The Center’s Medical Legal Partnership Project just completed their fall utility clinics. Over 70 families whose members included over one hundred children benefited from the events.
The clinics took place in Hartford and Bridgeport and were a collaborative effort of the area hospitals – St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC), The Hospital of Central Connecticut, Yale-New Haven Hospital and
Bridgeport Hospital. Pro Bono volunteers included lawyers from Pullman and Comley as coordinated by Attorney Karen Daley and the legal department of Aetna as spearheaded by Attorney Barbara Hennessy. Additional volunteers came from People’s Bank, the University
of Connecticut School of Law and Yale Law School. Community partners also assisted at the event. In Hartford, Community Resource Team, Operation Fuel, End Hunger Connecticut, 211 INFOLINE, the Regional School Choice Office and the Special Kids Support Center
of CCMC assisted clinic participants. Food Share donated bags of food to our Hartford families and Hartford Baking Company and Panera of West Hartford generously donated refreshments. In Bridgeport, ABCD, Get Healthy Connecticut and Optimus Health Care provided
additional services and supports and Bridgeport Hospital generously donated refreshments.
Beyond providing access to local community services and supports, the goal of the clinic was to assist families in successfully maintaining their utility service. The local utility companies
– Northeast Utilities, Connecticut Natural Gas, United Illuminating and Southern Connecticut Gas – were on site at the event and offered participants the most affordable payment arrangements available.
The Medical-Legal Partnership Project will be offering the next round of clinics in the spring of 2015. If you need additional information about the clinics or you would be interested
in volunteering at the event please contact me or Alice Rosenthal, the New Haven MLPP attorney ([log in to unmask]).
Bonnie
Bonnie B. Roswig
Senior Staff Attorney
Medical/Legal Partnership Project
Center for Children’s Advocacy
(860) 545-8581