For the People

This week marked the one-year anniversary of Connecticut launching its legal adult-use cannabis marketplace, so we'll connect with a spokesperson from the agency overseeing that program to look back on year one, and give us some insight on how this marketplace will be expanding in 2024.

This year's CT Voices for Children State of Early Childhood report is responding to the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care and a Continuation of Spotlighting Disenfranchised Populations, so we're bringing in the report's two authors to unpack why its details and recommendations are so important.

And we're circling back with Sustainable CT to talk about how that agency is committed to equity, and to creating communities where all are welcome and have the opportunity to thrive. We'll put out the recruiting call for summer fellows - and help celebrate Connecticut's first Gold Level certified SustainableCT community.

Our first guest of the new year is from CHDI discussing their newly launched CONNECTing Schools to Care IV Students initiative to integrate trauma-informed comprehensive school mental health supports into the existing community-based network of care - as well as connecting you to their helpful Connect4Families Toolkit.

Then we'll introduce to you the Governor M. Jodi Rell Center for Public Service at the University of Hartford. Learn how the Rell Center is promoting ethics in government; civil discourse in politics; and how the Center is looking to encourage students and others to pursue careers in public service.

And we'll welcome back the CT League of Conservation Voters. If you've been hearing about eliminating fuel burning vehicles on state roadways or you have growing concerns about our environment, we'll invite you to be part of the CTLCV 2024 Environmental Summit coming up in a couple of weeks.

Our New Year's Eve program is visiting a few of our most informative and special segments, including our mid-July chat with the CEO of the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center talking about how his team is delivering a wide range of physical, mental, dental and wellness services to neighborhoods that need it the most. We'll also celebrate the opening of the center's new Dixwell Q-House.

Then we'll replay our chat about the East Coast Greenway - stretching 3,000 miles from Maine to Florida - and how far along Connecticut is in completing its section, offering a safe place for bicyclists, walkers, runners, and more of all ages and abilities to commute, exercise, and visit new destinations.

Finally, we'll encore our visit with the Education Diversity Coordinator from the CT Dept of Education and the state's commitment to fortify our teaching force while expanding the diversity of educators for the benefit of all the children and youths who will be learning from them.

Hey,  it's not too late to consider giving someone you know one of the most special and unique gifts ever - tuition to Bee School which comes with membership to the Back Yard Beekeepers Association (BYBA), so we'll feature an association member who will be sharing knowledge about beekeeping, and is dedicated to educating beekeepers and promoting the benefits of beekeeping to the public. 

Then, it's time to look back and take stock, to look forward and make plans as 2024 makes us all a year older. Perhaps those plans involve supporting an aging loved one, or if you are an older Connecticut resident, disrupting ageism and ableism. So, we're bringing back the director of the The Connecticut Age Well Collaborative to talk more about how her agency is supporting that effort in 2024.

And finally, we'll dispense a few gifts of wisdom to entrepreneurs and business community members across the region from the leader of AdvanceCT - a private nonprofit economic development organization that drives job creation and new capital investment in Connecticut through business attraction, retention, and expansion, in close cooperation with state, regional, and local partners.

Holidays mean visiting with loved ones - and if you notice developing issues related to aging, we'll connect you with experts from Assisted Living Services and one of Connecticut's Area Agencies on Aging to explain the little-known Adult Family Living-Foster Caregiver Program that can help loved ones continue aging in place at home.

Then we're revisiting Connecticut's groundbreaking mattress recycling program with the state's Mattress Recycling Council and the director from one of the states regional recovery authorities to help educate consumers about where to go and what to do when you're ready to recycle your bedding.

And we'll close meeting some folks from Harbor Watch - a program of Earthplace in Westport - who just finished hosting their Annual Student Symposium on local water quality findings. So, we'll hear about that and some of the activities at Earthplace's nature center.

For the People hits the road again, landing at thge region's first of its kind Food Farmacy of Greater Danbury - that's Farmacy with an 'F'. We'll visit folks who helped create this unique public health program as well as the facility to help support it and  hundreds of families it's already serving since it opened a few weeks ago.

Then we'll head from the 'Hat City' to the Park City for a candid conversation with the director and curator of Bridgeport's Barnum Museum. We'll discuss how the 'Barnum' recently received its rightful place on the National Register of Historic Places - after a disastrous 20-year journey that had more twists, turns, and unfortunate detours as the life of P.T. Barnum himself!

Our on site visit to this year's Green Village Initiative Harvest Fest was bittersweet.

While it preceded a major change for this urban agricultural nonprofit that has done so well supporting equity, community, anti-racism, wellness, knowledge-sharing, and youth mentorship, along with responding hunger and promoting food justice - the festival also provided an opportunity to meet and learn about numerous individuals in greater Bridgeport who have learned from and benefited as a result of their ties to GVI. 

So stay tuned and get ready to meet some of these enterprising individuals as well as hearing about the coming changes from the nonprofit's leadership.

The Child Health and Development Institute's latest research produced a blueprint for strengthening Connecticut's behavioral health workforce for our children, so tune in and be among the first to learn how this report can help fast-track the help our kids need! 

Then....we'll hear how grants from the Connecticut Health Foundation will support advocacy efforts to expand health care coverage to more immigrants and to ensure that those who are eligible can get covered.

And hey, it's National Adoption Month. So, if you think you can be the best part of a child's challenging life, For the People is welcoming a rep from Wheeler’s Foster Care programs to discuss the options, support and benefits you can receive.

Since 1966 the nonprofit Continuum of Care has been serving adults diagnosed with mental illness and severe developmental and intellectual disabilities. The agency is preparing for its Holiday Bazaar that will help fund a brand new and comprehensive program that will save taxpayers millions addressing homeless individuals diagnosed with one or more of these issues - so tune in and see how you can help.

Then, we're bringing in the Managing Director, Public and Government Affairs for AAA Northeast to get you up to speed on issues from pedestrian and driving safety post Daylight Saving - to a new addition to our 'Slow Down, Move Over' law, a new mobile EV emergency charging unit, and what to know if you'll be traveling this Thanksgiving.

And we'll celebrate the recent opening of the western Connecticut 'Food Farmacy' by replaying part of a spring series focusing on a first-of-its-kind collaboration between United Way of Western CT and Nuvance Health on this community-based site designed to connect folks diagnosed with obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and/or hypertension to fresh healthful foods.

Hear from the leader of SCORE of Western CT about all the free and confidential resources for you whether you are a business owner who wants to take things to the next level, you're ready to break out on your own as an entrepreneur, or if you are a business person who's willing to share your talents and expertise as a mentor or coach.

Then, we'll connect with Connecticut's Agriculture Commissioner and a state Ag Ambassador to talk about how easy, healthy, and economically feasible it is to 'Put CT Grown On Your Plate' for the fall and winter holidays - and every day!

And we'll close with a rep from Eversource addressing the cost of energy and how that utility is offering a range of programs to assist folks with paying their energy bills.