News & Events
After spending 42 years helping those less fortunate, New Opportunities CEO retires
Sometimes, James Gatling said, you think you know what you want to do with your life, but life has different plans. “I went to college, I studied and I became a chemist,” he said. “Sometimes you find out what you’re supposed to do in life and if you listen to that inner voice, you find out you’re in the right place.” Gatling, 73, stayed in the “right place” – New Opportunities of Waterbury, Inc. – for 42 years.
Establish a support fund for Connecticut’s working poor and others
For nearly 60 years, community action agencies (CAAs) have worked to address and reduce the causes and conditions of poverty by providing comprehensive case management services and application assistance for social service programs to the state’s poorest residents. CAAs connect low- and moderate-income people of all ages, in all 169 cities and towns, with resources that stabilize and improve lives and communities. These services and resources include, but are not limited to, food, shelter, heating assistance, employment and training, asset...
CT Community Action Agencies Offering Free Tax Preparation Assistance
Connecticut’s Community Action Agencies (CAAs) are providing free tax preparation services to eligible individuals and families across the state through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. VITA is available for residents with low to moderate incomes, persons with disabilities, and limited English-speaking taxpayers who need assistance preparing and filing their tax returns. Last year, over 10,000 people filed their tax returns at CAAs.
Local organization provides meals to people who need to quarantine due to pandemic
When people need to quarantine due to the pandemic, they really need to stay home and that can be difficult, especially for those who may not have access to everything they need to isolate for ten days. Terry Dunn is a community resource coordinator with the TVCCA, the Thames Valley Council for Community Action. Today he continues his new duties during this pandemic.
Access Community Action Agency helps hundreds for the holidays
The Access Community Action Agency, Inc. (Access) has been assisting local families leading up to the holiday season, by helping to provide healthy food via a number of different avenues. There are a total of nine community action agencies (CAAs) in the state of Connecticut, which are striving to identify and remove social and economic barriers leading to poverty.
Working together to fight homelessness
Uncertainty … seems like it’s all around us these days, whether it’s the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our personal and economic lives, or the varied narratives related to our recent election and how the transition to a new president will unfold. Yet with all the uncertainty we face, it is certain winter will soon be upon us and once again there will be people who do not have the safety of a home and warm bed to retreat...
Stay warm with Community Action this year
As it starts to get cooler in Connecticut, my mind goes to cozy nights at home, getting together with friends and family (socially distanced, of course), and enjoying what the seasons have to offer. But for many in our communities, these colder temperatures bring on stress and worry about being able to afford their monthly energy bill and keep the heat on.
Community Renewal Team to name women’s empowerment center in Hartford after Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Community Renewal Team, the social-service organization that fulfills basic needs for thousands of underserved people in the Capitol region, is renaming its Women’s Empowerment Center in Hartford to the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women’s Empowerment Center, it was announced on Thursday.
CAFCA Press Release-CT Energy Assistance Program-CAAs Accepting Applications
Beginning today, the Connecticut Community Action Agency (CAA) Network is accepting energy assistance applications for the 2020-2021 heating season. Connecticut residents who need assistance paying their utility bills and primary heating costs can apply for energy assistance at their local CAA. Community Action Agencies are the only nonprofit agencies administering the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides home heating assistance to the state’s most vulnerable residents.
CAFCA Press Release-CAAs Receive CHEFA COVID-19 Grant
Connecticut’s Community Action Agency Network was recently awarded a grant from the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA) as part of the newly established FY 2021 CHEFA COVID-19 Grant Program. Each Community Action Agency (CAA) will receive $11,000 to purchase necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other materials, such as gloves, masks, thermometers, plexiglass, and signage to promote social distancing.