Seeds and Sprouts
Welcome to Seeds and Sprouts
A circle of individuals in New Haven, CT with self, family, and/or work experience with mental health struggles. Healing each other and ourselves. Building our power.
Consciousness Raising Sessions of Summer 2021
Our consciousness raising sessions consisted of residents across New Haven, from various neighborhoods. Some were via zoom, some in person. Some were in partnership with organizations (i.e. New LifestylesEmpowerment Center, CT Bail Fund, SWAN) and others were hosted in local businesses (i.e. Come Get Right Barber Shop).
Invitees were asked to be a part of a conversation about policing, community safety, and crisis support in the city of New Haven. Every CR started with the same 3 questions:
What has been your experience with the New Haven Police Department?
What would make your community safe?
Who would you want to show up in a crisis moment?
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In total, we have held ten CRs within predominantly Black communities in the city of New Haven. We took notes during each CR and have pulled those notes together here. We plan to continue this process, and ask that this information be included as the city of New Haven moves forward with their Crisis Response process. Individuals who have been a part of CRs to this point are absolutely interested in being a part of the crisis response process going forward.