New Haven Community, Clergy, and Politicians to hold Press Conference Calling for Good Jobs in New Haven
New Haven - Pastor Kelcy G.L. Steele of Varick Memorial AME Zion Church and State Representative Toni Walker will gather a press conference calling on the the New Haven board of Alders to hold a public hearing regarding the employment opportunities that Yale University is providing to New Haven residents. They will be joined by a group of New Haven residents, job seekers, and Yale Undergrads.
WHAT: Press Conference with Sen. Toni Walker and Pastor Kelcy Steele
WHEN: 10:00am, Wednesday December 12, 2018
WHERE: 1 Prospect Street, Corner of Grove and Prospect
Community Leaders Call for a Public Hearing on Yale Jobs in New Haven
On December 12th, elected leaders, clergy, and other community leaders called on the President of New Haven’s Board of Alders, Tyisha Walker-Myers, to hold a public hearing regarding the employment opportunities that Yale University is providing to New Haven residents. The speakers called for this hearing to better understand the University’s progress on the hiring agreement that it signed in 2015. In that agreement, the University committed to hiring 1,000 New Haven residents with 500 of those residents coming from neighborhoods of need. Neighborhoods of need are seven neighborhoods that have consistently had the highest rates of unemployment in New Haven: The Hill, Dwight, West River, West Rock, Newhallville, Dixwell, and Fair Haven. The University must hit these goals by April 1, 2019.
Speakers noted that the recent gubernatorial campaign and current gubernatorial transition made this hearing even more urgent. State Representative Toni Walker, who is also serving as a Co-Chair for Ned Lamont transition team, provided the context for the hearing, “I have been fighting to uplift Connecticut families my entire life. Yale deserves praise for committing to its hiring agreement, and I always believed that the agreement could be an important model for our city. So, I was encouraged to see Lamont and other state leaders recognize the importance of this agreement during campaign events this fall. As Lamont’s transition team focuses on expanding job opportunities in our cities, we need New Haven’s Board of Alders to hold a public hearing that can help our city understand the opportunities that Yale is providing for our neighborhoods of need.”
Pastor Kelcy G.L. Steele of Varick Memorial AME Zion Church said, “I supported Ned Lamont’s campaign for governor because he shares my vision that large employers must do more to provide opportunities for all neighborhoods in our city. At a public hearing, Yale can show us that it is credibly committed to helping the people of New Haven end decades of economic and racial inequality in our city
