Connecticut

Adhlere Coffy and Amanda Olberg: How to address Connecticut’s unspoken crisis

Published

2 years ago

February 13, 2024

Adhlere Coffy and Amanda Olberg: How to address Connecticut’s unspoken crisis

New research published at the end of last year by Dalio Education reveals a statewide crisis: 63,000 young people in Connecticut between the ages of 14 to 26 are not engaged in school or work, not on track for gainful employment, or both, while another 17,000 are at the greatest risk for experiencing disconnection.

The report, Connecticut’s Unspoken Crisis, is a call to action with recommendations for how local stakeholders can take concrete steps toward addressing this crisis. Through our work with the Connecticut Opportunity Project, a social investment fund of Dalio Education, we know that young people experiencing disconnection can re-engage and thrive if they have the support they need. The investments we make in community-based nonprofits across Connecticut aid our grantee partners in achieving results with young people every day, demonstrating that the report’s recommendations are impactful. In short, we know they work.

CTOP invests currently in seven Connecticut-based organizations: COMPASS Youth Collaborative, Forge City Works, Our Piece of the Pie, and Roca Hartford Young Mother’s Program in Hartford; Connecticut Violence Intervention and Prevention in New Haven; Domus Kids in Stamford; and RYASAP in Bridgeport. Heroic individuals at these organizations have worked tirelessly for years – decades, even – serving young people who are experiencing disconnection. Yet the challenge they have faced in their work, common across the nonprofit sector, is that the level of resources available to deploy in advancing their missions is insufficient to meet the need we know exists.

Embodying one of the report recommendations, CTOP is working to change this status quo, providing financial and non-financial resources to our grantee partners to help them strengthen their organizational capacity for continuous improvement and high-quality service delivery – which means helping a growing number of young people to positively alter their life trajectories.

CTOP provides unrestricted grant dollars along with extensive technical assistance over the long-term time horizon that we know is necessary for organizations to engage in meaningful capacity building that translates into improved outcomes for young people.

What this capacity building looks like is supporting our grantee partners in internalizing what we know from the evidence works to re-engage young people, and then redesigning their programming and training their staff in new skills accordingly. It also looks like building and deploying robust data systems that enable their organizations to monitor and manage service delivery, and how those activities are impacting the skills development of young people. And it looks like strengthening the infrastructure of their boards and internal management systems in ways that are critical to the long-term health of the organization, making it possible for high performance to be sustained over time.

In our just-published 2023 Annual Report, CTOP reports on a metric we use called the active program slot that has advanced our grantee partners’ efforts to understand, manage, and drive up the social value they are creating on a day-to-day basis. Going beyond a basic count of young people served, the active program slot requires that a program participant receive the kinds and levels of services and supports that the organization’s evidence-informed program model says is needed to promote successful re-engagement in education and/or gainful employment.

In 2023, our third year of implementing CTOP’s 10-year social investment strategy, the number of active program slots our grantee partners delivered in aggregate rose to 925, up from 387 just two years prior. And in this past year, our grantee partners are seeing more and more of their young people achieve the long-term results that prove that strengthening organizational capacity leads to positive youth outcomes. For example, at Domus Kids – which, like all of our grantee partners, enrolls in its core programming the very same young people who are part of the shocking statistics revealed in Connecticut’s Unspoken Crisis – 93% of their program graduates are still enrolled in post-secondary education or employed on the path to self-sufficiency twelve months following their graduation from Domus’s programs.

The work of CTOP’s grantee partners is a testament to the return on investment from strengthening a nonprofit’s capacity to do its work effectively and sustainably – as well as to the profound potential to succeed and thrive that is within every young person currently experiencing disconnection.

What we see in our work every day is that it is possible to address Connecticut’s Unspoken Crisis, if our statewide community commits to doing so together.

Adhlere Coffy and Amanda Olberg are Senior Portfolio Directors at the Connecticut Opportunity Project.

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Connecticut

Twin Peaks Restaurant planning to open 3 locations in Connecticut

Published

11 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Twin Peaks Restaurant planning to open 3 locations in Connecticut

DALLAS (WTNH) — A New London-based group is partnering with a Texas-based restaurant planning to open its first locations in Connecticut.

New London Hospitality has signed a new area development agreement with Twin Hospitality Group Inc., the parent company of Twin Peaks Restaurant, for the development rights of three future locations in the state, according to a press release from Twin Peaks.

The release lists New Haven, Hartford, Waterbury, Danbury and Stamford or Bridgeport as potential markets.

According to the release, New London Hospitality is run by Deepak Verma and Kam Singh, who have experience in the hospitality industry and have worked with major hotel brands including Hilton, Red Roof Inn and Choice Hotels.

“Deepak and Kam bring a powerful combination of hospitality expertise and operational discipline,” Twin Peaks CEO Kim Boerema said in the release. “Their experience growing multi-unit concepts makes them ideal partners as we enter Connecticut. We are confident they will help anchor Twin Peaks as a new favorite for sports fans throughout the state.”

Twin Peaks describes itself as “the ultimate sports lodge featuring made-from-scratch food and the coldest beer in the business, surrounded by scenic views and wall-to-wall TVs. At every Twin Peaks, guests are immediately welcomed by a friendly Twin Peaks Girl and served up a menu made for MVPs.”

“Twin Peaks delivers everything guests want in a sports bar — scratch-made food, 29-degree draft beer, and the best place to catch every game,” Verma said. “We look forward to introducing the brand’s signature lodge experience and welcoming Twin Peaks girls to Connecticut, establishing a new home base for local sports fans and food enthusiasts.”

Twin Peaks was founded in 2005 in Lewisville, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. There are 114 locations in the United States and Mexico. The closest location to Connecticut is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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Connecticut

Road closures, crashes & flooding reported across Connecticut

Published

24 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Road closures, crashes & flooding reported across Connecticut

CONNECTICUT (WTNH) — As Friday’s stormy weather brings strong rains and damaging winds, the Connecticut Department of Transportation and local agencies are reporting the following alerts.

Stormy Friday Weather

Note: Not every alert can be attributed to weather.

Current Traffic Alerts:

NEW HAVEN – Two-vehicle crash on Route 15 southbound between Exits 46 and 42B. The right lane is closed. Reported at 3:28 p.m.
OLD SAYBROOK – Route 154 (Main Street) closed in both directions between Willard Ave Ext. and Cromwell Ave because of tree down with wires. Reported Friday, December 19 at 2:20 pm.
PLAINFIELD – Route 12 closed # 105 Norwich Road and Kinney Hill Road for tree in wires. Reported at 12:31 p.m.
PLAINFIELD – Route 12 closed in both directions at Arbor Lane due to a pole down in wires. Reported at 12:25 p.m.
N. STONINGTON – Route 184 (Providence New London Turnpike) closed in both directions at Rt 49 (Pendelton Hill Road) because of tree down. Reported at 12:11 p.m.
COLCHESTER – Colchester Route 85 New London Road closed between Lake Hayward Road and West Road because of Wires Down. Reported at 12:04 p.m.
UNION – Route 171 closed at Route 197 and Rindge Road for a tree down in wires. Reported at 12:02 p.m.
DEEP RIVER – Route 80 (Winthrop Road) closed in both directions between Cedar Swamp Road and Bahr Road because of a tree down. Reported at 11:58 a.m.
OXFORD – Route 67 is closed at Route 42 for wires and a transformer down. Reported at 11:49 a.m.
LEBANON – Lebanon RT-207 Exeter Road is closed at Clubhouse Road because of a tree down with wires involved. Reported at 11:46 a.m.
NORTH BRANFORD – Route 17 northbound and southbound at the intersection of Rt 22 is closed. Utility work in area. Reported at 11:47 a.m.
BRANFORD – Localized flooding is currently occurring in multiple areas of town.
SEYMOUR – Fire officials are asking people to avoid Highland Avenue and Gilyard Street because a large tree has snapped a telephone pole. Please use alternate routes.
MIDDLETOWN – Multiple businesses without power.
EAST LYME – Route 161 (Flanders Road) closed in both directions at Society Road because of pole down with wires. Reported at 11:50 a.m.
EAST LYME – Tree down on powerlines on West Main Street, Niantic (Rte. 156) in the area of #278. Roadway is currently closed at Douglas Avenue and Four Mile intersection. Eversource has been notified. Reported at 10:45 a.m.
MANSFIELD – Route 195 is closed at Ledgewood Drive for a tree down across the road. Reported at 10:45 a.m.
GUILFORD – Route 146 Leetes Island Road closed in both directions between Wingate Road and Moose Hill Road because of a tree down with wires. Reported at 11:44 a.m.
THOMPSON – Thompson Route 193/Thompson Road is closed between Route 12/Riverside Drive and Robbins Road because of a Tree Down. Reported Friday, December 19 at 11:36 am.
COLCHESTER – Colchester Route16/Middletown Road is closed between Bigelow Road and Victoria Drive because of a tree down with wires involved. Reported at 10:45 a.m.
HARWINTON – Harwinton Route 4/Burlington Road closed between Harmony Hill Road and Route 72 Terryville Road because of a tree down with wires on the road. A fire was also reported. Reported at 9:14 a.m.

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Connecticut

Connecticut doctor warns about ‘super flu’ as holiday gatherings approach

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Connecticut doctor warns about ‘super flu’ as holiday gatherings approach

CONNECTICUT (WTNH) — Doctors are voicing concerns on the rising number of flu cases, including a new strain some are referring to as the “super flu,” as many are gathering indoors with loved ones for the holiday season.

With Christmas just a week away, Dr. Ulysses Wu, the chief epidemiologist at Hartford HealthCare, said there are growing concerns over the new H3N2 flu strain.

“We had a very late flu season this year, but we’re making up for it like gang busters,” Dr. Wu said. “What’s happening with this one is, this has changed a bit, making it a little bit more infectious. It invades our immune system a little bit more, and that’s why we’re seeing a rise in cases.”

The most notable jump in the U.S. has been happening in New York City, with 14,000 cases reported in the first week of December. That is a 460% jump from the same time last year, according to the state flu tracker.

Dr. Wu warned that, because of its location, Connecticut is at risk to see a jump in flu cases.

“Remember, we’re sandwiched between New York and Boston, and we do have our share of travelers and commuters as well,” Dr. Wu said. “Our rates have certainly increased and that’s to be expected.”

Dr. Wu recommended that it is best to listen to medical professionals when it comes to the flu vaccine and the new H3N2 strain.

“So people are saying, ‘Oh well it’s changed, the vaccine isn’t going to work.’ It is still going to work,” Dr. Wu explained. “The whole point is to modulate the course of the disease so it’s not as severe.

Dr. Wu said that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases are also up among children and older adults in Connecticut. When it comes to holiday celebrations, Dr. Wu recommends using common sense — wash your hands, stay home if you are sick and get vaccinated if you haven’t been already.

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