here have all received grants from the Basic Needs Fund. 

For questions or to be included on future event invitations, please email Carmen Burgos.