by Lisa Albenze
Near & Far Aid is proud to support ConnectUs, whose mission is to bring together suburban and urban neighbors in partnership to improve the quality of outcomes for young people living in communities of concentrated poverty. Their youth programs are designed to complement formal education with after school growth opportunities that expand the vistas of youth living in Bridgeport, CT.
There are roughly 300 young people they serve in the program – but families are included in support of all participants, so they estimate that they serve over 600 people. They have 2 full time Staff – Executive Director Pam Lewis and Pam Hafer is Director of Operations. They also have 2 part-time student Program Production Assistants who have come up through the CU programs. ConnectUs is a remarkable agency.
Pam Lewis, founder and director is a powerhouse. She started her work as a youth organizer and producer of grassroots community talent shows in 1984 in New York City which really took off in the urban youth culture during the golden age of Hip-Hop and at the height of the crack epidemic. Through these city-wide shows grew the nonprofit All Stars Project, and over the next 30 years, Pam directed All Stars Project across the country. Pam was instrumental in using an innovative performance-based approach and in 2017, she founded Connect-Us. This performance-based approach, using the language of theater, is the fundamental force behind the mentoring at CU. The programs reach young people who would not otherwise receive the invitation to participate in mainstream America, and they use performance as the way in to reach young people who have very little or no access or opportunity. This approach removes morality and judgement issues and is designed to create an environment for young people to become more comfortable being uncomfortable! and that mistakes are an opportunity to create a new “sceence,” do a “take 2″ and even a “take 3.”
They have 3 programs:
1. C-U Onstage! Pam Hafer describes as “their Baby” and is a talent show program where young people aged 5 to 25 take responsibility for producing the shows — from inviting their friends and family, to leading the audience in appreciating and supporting every person who performs on stage. This program is designed as a place for young people to network with one another, create new performances together, and learn how to be punctual, dependable, and part of an ensemble. This is a powerful community-
building activity, and the young people experience success — often for the first time in their lives. ANY talent is welcomed: rap, spoken word, song, dance, or any other format is welcomed. The show is titled “Bridgeport Has a Dream” and is an MLK Day Show.
CU’s use of specific language like “take responsibility” is a constructive tool to describe how the young members can view their choice in the matter of producing their lives. Their use of theater terms to create “scenes” in their life, opens the question of “What do you think of your performance?” When looked at through this lens of life as a performance, the environment of “real life” feels more of a safe space and improvisation is welcomed to navigate new “scenes” in their lives.
2. Youth Leadership Team,
The Connect-Us Youth Leadership Team is 37 members this year and is designed for young people 15 to 25 years old who are interested in becoming civic leaders in their community. Young people in this program volunteer and take responsibility for producing all the successful community-based events at Connect Us. They gain skills in public speaking, community organizing, learn how to lead meetings, express their thoughts, and have productive discussions, even amid disagreements.
3. Connect-Us Academy is for youth aged 16 to 21 who want to cultivate skills and learn to work in a professional business setting. For 14-16 weeks, students attend weekly
after school workshops at companies throughout Fairfield County. The program prepares young people to enter the workforce, pursue educational opportunities, and
face challenges in new ways, and helps all involved to better participate in and navigate our increasingly complex world. They learn interview skills, about interpersonal relationships, how to be in a meeting, What Linked-in is, and leave the program with a resume. Corporate partners come from a broad range of fields and
industries, including finance, law, marketing, energy, interior design, fashion design, and health administration. Some of the local business partners are Barnum Financial
They do not include food service or retail industries. Graduates of the program are placed in paid summer internships by their business partners. Last year they graduated 19 students. In 2022 they graduated 22 students in this program.
Exec Director Pam Lewis is eloquent is her description of the spirit of ConnectUs. She says, “At Connect-Us, we choose to create hope together. We choose to believe that things can be better for everyone. The decisions we make each day to show up for one another––to support each other, to be kind to each other, to play and laugh and explore new ways of building community together––that is our practice of hope. I believe that choosing to create hope is what gives us our humanity.”