About a dozen people experiencing homelessness participated in a short course on crafting personal immigration stories taught by Campus Director and Historian, Mark Overmyer- Velázquez. The course is part of the Charter Oak Cultural Center’s Beat of the Street (BOTS) enrichment program. Students who complete 12 short courses successfully receive a free laptop computer and qualify for free tuition at Goodwin College.
UConn Hartford hosted its 3rd annual Carol Sings on the steps of the Hartford Times building. Students, staff, faculty, local residents, and community leaders joined in on the revived Hartford tradition to usher in the holiday season.
On a blistering cold day, hundreds of folks experiencing homelessness visited UConn Hartford to receive a new pair of boots and other essential care like toiletries, hats and socks, flu shots, medical checks, and a meal. It was the first time UConn Hartford hosted Footwear with Care’s annual Winter Boot Giveaway and we hope our campus becomes the permanent partner and location for this deeply impactful service. Thank you to all volunteers and community partners who helped to make the event an act of community care. Read more on the [Hartford Courant].
UConn Hartford partnered with the Dodd Center to offer a private screening of Just Mercy, a film based on the powerful and inspiring true story of Bryan Stevenson and his historic battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard with a law degree, Stevenson decided to dedicate his career to defending incarcerated individuals who were not afforded their right to proper representation or fair trial. To do so, he moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where he founded the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a human rights organization whose efforts have exonerated or reprieved hundreds of wrongly convicted or unfairly sentenced individuals. Less than a month before the screening, Stevenson visited UConn to receive the prestigious 2019 Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice. Just Mercy stars Michael B. Jordan and Oscar winners Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson and will be in theaters world-wide on Jan. 10, 2020. You can also purchase Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.
