By: Carline Charmelus, Operations & Equity Director
This summer, the Partnership for Strong Communities convened 15 amazing youth to learn, lead, and lift their voices around housing issues in Norwich as part of the Expanding Housing Opportunities to End Child Poverty in Norwich: A Community Led Approach initiative. The Summer Youth Housing Empowering Workshop series ran from June 26 to September 11, where youth had the opportunity to build their advocacy skills, explore housing data, write preliminary research on housing and homelessness, and share their own powerful stories.
Kicking Off with Advocacy: Danielle Hubley, Advocacy and Education Manager from the Partnership provided Norwich students and young adults with an introduction on what it means to be an advocate, how to identify issues they want to advocate for, and different ways to engage in advocacy to help encourage students to see their role in creating positive change in the world around them. Students walked away with concrete steps they can take to champion the causes they care most about in their community.
Digging Into the Data: On August 7, Patricia Mullins and Sandra Gaitan-Brown from the City of Norwich Community Development engaged youth in a focus group discussion that helped inform the 2025-2029 Five-Year Consolidated Plan and the 2025 Annual Action Plan for the City of Norwich. Some insights learned from the group discussion are that youth don’t feel safe walking around in their neighborhood and using some of the amenities the city offers. Additionally, concerns were raised about the affordability of youth activities and the need for more activities to be provided in a safe environment for youth.
Issues of littering, gun violence, and shootings in the downtown area was a major theme. One of the youths shared, “I don’t live in a place where my mom feels it is safe enough to let me, and my siblings walk around the neighborhood. I don’t have a place where it has a backyard, so we kind of stay inside because it is not safe to go outside.” When asked about the city parks as an option, another youth noted that their “Parents are like no to the parks. It’s the only thing that we have, but something always happens there, like fights. They are just unsafe to go.” Another youth chimed in and noted that “the youth activities in Norwich are not affordable. Having a program that costs $70 per participant is not affordable.” When asked about community events and activities, one youth noted, “I love it when our communities do activities like the water wars, the fireworks that bring people together. I miss the summer carnivals. That was fun.”
Following the focus group discussion, Research and Policy Fellow Samaila Adelaiye provided an overview of the steps youth can take to conduct housing research and the available data tools. Senior Strategic Manager Kayla Giordano walked through the Partnership’s Housing Data Profiles and ways they can be used to identify housing needs, disparities, and demonstrate the need for housing development.
The Power of Storytelling: On August 14, Operations and Equity Director, Carline Charmelus, and Beth Sabilia of the Center for Housing Opportunity Eastern Connecticut, presented on the power of telling stories, and tools youth can use to share their own personal stories. The workshop concluded with the youth participating in an exercise where they drafted public comments and testimonies on an issue they cared about, and their peers served as the elected officials.
Bringing It All Together: In the final session, students put their learning into action by drafting and presenting on a housing research project or sharing personal stories with their peers and a few guests. The workshop concluded with a thoughtful group discussion, during which the youth reflected on their growth and shared their insights around the
“The students were amazing, and they addressed homelessness better than some professionals I know.” Michael Vaz, Thames River Community Service.
A’Charee Sampson, one of the youth participants shared, “What I can take away from this program is that even though we all had little to no knowledge about housing, by the end of our time together, we all grew our knowledge, and made a difference. We only had four meetings together, so image what we could do in 10 or 15. We also only had 15 people so image what we could do with 100. We are just starting, and I can’t wait to see what we continue to do. We won’t just make a difference in Norwich, but in the state of Connecticut.”
The Summer Youth Housing Empowering Workshop not only introduced young leaders to housing policy but also gave them tools to amplify their voices in meaningful ways. Their insights and stories will continue to inspire the work of building a stronger, more inclusive community!