There is a significant opportunity gap in Fairfield County; the majority of public school students in Bridgeport will fall behind and will be unable to achieve success in school and in life. Connect-Us programs are designed to reach the bottom 90% of inner-city youth who may not be as accomplished or motivated, and provide opportunities to make them more successful – which can have a much greater societal impact.
Archives
Connecticut Students for a Dream
CT Students for a Dream (C4D) was founded in 2010 by a group of undocumented students and allies from across Connecticut. Initially coming together to discuss how it could advocate for the Federal DREAM Act, this small group organized a CT “Dream Summit” to kick off the DREAM movement in Connecticut, where over 30 students attended, and were trained on how to organize for the DREAM Act. C4D then held Connecticut’s first “Undocumented & Unafraid: Coming Out” event in the state, where students shared their stories of being undocumented and came out publicly to their communities, a first in CT.
Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants
The Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (CIRI) is a statewide nonprofit organization that assists refugees and immigrants resolve legal, economic, linguistic and social barriers so that they become self-sufficient, integrated and contributing members of the community. CIRI achieves this mission by providing a compassionate array of high-quality legal, social and educational programming and by promoting cross-cultural understanding and decent treatment for all.