CONECT

Approximately 2000 people jammed into Wilbur Cross High School on Monday evening, March 4th for a public hearing on CONECT’s Safer Driving bills before the Transportation Committee of the legislature. The auditorium was standing room only and the crowd overflowed to the cafeteria and gymnasium where people could hear the audio. Hundreds of others could not get into the building or parking lot and were turned away.

17 CONECT leaders testified — including Fr. Jim Manship at the very beginning, Rev. Anthony Bennett right in the middle, and Caroline Wetzel from St. Gabriel’s who stuck it out and gave the very last testimony at 10:59pm right before the hearing ended and the school building was closed down. All of CONECT’s leaders testifying did very well, and their preparation and caliber of the testimonies stood out.

Melody Currey, the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles, testified in favor of an Illinois style law and recognized CONECT by name in her statement. Sen. Looney, Sen. Crisco, Rep. Candelaria, and a number of other legislators testified in favor. The huge turnout and the orderliness and respectfulness of the crowd made a strong impression on several members of the committee.

CONECT and the issue quite a bit of good press from the issue. At least 3 TV news trucks stayed till 10pm to do live broadcasts from outside the school. Here are some press links:

New Haven Register
Hartford Courant
NBC News

In addition, CONECT secured two very positive editorials on the issue from the Connecticut Post and the Hartford Courant:
CT Post Editorial
Hartford Courant Editorial…

On Sunday, January 27th, 120 CONECT leaders gathered for a Leaders’ Retreat at Mt. Aery Baptist Church in Bridgeport. The retreat pulled the breadth and mix of CONECT into one room again. We accomplished a lot in one afternoon:
• built relationships one-to-one;
• heard reports on key issues, like healthcare & education;
• heard reports on summer & fall house meetings;
• did house meetings on violence and made a clear judgment to explore possible issues & strategies;
• made commitments to take action on our Safer Driving Campaign, setting up local meetings with mayors/1st selectmen, police chiefs, and state reps and senators to explain the issue and ask for their support.
The Retreat was a good way for CONECT to kick-off 2013 with verve!…

On Sunday, June 3, 2012 approximately 60 CONECT leader congregants from Norwalk to New Haven participated in a Training Retreat to learn how to conduct congregational House Meetings, which many congregations are starting in July. The Retreat was organized by Therese LeFevre of St. James Church, and Doreen Cotter of Mount Aery Baptist Church. Mount Aery was our always generous host site, providing delicious dinner and a comfortable setting for the extensive 3:00 – 9:00 pm training.

Lead Organizer Larry Gordon, returning to us from Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, led us through the process of conducting effective House Meetings. He taught participants how to engage future attendees in meaningful discussions about what concerns each individual and family. His training handout was most helpful for practice and as a reference guide when each leader’s House Meeting occurs.

This is the core of what CONECT is and does. Starting from the ground up, we cultivate face-to-face relationships and get to know each other and what’s important in our lives. House Meetings create a closer community within each congregation. They then enable CONECT to identify the most pressing needs and common concerns of our members that may lead to taking organized actions. Specific challenges congregants face in Health care costs, insurance, unemployment and underemployment, predatory lending, and education continue to be raised in story discussions.

Pictured are Congregational leaders seated in adjacent chairs in semi-circles. These were some of the volunteer participants who role-played in “fish bowl” demonstrations of how to conduct House Meetings. They practiced the roles of both facilitator and participant. These dress-rehearsals, in which real stories of the participants were shared, offered an opportunity for the audience to be reconnected and re-energized. The diverse but common-theme stories and hardships reminded each of us of the emotional and motivating reasons why …

November 30, 2011

HISTORIC FOUNDING OF CONECT – Standing Room Only!

On November 30, 2011 CONECT was officially founded after several years of effort and early successes as the CT Sponsoring Committee. A capacity crowd of 1,500 people filled the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bridgeport. Families were lined along the balcony with young children in tow, to witness the historic event.

Many politicans joined CONECT leaders, sitting on the podium, including CT Governor Malloy, Senate Majority Leader McKinney (Fairfield), the CT Insurance Commissioner, state Health Care Liason, State Rep

Jonathan

Steinberg (Westport), and others – each agreeing to support the good work of CONECT and to take some specific actions.  (See the CT Post, Bridgeport News and other coverage under “In the News”).

An emotional highlight, following the moving presentations of CONECT’s key Issues followed by personal story testimonials, was seeing each congregation being announced on roll call. Each member’s delegate then placed their check in the hat announcing their dues commitment to insure the stability of CONECT. Over 26 Guest Congregations joined the roll call, adding to the 26 members at the founding. 3 Regional Meetings were then held in the last week of January, 2012, to assess and determine the next followup steps after a rousingingly successful Founding.  CONECT keeps growing, now representing over 20,000 members of CT congregations. Training sessions are being held to continue to develop more leaders to add to the strong voice and power of CONECT.

http://www.weconect.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/CONECT-Founding-Event-Summary-Press-Release-Attendees-November-30-2011.pdf

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