NHA NEWS

www.norwalkha.org

January 2016

Vol. 11, Issue 1

Free Gentle YOGA Classes For

Seniors Every Thursday

Yoga is a great way to help seniors manage

stress and a fantastic beginning to 2016.

You’re invited to attend FREE yoga classes

at Irving Freese, 57 Ward Street, Norwalk,

in the community room. Classes are from 10:30AM to

11:30AM. Yoga mats are provided. Cancelled if

schools are closed for bad weather.

Need Food? Get SNAP

The Norwalk Community Health Center now has staff

that will assist you with SNAP eligibility questions,

benefits pre-screening and issues with your applica-

tion. Call (203) 899-1770 X1203, 1208 or 1206 with

questions or concerns.

New WIC Satellite office at the

Norwalk Community Health Center!

Beginning on January 13th, the Norwalk WIC office

will schedule appointments at the Norwalk Communi-

ty Health Center on Wednesdays of each week. Kind-

ly call WIC at (203) 854-7885 to schedule an appoint-

ment.

Ludlow Commons Is Accepting

Applications

Owner: Norwalk Housing Authority

Located At: Ludlow Commons, 11 Roger Square,

Norwalk, CT 06855

Managed By: Elderly Housing Management, Inc.

INCOME LIMITS: $55,250 for one person

$63,150 for one people

Funded By: CT Department of Housing through its

Elderly Congregate Housing Program. Regulatory

guidelines require: All applicants MUST be 62

years and over to qualify. Eligible households must

also have a need for the congregate services offered

at the facility. NHA residents get preference points

when applying.

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:

Catherine Saunders, Administrator

Ludlow Commons

203-899-8534 • TRS: 800-842-9710

NHA Staff Hosts Holiday

Breakfast for Seniors

Staff members Devon Moore, Paul Modugno, Mi-

cheal Crafter, Tom Ivers, Chris Tejada, Joe Jen-

kins, Marie Juleau, Barbara Antzoulis and

Guillermo Bendana prepared breakfast for sen-

iors at 20 West Ave.

A resident from Senior Ct and a resident from 20

West Ave. stop to pose for pictures during the

Christmas Breakfast.

Residents 60 & Up Eligible for

FREE Food Box Norwalk Housing Authority is

proud to work in conjunction

with the Commodity Supple-

mental Food Program to offer a

food box which contains items such as rice,

sugar, soup, beans and cheese. Persons over

sixty years old are eligible to participate. The

next distribution will take place on January 11,

2016 from 2:30pm until 4:30pm at Leroy

Downs. You must call Anabell Delacruz at

203-838-8471 ext. 140 for an application by

January 4, 2016.

CNI Office to Open in January The Washington Village Choice Neighborhoods Initia-

tive will soon be opening a satellite office next to Wash-

ington Village at 149 Water Street. The second floor

space will be the new base of operations for the NHA

staff involved with the CNI and the staff of Housing Op-

portunities Unlimited (HOU) who have been assisting

Washington Village residents from Leroy Downs. The

space will also host the WorkPlace & Career Resources

job training programs and a newly created Capacity

Building Program. A formal announcement and grand

opening will be announced next month.

Financial Management

Tip of the Month:

ABCs of Everyday

Budgeting

Living on a budget and keeping

your spending under control is as easy as the ABCs.

Consider these tips from Money Management Interna-

tional to better manage your expenses. Keep track of

everything you buy for two weeks. At the end of the two

weeks, examine your spending and determine where you

can cut back. Basic changes can equal BIG bucks. Small

expenses, like one or two dollars a day at a vending ma-

chine, can quickly add up over time. Establish priorities

and reduce or stop unnecessary spending. Commit to

small changes. Stick to a plan, revisit your budget often,

and be realistic and flexible.

Employment Tip of

the Month: Tailor

your resume

When submitting a resume in

response to a job posting, care-

fully review the job requirements, and make

sure they are specifically on your resume if you

have them. Don’t trust your cover letter to

speak to these details. If your resume/online

application doesn’t contain the proper key-

words, it may never make it to a human being.

Affordable Care Is Available!

Access Health CT (AHCT) is Connecticut’s

only official health insurance marketplace. It

was established to meet the requirements of the

federal Affordable Care Act. 2016 open enroll-

ment ends January 31, 2016. A number of dif-

ferent health plans are available. Don’t miss

out on the benefits of being covered! If you

don’t have health care coverage, you may pay a

TAX PENALTY of $695 per adult, $347.50

per child or 2.5% of family income . ACHT is

the only place where you can qualify for af-

fordability programs that can help you pay for

your health care coverage. For more infor-

mation, visit www.accesshealthct.org

Families-Get the Tax Credits You

Deserve!

Did you know that many families

are eligible for valuable tax credits

every year? Whether or not you

owe any income tax, you could get

thousands of dollars in tax bene-

fits. To get these credits, you

MUST file a tax return. Individuals taking advantage of

the e-file program will receive their refunds in half the

time compared to returns filed on paper – and even fast-

er when tax refunds are deposited directly into bank ac-

counts. FREE Tax preparation and e-filing services for

low-to-moderate-income residents are available. Nor-

walk VITA sites include: Family & Children’s Agency,

140 Water St. open from February 2 through April 12,

TUESDAYS 5PM – 9PM by appointment only call 203-

523-5336; South Norwalk Community Center, 98 South

Main St. open from February 2 through April 12 walk-

ins only, TUESDAYS 10AM – 5PM, and SATUR-

DAYS 9AM – 2PM; and Norwalk Community Col-

lege , 188 Richards Ave. open January 23 through April

15, walk-ins only, TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS

7PM – 9:30PM,at the East Campus Student Success

Center; and SATURDAYS 10AM – 3:30PM at West

Campus Rooms 138 and 140. **PLEASE NOTE:

Free income tax preparation will not be

available at Norwalk Libraries this year **

Want to OWN

your own

HOME? You can

do it!

Come to this FREE pro-

gram presented by

Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust, to learn

what’s involved in becoming a homeowner on

Saturday February 20, 9:00AM – 5:00 PM, at

LeRoy Downs, 26 Monroe Street. This work-

shop will take the confusion and uncertainty

out of home-buying and guide you through the

process, step by step. Topics include review-

ing your finances, determining how much you

can afford, reviewing your credit, shopping for

a home, obtaining a mortgage, preparing for

the closing, and more. Pre-registration is re-

quired, space is limited. Contact Margarette

Williams-Kelly with Housing Opportunities

Unlimited at 203-981-3734 to register for the

workshop and to learn the steps you can take

TODAY to become a homeowner!

NHA Seeks Maintenance Laborer On-site work includes cleaning common areas

& grounds. $21.51/hr. Some overtime re-

quired. Driver’s license, high school diploma

or equivalent. Send resume to Norwalk Hous-

ing Authority, 24 ½ Monroe Street, Norwalk,

CT 06856-0508 or fax to 203-838-6535 by Jan-

uary 15, 2016.

Are you between the ages of 16-24 and

want to make an impact in your

community?

Fairfield County’s Community Foundation’s Thrive by

25 Regional Summit is on Saturday, January 9th at Sa-

cred Heart University. There will be dynamic speakers,

delicious food, fun contests and giveaways and a

chance to meet and network with like-minded people

your age who want to be successful in school and

work. This event is FREE and transportation is availa-

ble. For more information or to sign up, please contact

Kim Hein at khein@norwalkha.org or 203-838-8471

x190.

Washington Village Welcomes

Greg Riley

In November, Washington Village Learning Center

added a new addition to its family. Greg Riley was a

staff member at the Meadows Gardens Learning

Center and he has transferred to Washington Vil-

lage. Greg has been a great influence with the stu-

dents, especially the boys. Young males make up

about seventy five percent of the students who at-

tend on a regular basis. Greg enjoys teaching the

students how to play crazy 8’s and has even started a

tournament among them all. Can’t wait to see what

he has in store for the Washington Village future.

Again welcome to Washington Village Mr. Riley!

Literacy Corner!

Our Literacy Program has a WORD OF THE

MONTH for you. VOCABULARY.

All families want their kids to be good read-

ers. One way to help your children do better in

school is to BUILD, BUILD, BUILD their vo-

cabulary. The more words a child knows, the

more they will be able to understand what they

are listening to and reading, in and out of

school. Asking a child questions and having

conversations about interesting words is an

easy, comfortable way to integrate new and ex-

citing vocabulary into your child’s world!

When talking about a new word with the

child, be sure to keep the following hints in

mind:

Provide a kid-friendly, easy-to-understand

definition of the word. Ex: Scrumptious

means something that is really, really tasty.

Give the child a kid-friendly example of the

word in his/her everyday life. Ex: Remember

those scrumptious cookies that Grandma

made? They were so delicious.

Encourage the child to come up with an

example of his/her own. Ex: What can you

think of that is scrumptious? Did you eat any-

thing really good today? You are right. That

pizza was scrumptious! I can't wait to eat it

again!

Going forward, take advantage of any oppo-

tunities to use the new word in conversation to

keep introducing the child to the word’s uses.

Talk about things you see around town,

throughout the neighborhood, or that you see on

TV, books, texts, stories, etc. These real-life

examples will help build the child’s understand-

ing of the new word(s).

Use interesting new words with your child

that he or she may not have heard or read

before: “I know you’d love a snow day to-

morrow, but the probability is low. Maybe

next week!” or “Great job on that math

test! You are so diligent!"

Enjoy watching your child’s new vocabulary

grow and the pride he/she feels when using a

word in the right context! Winterfest

Norwalk Housing Authority col-

laborated with Norwalk Commu-

nity College on December 19,

2015 to host its first Winterfest

sponsored by students of Phi The-

ta Kappa Honor Society. Guests

were treated to an afternoon of

students playing the violin and singing Christmas carols.

Norwalk Housing Authority invited 64 families to partici-

pate in this event in which children from ages one to

twelve were selected to receive a Christmas gift. NCC

culinary students treated the guests to specialty sandwich-

es and decadent desserts.

Meadow Gardens Learning Center

Attends The Holiday Classic “The

Nutcracker”

Students from the Meadow Gardens Learning Center

celebrated the holiday season by attending The Nut-

cracker, which was performed by The New England

Dance Theater and New England Academy of Dance.

Students ventured through the story of Clara and how

she dreamed that her beautiful new Nutcracker turned

into a prince. This beautiful performance of the Nut-

cracker was a feast for the eyes and ears with colorful

and imaginative costumes. The students had a won-

derful time meeting the friendly cast, taking pictures

and enjoying the sweet treats. Tis the season to cele-

brate with learning center friends and family.

Pictured students: (Left to right) - Benita Moono,

Adrianna Richardson, Aniyia Prince, Mark

Moono, Dayana Gonzalez and Emily Sarmiento.

Do You Know Brittani McCrae?

Brittani is a junior at Norwalk High School

and she attends the center periodically be-

cause she strives to improve her grade in

U.S. History. Her willingness to seek assistance

from William Peter, NHA’s Bridge to College

facilitator, is admirable. We welcome all high

school students who aim for success but need

academic assistance along the way. 20 West

Learning Center hours of operation are 2:30

p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Diageo Children’s Holiday Party Diageo hosted its ninth annual Diageo 100 Chil-

dren’s Holiday Party at the Stepping Stones Chil-

dren’s Museum in Norwalk. Each year the com-

pany hosts hundreds of children from different

community organizations. This year’s event ben-

efitted five local charities including the Norwalk

Housing Authority, the South Norwalk Commu-

nity Center, Family & Children’s Agency,

Achieve and After the Bell.

Back to front: Angel Navarro, Amine Zakaria,

Kyle Briceno and Bazan Devallon.

Mark Moono and Diageo Staff

In the picture left to right are Isaiah Jackson,

Ivy'anna Young, Patrick Priest, Alysandra

Figueroa, Heaven Nash, Janeia Dickens, Layla

Glover, Jangle Mccoy, Ziare Palmer, and

Nayloni Nash.