October 2024 Newsletter

by Ian Haisley | Oct 30, 2024 | About Hall, News

As October comes to a close and we enter the holiday season, we’re excited to share with you a month filled with community, connection, and growth here at Hall Neighborhood House.

We kicked things off by joining National Stop Bullying Day, spreading our core message of kindness and respect. Later in the month, our Trunk or Treat event brought families together for a safe and festive Halloween celebration.

Our facility is evolving, too, with recent sidewalk improvements and safety enhancements designed to make Hall an even safer and more welcoming space for all. And as we wrap up our 2024 fiscal year, we’re embracing transparency by welcoming an independent auditor to review our operations—an essential step to honor the trust you place in us.

Looking ahead, we’re thrilled to invite you to our Friends of Hall Appreciation Breakfast on November 7. This relaxed, informal gathering is dedicated to celebrating you—the friends and supporters who make our work possible. We hope to see you there!

Thank you for being such an important part of our community!

National Stop Bullying Day

On October 9, we wore orange to honor National Stop Bullying Day! Here at Hall, we are dedicated to treating everyone with kindness and respect, no matter who you are or what you look like, and we encourage our children and youth to do the same so that we can one day stop bullying for good. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Facilities Updates

We’re excited to share several improvements underway to make Hall Neighborhood House an even better space for our community!

• Sidewalk Improvements: With permits in place, we began construction to replace the sidewalks around our building, making them safer and more accessible.
• Enhanced Safety Measures: We installed panic buttons at both main entrances, each with a direct line to 911. Plus, exterior alarms will alert anyone on the playground or nearby if they should stay clear of the building. These new features help protect our kids, staff, and visitors.
• New Playground Completed: We’re thrilled to have a brand-new playground for our kids, equipped with toy cars and colorful traffic signs generously donated by Westport National Bank.
• Gym Floor Refinishing: Coming soon! Next month, we will refinish the gym floor to provide a refreshed space for sports and community gatherings.
• Technology Upgrades: New computers for our staff are on their way to help improve our efficiency and the quality of service we provide every day.

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue making exciting progress for everyone here at Hall Neighborhood House!

Friends of Hall Appreciation Breakfast

At Hall Neighborhood House, we’re so grateful for the support of friends like you. That’s why we’re excited to invite you to a special morning of connection and celebration at our Friends of Hall Appreciation Breakfast.

This relaxed, informal gathering is our way of saying “thank you” for your generous contributions.

Join us:
Thursday, November 7
8-10 a.m.
52 George E. Pipkin’s Way 
Bridgeport, CT 06608

Please stop by for a breakfast sandwich and beverage from the Tasty Yolk Food Truck and get a closer look at the programs and spaces your support has helped transform.

Your support is making a lasting impact in Bridgeport, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you!

Trunk or Treat

Thank you to everyone who made our Trunk or Treat celebration an incredible event! Your support created a fantastic, safe Halloween experience for our neighbors—complete with creative costumes, decked-out trunks, and plenty of treats. 

From our amazing volunteers who spent hours decorating their cars to the families who joined us in costume, your involvement helped make this a special night of fun and connection for the whole community.

Financial Updates

We’re committed to going above and beyond to ensure full transparency in everything we do. As we wrap up the 2024 fiscal year, we’ve brought in a third-party auditor to work closely with our board, reviewing everything we do. Having an independent auditor means we can confidently stand by the integrity of our work, making sure each decision we make reflects our mission, values, and the trust our supporters place in us.

September 2024 Newsletter

by Ian Haisley | Oct 15, 2024 | About Hall, News

As we wrap up September, we’re excited to share some of the wonderful things happening at Hall Neighborhood House. This month, we celebrated National Literacy Month, a time that highlights one of our core commitments—empowering young learners with the foundational skills they need for lifelong success. From our preschool classrooms to afterschool programs, we foster a love for reading and learning in the children we serve.

Looking ahead, we have so much planned this fall, including our annual Trunk or Treat event, ongoing construction projects, and the addition of a new team member, Nicholas Sentementes, as our Development Director. We’re also excited to welcome several new board members–keep an eye out for their introductions soon!

Thank you for being a valued part of our community. We’d love to show you around! Please join us Thursday, November 7, from 8 – 10 a.m. at Friends of Hall: Appreciation Breakfast for a behind-the-scenes tour. All are welcome!

September was National Literacy Month

At Hall Neighborhood House, we understand that literacy is the foundation for all learning and a key to lifelong success. That’s why we are proud to offer programs that help children develop a love for reading at an early age.

Our childcare curriculum teaches foundational reading skills and encourages critical thinking, creativity, and emotional development. In our afterschool program, students receive literacy support through tutoring, homework help, and activities that promote language development. We prioritize literacy in all our Early Learning classrooms with daily story time, author signings, and an annual book fair.

Our reading sessions engage children, ensuring that literacy remains a key focus across all stages of their development. And at the end of the day, we encourage families to continue their children’s learning by choosing a book from Hall’s Free Little Library located outside for all to enjoy.

By empowering young learners today, we are creating a brighter future for them tomorrow!

Trunk or Treat is Coming Soon!

Our annual Trunk or Treat is back for another fun and safe Halloween on Friday, October 25, from 5 – 6:30 p.m.! But we need your help. Here’s how you can make this year’s Trunk or Treat the best yet for the families of Hall Neighborhood House:

• Donate unopened bags of candy at Hall Neighborhood House: Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Volunteer at the event and distribute candy from the trunk of your car or a table–and extra points if you decorate your trunk or wear a costume! As families move through the parking lot, you’ll hand out sweet treats.
• Make a donation to fund the celebration here.

To sign up to volunteer or schedule a time to drop off candy, please contact Cheryl Delaney at [email protected].

Welcome, Nicholas Sentementes!

Please join us in welcoming Nicholas Sentementes to our staff, where he will be serving as our new Development Director.

Nick comes to Hall Neighborhood House with over 25 years of experience in the commercial banking industry, where he excelled in business development and client relations. He has held leadership roles across commercial lending and equipment financing, including key positions at GE Capital, Citibank, People’s United Bank, and KeyBank Equipment Finance.

Active in his community, Nick currently serves on the Board of Finance for the Town of Monroe, where he resides with his family. He is also a proud alumnus of the University of Connecticut, where he earned both his Bachelor’s Degree and MBA in Finance, and he remains engaged with the School of Business and the Fairfield County Alumni Chapter.

Beyond his professional life, Nick is an avid basketball fan, especially college basketball. His favorite team is the UCONN Huskies. He is also a certified youth basketball referee and referees games throughout Fairfield County.

Nick’s commitment to community and his wealth of experience make him a wonderful fit for Hall Neighborhood House, and we are thrilled to have him join our leadership team.

Save the date! We invite you to meet Nick in person on Thursday, November 7 from 8 – 10 a.m. at Friends of Hall: Appreciation Breakfast.

Construction Updates

We have several exciting construction updates as we continue to renovate and improve Hall Neighborhood House to best serve our community. 

• We completed work on the Senior Behavioral Health Office. This office gives our senior patients a private space to speak with therapists one-on-one. Thank you to Southwestern CT Agency on Aging & Independent Living for providing financial assistance and making this project possible!
• We broke ground on the playground expansion, which will create additional play areas and allow more classrooms to be outside at the same time.
• We built a new sidewalk and handicap ramp for easier and safer access to the building.
• We installed additional security cameras inside and outside of the building to keep Hall Neighborhood House a safe and secure place for our neighbors.

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to make exciting progress!

August 2024 Newsletter

by Ian Haisley | Sep 12, 2024 | About Hall, News

It’s back-to-school season here at Hall Neighborhood House, and our programs are in full swing! Over the past month, we’ve celebrated graduations, offered comprehensive training to staff, and continued to reach out to our community with resources and opportunities.

This fall, we’re especially thankful for Marco R. Constante, Joseph L. Gaudett, Jr., and Christopher Rickard, DC—three of our board members who will be rolling off this month. Thank you for your leadership, wisdom, guidance, and dedicated service to our community! 

We are also so grateful to each of you for your partnership as we meet our neighbors’ needs, and we look forward to an exciting new season full of learning, growth, adventure, and exploration. If you want to see what we’re up to, I encourage you to stop by and visit. We’d love to show you around!

Celebrating Early Learning Program graduation

Congratulations to the 66 amazing students who graduated from our Early Learning Program and are headed to kindergarten! We are so proud of these amazing young learners and can’t wait to cheer them on as they start this exciting new chapter.

Continued learning for our staff

Every year, our Early Learning Program and Youth teachers and staff dedicate a week in August to professional development and preparation for the new school year. Staff receive comprehensive training on a wide variety of topics and up-to-date information on current techniques and policies to provide high-quality care in their classrooms.

Some of this year’s training focused on improving family communication, developing higher-level questioning for our preschoolers, and scaffolding language for our infants and toddlers. Staff also reviewed state childcare policies and nutritional guidelines.

Expanding STEM programs across Bridgeport

We continue to bring The Alan Wallack STEM Learning Centers to schools across our community, equipping them with the tools and resources they need to provide exceptional science, technology, engineering, and math education. This month, we are proud to bring these opportunities to Luis Munoz Marin Elementary, Read School, Beardsley School, Classical Studies (K-8th grades), Geraldine Johnson Elementary, Barnum School, Waltersville School, Columbus School, Roosevelt School, and Cesar Batalla School.

Thank you, volunteers!

Incoming freshmen at St. Joseph High School helped our Early Learning Program prepare for the fall and worked on projects around the building. Thank you so much, St. Joseph freshmen!

In addition, an incredible team of nursing students and faculty from Sacred Heart University volunteered with our Senior Center and Early Learning programs! We are so grateful for the ways our amazing volunteers have helped our entire community get ready for the new school year. Incoming freshmen at St. Joseph High School helped our Early Learning Program prepare for the fall and worked on projects around the building. Thank you so much, St. Joseph freshmen!

Building a new playground

We are so excited to have begun construction on our new playground! Children in our programs cannot wait to enjoy this upgraded place to play—and we are so grateful to our community for helping us make it happen.

Looking back on a fun-filled summer

Youth had an amazing summer at Summer Camp, including field trips to go rock climbing, explore nature, jump for joy at the trampoline park, and more. They also completed an entrepreneurship fair, tons of art projects, and endless activities here at Hall. It was awesome to witness their enthusiasm all summer!

Thank you for being part of our community. We are so grateful for you!