North Hartford Partnership Names Consultant Team to Lead Three-City Climate and Community Resilience Hubs Initiative
Leading Culture Solutions and Unity Climate Solutions selected through a competitive search to lead a 14-month feasibility study and master plan for resilience hubs in Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport.
HARTFORD, CONN. — The North Hartford Partnership/Swift Factory (NHP) today announced a major step forward in the Climate and Community Resilience Hubs of Connecticut initiative, a collaborative effort to establish resilience hubs in the most climate-vulnerable neighborhoods of Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport. Following a competitive search, the Partnership and its collaborating organizations have selected Leading Culture Solutions and Unity Climate Solutions to lead the initiative’s 14-month feasibility study and master planning phase.
NHP serves as fiscal agent for the initiative, working with Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven and Greater Bridgeport Community Enterprises. The hubs will function as community anchors in targeted neighborhoods, Hartford’s Northeast, Clay Arsenal, and Upper Albany; New Haven’s Dixwell, Beaver Hills, Dwight, Edgewood, and West River; and Bridgeport’s South, East, and West End; advancing three integrated objectives: community preparedness, energy equity, and economic resilience through neighborhood pathways to green jobs.
Over the next 14 months, the consultant team will deliver the foundational strategy for the hubs, including a climate risk and vulnerability assessment, site and infrastructure analysis, an inclusive community-engagement process, operational and governance models, and a phased implementation and funding roadmap.
The planning phase is made possible by a $150,000 study grant from M&T Bank. “We are equally grateful to the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation for their $150,000 implementation grant, which moves our work at the Swift Factory from planning into action by funding the launch of our climate resilience hub in North Hartford,” said Brenda Watson, Executive Director of the North Hartford Partnership.
“At M&T Bank, we believe in expanding access to opportunity and strengthening communities through meaningful investment,” said Brad Dossinger, Director of Community Reinvestment at M&T Bank. “We are pleased to support the Climate and Community Resilience Hubs initiative because it reflects a thoughtful, collaborative, locally driven approach to advancing resilience, improving access to sustainable energy solutions, and building long-term economic stability across Connecticut’s communities.”
The subcontractors were chosen through a deliberate review process overseen by a selection committee of Brenda Watson of NHP/Swift, Kathy Fay of Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven, and Adrienne Houel of Greater Bridgeport Community Enterprises, practitioners whose work spans housing, equitable development, and community resilience.
“Growing up in a housing project near a dump, I saw firsthand how environmental injustice affected families through unhealthy conditions and illness. That experience makes this work deeply personal to me, and I am honored to partner with to help bring environmental justice and preparedness to communities that deserve healthier, safer futures.” — Andréa Hawkins, CEO and Founding Partner, Leading Culture Solutions
In North Hartford, residents already carry some of the highest energy burdens in one of the wealthiest states in the country, and a single prolonged outage during a heat wave or winter storm can become a public-health emergency for households without backup power, medication refrigeration, or stable communications.
“As a local Climate Change Communicator, I understand that climate change poses an urgent and growing threat to marginalized communities throughout Connecticut. Natural disasters are becoming more intense and frequent, creating significant financial, housing, and health risks for our most vulnerable residents.”
— Vanessa Daye, CEO and Lead Consultant, Unity Climate Solutions
“I took a regionalism approach to this project because it is good policy and efficient fiscal stewardship. By working across similar cities with the same demographic and environmental justice impacts, it's equally important to not do this level of planning in isolation”, said Watson. The Partnership and its partners will now move into a detailed design and community engagement process. The Partnership welcomes conversation with funders, municipal and regional agencies, and community organizations interested in supporting or replicating the model.
About the North Hartford Partnership at Swift
The North Hartford Partnership works alongside the North Hartford community to advance economic development, promote clean-energy investment, help residents access clean-energy benefits, and improve health and housing conditions. The Partnership serves as fiscal agent for the Climate and Community Resilience Hubs of Connecticut initiative, a collaboration with Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven and Greater Bridgeport Community Enterprises.