For the People

Today we're bringing you a couple of fantastic ways to get outside while improving your own and your loved ones' health and wellness. CT Trails Day is the first weekend in June and so we'll be revealing all the ways you can get out hiking, biking, horseback riding, running, maintaining, kayaking, bird watching, letterboxing, and maybe learning a thing or two in the process.
Then we'll visit with the coordinator of the Youth Link Mentoring Program at Boys and Girls Village. This important initiative is recruiting for mentors who will be trained to support the growing communities of LGBTQ+ youths across the state facing numerous challenges from anxiety and depression to homelessness and substance use issues.
And as promised, we'll close inviting you to connect with ConnectiCare's 10th anniversary Yoga In Our City wellness program taking place starting now in parks near you offering free yoga classes taught by local teachers at parks in communities like Bridgeport, New Haven, and Waterbury. 

We're circling back with Domestic Violence Crisis Center to discuss the critical role men play in setting examples that help prevent domestic violence - and inviting you to honor Connecticut's own Michael Bolton and Jeff Benedict at the DVCC Voices of Courage Luncheon this week in Darien.

This segment that is a must-listen for anyone who is getting involved in the financial aid application process. Check our chat with a Connecticut State Community College expert who just wrote a book on the subject. You'll also find out about the Pledge to Advance Connecticut (PACT) program that allows first time, full-time students to attend any in-state community college DEBT-FREE.

Then meet LEVO International - expanding across Connecticut to address food insecurity, food deserts, sustainability - and revealing how everyone can get started growing their own fresh healthy food in a space about the size of a 5-gallon bucket!

Meet the community engagement specialist from BHCare discussing several of the public health crises his agency is responding to throughout the Naugatuck Valley, shoreline and greater New Haven areas - and how you can help support their efforts by attending their June 4 A Chance to Shine celebration and benefit at Quarry Walk in Oxford.
Then it's time for our annual visit with Connecticut's Council on Environmental Quality, which just released its annual report on Connecticut's environment. Listen and learn about how our state is progressing, where we're backsliding, and how residents can get involved to help make their community and state more environmentally sustainable.
Then we're touting another fund and awareness-raising activity - we'll help get you into the water with Swim Across America, or get involved as a volunteer for their 16th upcoming open water swim to benefit the Connecticut-based Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy.

We're circling back with Domestic Violence Crisis Center to discuss the critical role men play in setting examples that help prevent domestic violence - and inviting you to honor Connecticut's own Michael Bolton and Jeff Benedict at the DVCC Voices of Courage Luncheon this week in Darien.

This segment that is a must-listen for anyone who is getting involved in the financial aid application process. Check our chat with a Connecticut State Community College expert who just wrote a book on the subject. You'll also find out about the Pledge to Advance Connecticut (PACT) program that allows first time, full-time students to attend any in-state community college DEBT-FREE.

Then meet LEVO International - expanding across Connecticut to address food insecurity, food deserts, sustainability - and revealing how everyone can get started growing their own fresh healthy food in a space about the size of a 5-gallon bucket!

As we head into May we're taking an opportunity to encore a few segments we've gathered over the past four months that still focus on critical issues facing your community and our state:

We'll start with a previously recorded segment featuring Connecticut's new Comptroller Natalie Braswell, discussing a brand new benefit for front line responders who may have suffered financial issues as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are or know a front line worker, learn about the CT Essential Worker COVID-19 Assistance Fund.
Then, we'll tap an exec from the CT League for Nursing & CT Center for Nursing Workforce that partnered with our friends at CT Data to produce an incredibly important and concerning report about our state's nursing resources, and how a crisis level shortage of nurses is looming.
And we'll close with a call we did during March — Problem Gambling Awareness Month. With Connecticut recently opening up many new ways to lay down and lose - or win a bet -  For the People brought in a top resource at Wheeler Health for some straight talk about what to do if you or someone you know - even a teen or young adult - is experiencing unhealthy gambling habits.

We're going to pick up on a conversation we started earlier this year with the Connecticut Urban Forest Council to hear about seven more projects recently awarded Urban Forestry Climate Change grants - and how these projects will create positive health and environmental benefits for us all.
We're tapping a Clinical Psychologist from the CT Psychological Association to talk about how events and activities around the nation are ramping up anxiety and depression across some of the younger members of our LGBTQ+ population, and how mental health providers are or should be gearing up to provide much needed support.
And we're inviting you to get involved in a really unique way with the Girl Scouts of Connecticut. This year, GSOFCT is seeking at least ten Facilitators for its "Summer in the City" Program , so we'll learn more about it, what the program will accomplish, and how you can be part of it.

We're hopping your way Easter morning and inviting kids to help tackle food waste with Random Hacks of Kindness Jr & Sustainable Southbury - partnering on a virtual 'Coding for Good Hackathon' on Saturday, April 23.

Then we're talking agriculture with the Westport Farmers' Market - since 2006, the market and its farmers & vendors have provided fresh, healthy food while promoting education and activities centered around growing local.

And we'll wrap with a rep from Reason For Hope, talking about HB 5396 - a bill in front of state lawmakers right now that will significantly increase safe, responsible access to psychedelic-assisted therapies for the treatment of mental health and addiction challenges, especially among our veterans.

We're welcoming back ARI - working with around 100 disabled individuals through several programs in lower Fairfield County helping them learn and grow in order to achieve a higher level of independence - and inviting you to get involved supporting their 70th Anniversary Ball, an upcoming golf tournament and the April 24 ARI Walk for Independence.

Then, meet a local representatives of Veterans for Political Innovation a nonprofit with a mission to mobilize veterans and supporters to advocate for election innovations to make our political system less toxic and more competitive. 

And we'll close helping to unveil SAVED - the State’s Attorney’s Violence Eradication and Disruption (SAVED) program - a forward looking prevention focused program to identify and serve youth impacted by violence in their communities with a trauma informed, treatment focused approach.

Do you have an older or unused bike you'd like to see out of your garage or basement and put to good use, or maybe you know a child or youth who's got a lot of energy and is looking for a great way to use it? We've got a way you can take care of both, so check out our chat with the CMAK Foundation's Race 4 Chase founder to learn more.

Then we'll introduce you to Families Network of Western CT, creating positive, lasting changes through public awareness activities, direct service to families, volunteer training, and a commitment to partnering with community and business leaders, social service agencies and healthcare and education providers. 

Then we'll meet an old friend who's the new director at Keystone House, a nonprofit providing residential and psychosocial services for adults with psychiatric disorders in greater Norwalk by providing them with necessary life skills and tools to help them live as independently as possible.

We're introducing a brand new community partner - Infinite Strength - the only nonprofit in the country to offer monthly financial assistance to underserved single mothers with Metastatic Breast Cancer. We'll let you in on how they do it, and how you can get involved.

Then we're circling back with the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to chat about the upcoming Great Give, and a new package of grants available to promote leadership and greater equity among and within communities of color.

And we'll wrap with WBDC founder Fran Pastore - celebrating her agency's 25th year, promoting grant programs for small business owners and the WBDC's upcoming Women-Owned Business Day.