by Alina Rose Chen The New Haven independent
One of the Hill’s leading family-services nonprofits is building out a new childcare center — as part of a broader set of renovations to its Davenport Avenue hub.
Those childcare plans rose to the fore during last Tuesday’s latest monthly Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting, where Christian Community Action (CCA) formally applied for special exceptions to allow four off-street parking spaces where nine are required, and 0 loading spaces where one is required, at 156 – 162 Davenport Ave.
This zoning relief — which now heads to the City Plan Commission for review before returning to the BZA for a final vote — is designed to allow for the organization to convert part of the basement of its ARISE Center into a childcare center that will initially accommodate 15 children.
Since 1967, CCA has been serving New Haven’s low-income community by providing shelter and essential resources to families experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. Now, they are working to expand its impact through the renovation of its ARISE Center.
In addition to the 17 housing units located above their main office at 168 Davenport Ave., CCA operates a three-year transitional housing initiative called Moving to Work. This program includes 18 units situated in the Hill neighborhood and is designed to support families as they work toward long-term stability.
“They stay there a little longer,” CCA Executive Director Charmain Yun said during an interview Friday, “but the point is really to increase their income and to be entirely independent by the time they leave.” The program allows participants to focus on building life skills, gaining employment, and securing a more sustainable future.
“For both sites, though — and this is what ARISE is really about — we’re trying to help families achieve independence,” Yun said. The ARISE — representing Accessing Resources for Independence, Skill-building, and Employment — Center serves as a central hub for programming and services, including an employment clothes closet, a community garden, a small computer lab, and a play place for young children.
Access to affordable, reliable childcare remains one of the most significant obstacles on the path to self-sufficiency, noted Carolyn DeSchiffart, CCA’s Child and Family Specialist. “Childcare can be a huge barrier to independence — if you don’t have anyone you trust to watch your kids, then you can’t find a job. If you can’t find a job, then it’s hard to find a new apartment. And if you don’t have a new apartment, then it’s hard to find a job and find childcare and receive benefits.”
The challenge is especially acute for single parents, who make up more than half of the families CCA serves. In their renovation of the ARISE Center building, located a few doors down from the main office at 158 Davenport Ave., the organization is looking to provide more support to parents seeking childcare for their infants or preschool age children. Half of the building’s basement space will be renovated into a childcare center, and the other half into a computer lab.
Currently, CCA serves between 115 and 130 children at any given time. The new ARISE Center will soon include a dedicated childcare facility called the Genesis Educational Center — a name proposed by Georgia Goldburn, co-founder of CERCLE, CCA’s partner organization that will oversee the daycare’s operations. The center will initially serve 15 children, with plans to incorporate workforce development by training parents to become certified childcare providers themselves.
The current basement of 158 Davenport Avenue will be renovated into a childcare space on one side and a computer lab on the other.
CCA is also preparing to relocate several of its emergency services — including its food pantry and diaper drive — into the newly envisioned ARISE Center. They also plan to convert the upstairs sanctuary space into a versatile, multifunctional room designed to host workshops, advocacy meetings, and community events.
At the heart of the ARISE Center is a strong commitment to multigenerational impact. “Childcare is not just about providing space for children but also providing a safe space for parents as well,” DeSchiffart said. “We want the ARISE Center as a whole to be a multigenerational space — breaking the cycles of generational poverty means you need to focus on both the parents and the children.”
To support the renovation efforts, CCA has already secured $900,000 in funding from the State Bond Commission and submitted an application to the Community Investment Fund in early May. While they await further funding decisions, the organization has partnered with GOA Architecture to lead the design and renovation process. They hope to begin next year.
In the meantime, they continue to serve the community, running programs all year long, including meal drives, back-to-school planning, and holiday events. “We’ve had kids who have grown up and come back and said, ‘I didn’t even know it was a shelter,’” DeSchiffart said.
Yun underscored the essential role of donors and community members in sustaining this work. “We can’t do what we do without them — they’re great,” she said. “And there are always volunteer opportunities.”
GOA Architecture has created a preview of the upstairs sanctuary space in the new ARISE Center.