Action and Advocacy for a Prosperous Community

Community Action Agency of New Haven is collaborating with other agencies in our community and advocating for support statewide.

Photo courtesy of Community Action Agency of New Haven.

When it comes to providing services to residents in need, there's not much the Community Action Agency of New Haven (CAANH) isn't capable of: an open food pantry to families when SNAP benefits have run out, emergency assistance to replace a furnace, helping a client avoid foreclosure, financial literacy and job-readiness programs for single mothers and young adults, and much more.

With multi-year, general operating support from unrestricted funds at The Community Foundation, CAANH has been able to expand its social service programs, focus on collaborations with other organizations providing similar services to families, and advocate at the local and state level to stop budget cuts to these integral service agencies.

"Our aim is to be effective servant-leaders and agents of positive change for people in need," says CAANH President and CEO Amos Smith. "Foundation support is critical to the development of the work we do in and around New Haven."

Within the last few years, CAANH has launched two new initiatives. "Passport to Prosperity" presents clients with a network of community partners, providing a broad range of immediate to long-term services. The "5x5 Initiative" is meant to create opportunities for people in the upper Whalley Avenue, Beaver Hill, Dwight, and a small area of West River neighborhoods – in partnership – who want to learn and contribute to the community, get help when they need it and give back when they can.

And, looking ahead, this Saturday CAANH will host a Women's Health Fair, including free mammograms (appointment required), paired with New Haven Healthy Start's rescheduled Family Fun and Fitness Day. The following Saturday, September 19th is the 23rd Annual ChiliFest, CAANH's largest annual fundraiser, to benefit its Open Food Pantry.

You can learn more about CAANH by visiting its giveGreater.org® profile.

Did You Know?

In the 2013-2014 winter heating season, CAANH provided nearly $5 million in energy assistance to more than 12,000 households in New Haven and the surrounding towns.

Source: Community Action Agency 2011-2014 Multi-Year Report