For The People

Meet the the leader of LiveGirl, and and learn how to get your daughter involved with this non-profit empowering girls through year-round leadership development and mentoring that builds self-confidence and fosters diversity. Then, visit with Cindi Bigelow, and meet a couple of recipients of The 35th Annual Bigelow Tea Community Challenge. We'll tell you how to get yourself and the whole family in on the fun supporting local agencies like Pivot Ministries and the Mercy Learning Center. And we'll close leaving you dancing - or at least getting you prepared to see some awesome dancing as we visit with Adam's House, which is hosting its Dancing With The Stars event to benefit their program of grief education and peer support for families following the loss of a close loved one.

This morning we're going to get Closer to Free with the first of two planned interviews ahead of the 2022 Closer to Free Ride supporting research and care at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center. We'll speak with the surviving spouse of a Smilow cancer patient who is presenting Beth's Bash to honor his late wife next Sunday with 100% of proceeds going to the Smilow Cancer Hospital. Then, we'll touch base with the executive director of The Connecticut Association of School Based Health Centers - committed to increasing access to quality health care for all children and adolescents in Connecticut schools. Does your child enjoy the resources of a school-based health center? If not, listen in and find out more. And we'll close talking financial literacy, community outreach, and financial management with Connex nonprofit Credit Union. We'll hear from one of their top executives about managing your money and credit more effectively, and bring you a few tips that might save your child or college student f

We're departing from our usual format today to bring you several guests talking about two cool subjects.  Our first segment brings together a trio talking about the Connecticut Office of the Arts Artist fellowship Program — providing recognition and funding support for Connecticut artists to pursue new work and advance their artistic careers.  Then we're welcoming back the CEO and founder of Connecticut's Aquiline Drones and the Regional President of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system to discuss how they are partnering to develop a brand new drone career training and licensing curriculum beginning this fall.

How concerned should you be about the global monkeypox outbreak? Connecticut has already seen it fair share of cases, so we're bringing in the state's top doc - Commissioner of Public Health Dr. Manisha Juthani to fill you in on everything you need to know about monkeypox. Then we're replaying a visit with the coordinator of the Youth Link Mentoring Program at Boys and Girls Village. This important initiative is recruiting mentors who will be trained to support the growing communities of LGBTQ+ youths across the state facing numerous challenges. And we're closing ahead of August 11 - or as the folks at Call Before You Dig refer to it - "8-1-1 Day," a perfect time to update and remind any private property owner or commercial excavators about the mandated Call Before You Dig protocol here in Connecticut - no matter how shallow or deep you are digging.

State Senator Tony Hwang is helping unpack the complexities related to numerous proposed massive health insurance rate hikes under consideration for 2023. So we'll help explain how you as ratepayers and health insurance consumers can step up and try to help stop or greatly reduce those proposed rate increases. Then we'll welcome Connecticut Voices for Children to talk about their 2022 State of Early Childhood — examining the accessibility, affordability, quality, and funding of Connecticut’s early childhood system.   And, on a similar subject, we're reconnecting with End Hunger Connecticut, which just convened a round table of policy makers and experts discussing the future of the popular summer meals program, and what's in store for kids in cafeterias all over the state this coming school year.

Today we're unveiling ALICE - Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate - a new initiative rolling out across the state and changing the way police, emergency services, and schools are confronting crises. Hear representatives from the East Haven school district and Police Dept discussing how you can help that community as it prepares to engage this new program in the fall. Then we're going to preview a first of its kind social justice symposium coming to Sacred Heart University. We'll chat with both a faculty and student organizer about why this kind of day-long event is important for you and your community, and why you might consider attending. And we'll close with the CT Dental Association. Have you been putting off dental care because of the pandemic? We'll learn why re-connecting with your family's dentist office is so important for your overall health and wellness, and the roles dentists play in keeping your whole body in good health.

This For the People encore segment features State Comptroller Natalie Braswell in last January's chat about Connecticut's new Essential Worker COVID-19 Assistance Fund. With eligibility just expanded to the CDC’s 1C list of essential workers - and the application deadline extended - it's time to find out if you can get compensation for a number of virus-related losses and expenses. Then, we've got a challenge for you veterans - especially if you don't like the direction our country is going. Hear how Veterans for Political Innovation is mobilizing heroes like you to help make our nation's political system less toxic and more competitive by becoming more involved in local and state political action. And, if you are a nurse or have aspirations to be one, meet the founder of the Susan D. Flynn Oncology Nursing Development Program - who wants you to be one of America's next generation of oncology and palliative care specialists training at no cost across a growing network of prestigious medical centers.

We're celebrating the opening of the Homes for the Brave Annex, which is delivering comprehensive services and supports for veterans and their families across the entire region. If you are, or you know a veteran or a vet's family who may be in need of health, employment, or financial support, stay tuned. Then we're going to check - in with United Way of Connecticut to remind you that more than 150,000 families in the state might be leaving as much as $750 cash on the table, unless they apply for the 2022 Connecticut Child Tax Rebate before July 31. And we'll close with Preservation CT, an organization working to help preserve and promote historical buildings and sites across the state. We'll learn what their team has been up to lately - and tell you about a special initiative highlighting the local creations of Frederick Olmsted on the occasion of his 200th birthday.

Each year, about 1,500 pedestrians and 550 bicyclists are hit by cars on Connecticut roadways, leading to serious injuries and fatalities. So we're bringing in a rep from Watch for Me CT a statewide campaign aimed at reducing those numbers through awareness, education, and enforcement to discuss their work and how it can benefit your community. Then we'll welcome back EnergizeCT and the Director of Energy Efficiency for Eversource to talk about a couple of different programs to help educate kids on how to live in a more sustainable world, and how to enlist entire communities in helping conserve energy resources. And we'll close with a special projects coordinator from the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which just published a first of its kind guidebook to help town and city leaders and police agencies better respond to racial tension in their communities.

Bears aren't just out there somewhere, they're marching into parks and yards, and even breaking into cars and homes. So what do you need to become more 'bear aware' - well, we've got all the answers for you as we visit with a state DEEP Bear and wildlife expert. Then we'll check in with NAMICT, to find out how that agency is responding to the escalation of stress, anxiety, and mental health issues as we continue grappling with the COVID pandemic, and all the other issues putting undue strain on our already busy lives. And you've been hearing about it - so we're going to close discussing MyHomeCT - a brand new program to cure mortgage delinquencies and defaults, prevent foreclosures among eligible homeowners and provide much needed assistance for qualified non-mortgage expenses.

Today we're opening our final week of the school year program with a representative of Teach Connecticut talking about the many rewards of teaching and how Teach Connecticut can provide a huge range of information and resources whether you're thinking about applying your current career expertise to teaching, or you're ready to step out into the workforce for the first-time as an educator. The we'll welcome Disability:IN Connecticut, which is supporting state businesses that are committed to disability inclusion in the workplace and supply chain. If you are an employer facing workforce challenges, Disability:IN CT may be your solution. And we'll close with our friend Scarlett Lewis who through the tragic loss of her son at Sandy Hook, has developed the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement into a resource rich initiative that has already changed the lives of millions around the world.

You can help honor the ultimate sacrifice of one brave 9/11 responder by being part of the 2022 Tunnel to Towers Run & Walk on June 26. So we'll help reinforce what it's all about and how to get involved as we chat with the race organizer at the Bethel High School event site. Then we'll bring you Part 2 of our CT League of Conservation Voters discussion about critical environmental legislation that didn't make it through the 2022 statehouse session, and learn how you can play a key role in helping ensure issues related to things like waste management and toxic chemicals are dealt with in 2023. And we're closing with our partners from IRIS - Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services - as our state gets ready to celebrate World Refugee Day with events featuring stories, music poems, and exhibits coming up next weekend in New Haven and Hartford. 

Pride Month is here and we're checking in with the director of Connecticut's leading LGBTQ+ support agency - Norwalk's Triangle Community Center - to learn how they are helping members of these communities across the state with services and advocacy. Then we'll meet a couple of representatives of EAPA - the Employee Assistance Professionals Association - to learn how its members help those facing challenges at work and outside the workplace, and about their upcoming conference focusing on suicide prevention. And we'll close with our partners from the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters - taking a look back on the 2022 state legislative session, and a look forward reflecting on how these accomplishments will be making our state more environmentally sustainable.

We're continuing our mission to connect you with cool adventures, so stay tuned for our guest from the HVA - the Housatonic Valley Association - hosting a month-long Explore-a-Thon this June with all kinds of prizes, local brewery gatherings, and cool, fun ways to learn more about protecting our environment. Then as we close out Mental Health Awareness Month, we'll turn to Dr. Hilary Blumberg, from Yale University's Mood Disorders Research Program - whose team is doing critical work to help those suffering from mental health issues and grappling with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Then meet the founder of the Susan D. Flynn Oncology Nursing Development Program - which is working to recruit and train America's next generation of oncology and palliative care nurse specialists through unique partnerships across a growing network of prestigious hospitals and medical centers.

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. 

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 r

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.