Earlier this month, our very own Executive Director of Hands On Hartford, Barbara Shaw, was awarded the prestigious “Vision Award in Social Justice” presented by the Charter Oak Cultural Center at their beautiful 2023 “Vision Awards”. Sentiments shared about Barbara by fellow staff, HOH Board Members, Friends of Hands On Hartford members, and Charter Oak’s wonderful Executive Director, Rabbi Donna Berman, honored Barbara’s over 21 years of dedicated leadership to Hands On Hartford and the community at large, highlighting her determination, compassion, integrity, faith, grit and vision. 

Rabbi Donna had this to say about Barbara: “No matter what is going on, how hard things are, how discouraging the world can seem, Barbara’s smile, her demeanor, her grounded-ness, her calm in the midst of trouble, makes if feel like despite the clouds, the sun is shining... When I met her at the beginning of my tenure at Charter Oak, I immediately felt her warmth and her strength and it was immediately clear from the first time I met her that Barbara is quietly self-assured, a very hard worker, extremely effective at whatever she does, and that she possesses tremendous integrity. And as tender as her heart is…she is a fierce guardian angel of the most vulnerable people in our city… Barbara [also] brings out the best of those around her…and she is wise and she thinks big”.

Barbara shared her gratitude for this tremendous honor, stating how “incredibly and deeply grateful and moved” she was “to be recognized, and, frankly to be standing with women like Jessica Zachs and Dollie McLean” who were also honored that night with Vision Awards in Jewish Heritage and Arts & Education respectively. 

Barbara also acknowledged her special longtime connection with Rabbi Donna Berman and the Charter Oak Cultural Center and stressed the importance of the “we” behind her accomplishments at Hands On Hartford and for the city as well as the continued need for further change in policy to support the ongoing needs of our community. “When I moved here I was a brand new social worker full of passion to change the world…when I came to Hartford, it was 1983 and the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and also during a time of increased poverty in the city, deinstitutionalization of folks with mental health struggles and an increase in homelessness and so all of those factors kind of came together, including the amazing people in need who I met in the city, and the seed of desire to change the world in a less “individual way” was born. Luckily, I learned really quickly that “me alone” doesn’t do that. We come together and it’s through the “we” that we can do that [a huge shout out to my team]. The joy I feel everyday…really comes from working alongside our community members and pulling together to increase healthcare access, decrease disparities, increase housing stability, decrease food insecurity, increase access to benefits and rights, and decrease stigma for folks living with HIV and folks with mental health issues…We also love to create access to healthy culturally aligned foods (Gather55). We just know all people need to come together…especially during these times…We are stronger together…”

Please help us in congratulating our amazing Executive Director, Barbara Shaw, on this well-deserved honor in Social Justice. We are proud to have her as our compassionate and courageous leader, a beacon of hope to our community and inspiration to so many.

We are so grateful for all of the generous volunteers, staff and sponsors who supported us in CT Foodshare's "Walk Against Hunger"! The rain thankfully held off until the very end and it was filled with tremendous fun and lots of joy shared by all! If you couldn't make it, but wanted to share in the fun, check out our "Facebook Live" of the Walk HERE!

Final numbers have not yet been tallied and those interested in giving can still donate through the Walk portal until June 9 HERE!

What we can share is that with the help of everyone who fund-raised on our behalf, we did fairly well so far in raising funds toward our goal of $50,000 to support our food programs! Thank you to all those who supported us already!

Faith In Action

Please Welcome Our New HOH Staff Team Members!

Ryan Johnson, 

Front of House Dinner Server, Gather55

Kian O'Connor,

Community Engagement Specialist

(often found in Gather55)

Sponsored by the CT Nonprofit Alliance, Hands On Hartford staff, friends and HOH participants recently rallied at the State Capitol to ask the State of Connecticut for an increase in nonprofit funding, as resources are limited and community needs are on the rise. It was reported that well over 1,000 people from across the state, representing dozens of nonprofits, also attended to advocate for this vital support.

Andrew Perri, Executive Chef

Fire by Forge

Andrew (Andy) Perri, Executive Chef at Fire by Forge and Lead Culinary Instructor at Forge City Works, brings a wealth of experience and passion to the culinary world. Andy has dedicated the past two decades of his career to working in various roles within the restaurant industry, starting from humble beginnings as a dishwasher and progressing to his current esteemed position at Fire by Forge. His culinary education includes attending the Italian Culinary Institute in Calabria, Italy, as well as Manchester Community College.

Motivated by a "shared mission with Hands On Hartford and Forge City Works, which involves strengthening communities in Hartford through programs that positively impact those in need", Andrew is excited to serve as the guest chef for June at Gather55. This opportunity "allows him to connect with individuals and organizations who share a passion for driving these missions forward while enjoying the pleasure of good food along the way".

We are honored to have Chef Andy contributing his amazing culinary creations to the Gather55 June menu. His dedication, expertise, and commitment to making a difference through the culinary arts make him a valuable asset to the Fire by Forge, Forge City Works and Gather55 teams.

To read more about Chef Andy or to make a reservation, visit our website HERE!

Continuing Education is a Priority at Hands On Hartford

Amazing Gifts and New Introductions

The team over at CGI Technologies and Solutions, Inc. in downtown Hartford have been incredible ongoing supporters of Hands On Hartford since 2022 thanks, in great part, to the wonderful ambassadorship of their Office Manager, Shannon Lener.

CGI has supported HOH through a generous event sponsorship, in-kind donations of over 1,000 blessing bags with toiletry items or snacks for folks experiencing homelessness, funds to purchase Thanksgiving gift bags, gift of their time in Gather55 and now a much-needed sponsorship of our precious Community Garden, which supports Gather55, our Community Pantry and our tenants living at 55 Bartholomew Ave.

CGI contributed more than financial support to our garden; CGI members organized a company clean-up and planting day at HOH. Shannon shared that “Hartford is CGI's home in Connecticut and it is very important to us to uplift and support this community. Our members were able to beautify a space that will support residents for years to come.”

We are so grateful to CGI for their generous support of Hands On Hartford and for showing what true community and corporate partnerships are like!

We received quite the surprise when UCONN Men's Basketball Student Assistant Coach/Director of Player Development (and UCONN men's basketball alum), Mamadou Diarra visited Hands On Hartford and Gather55!

After doing a search online and connecting with our mission, Mamadou reached out in the hopes of getting his UCONN Men's Basketball team involved in supporting Gather55 through volunteering and dining!

We are truly touched by this gesture and his ambassadorship and look forward to hopefully having these National Champions become a part of our HOH family!

We love our volunteers...and we especially love when they take the day off from work to volunteer serving meals in our restaurant in celebration of their birthday, like our friend Vin Sukhraj did earlier this month! Vin has been a dedicated volunteer as well for our Community Holiday Meals program. We appreciate his warmth and generosity and we hope both are returned to him tenfold this year and always!

Thanks to all the staff over at The Hartford! Their hard work paid off as they collected (and delivered) 740lbs of food for our MANNA Community Pantry & kids Backpack Nutrition Program, which will provide so many meals for our Hartford children and families in need! We love our corporate partners and are so grateful for The Hartford's generous support!

Thanks to our friends at Nelp Hartford (North End Little Pantry) for answering our social media call for help to stock our pantry with breakfast foods earlier this month (this is an ongoing need). Since they happened to have a surplus of items come in recently, they reached out to us with gifts of not only 80 lbs of cereal, but tons of pasta, cookies, seasonings and an assortment of drinks and teas as well, totaling 175 lbs! This is truly such a wonderful display of generosity and thoughtfulness! Neighbors helping neighbors- we just love it!

Honor the Father/Father-Figure in Your Life