And we don’t speak alone. As a member of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness and the Statewide Harm Reduction Partnership, we add our voice to an array of service providers, policymakers, and people with lived and living experience.
Among those voices is Claudette Kidd, DESK’s Client Engagement Specialist. On top of her day-to-day duties at DESK, Claudette serves alongside advocates and legislators as a member of the End Homelessness Caucus. Last month, as they prepared for the start of the legislative session, Claudette joined the Caucus for a press conference in Hartford, in which she spoke about her lived experience in shelters and how that experience has helped her better engage with her clients, meet them where they are, and connect them to services and resources to improve their lives and overall wellbeing.
With the statewide Cold Weather Emergency on everyone’s mind, Claudette took the opportunity to underscore the dire need to get all unhoused individuals inside. She advocated for $12.3 million in Extreme Weather Life-Saving Funding through the state budget and through S.B. 364, An Act Concerning Extreme Weather Protocols, which would meet the recent rise in unsheltered homelessness with 24-hour low-barrier operations in every community across the state, transportation, warming capacity, and heat response. She says that “the need for support does not stop at 5:00 PM when my shift ends, and staff in this field often work beyond scheduled hours to accommodate the urgent needs of clients who are trying to find a safe and warm place to stay.” Claudette spoke while she also was managing a complex multi-medical client case all day (and she had forgotten her glasses at home!). We are proud of her and grateful for her work at DESK to support and advocate for our guests. With this legislative session only lasting until May, the time to advocate is right now. The bill received a favorable report from the Joint Committee on Public Health and will be taken up soon by the full Senate, while the state budget cycle continues marching forward – making it crucial that DESK’s network of advocates makes their voice heard.
This year’s Breaking Bread Dinner reached a major milestone in terms of both fundraising and attendance, bringing together 252 guests from across Greater New Haven, including elected officials, business leaders, community partners, residents, volunteers, staff, clients, and Board members. The event celebrated the community-based organization’s recent accomplishments while remembering supporters and partners lost in recent years to the overdose crisis. The funds raised by the overlapping New Haven and Yale communities remain vital in the face of federal cuts to social services and public health programs that have worsened the ongoing housing crisis, widespread food insecurity, and the ongoing opioid epidemic, as emphasized throughout the evening.
For almost 40 years, DESK has partnered with Yale Hospitality to supply food for its dinner program year-round and to support the annual Thanksgiving for All program. The ongoing partnership has been cited for decades by both organizations as the exemplar for reliable, compassionate, and productive “town-gown” relationships.
In 2017, Yale Hospitality began hosting the Breaking Bread Dinner; over the last nine years, DESK and Yale Hospitality have worked together closely to expand the event, bringing in new partners, like Yale Schwarzman Center in 2024, and Yale Divinity School in 2025. This year’s record high in funds will comprise about ten percent of DESK’s total annual budget for the current fiscal year.
“Each year this event grows, reaching more supporters in every corner of New Haven and across the university,”said DESK’s Executive Director Steve Werlin, “and this really isn’t possible without our critical partners, including our two dozen sponsors and all the members of our community who come back to this Breaking Bread year after year. This is really what a ‘compassionate community’ looks like.”
Bruce Barber of WNPR and WNHU, the master of ceremonies (and self-appointed “Dean of Fun”) kept the evening light and entertaining along with Sommelier James Todeasa.
Yale Hospitality’s Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Excellence,James Benson created a gourmet, world-class dining experience for guests, as he described from the podium at the evening’s outset. He was joined by Yale Schwarzman CenterExecutive Director Rachel Fine, who emphasized the Center’s role as a place for convening community in New Haven.
Toward the end of the meal, Werlin was joined on stage by members of the Unhoused Activists Community Team (U-ACT), leadership from Cornell Scott Hill Health Center’s Street Medicine Team, and family members of lost loved ones, as they honored Jason Crowell and Keith Petrulis by inducting them into DESK’s McLean Society posthumously. The McLean Society is an honorary group whose members are named by the Board of Directors to highlight individuals who stand out for actions that have furthered DESK’s mission.
Jason Crowell was a member of a Drug and Alcohol Counselor at Cornell Scott Hill Health Center, as well as a volunteer with the Sex Workers and Allies Network who was integral in working with DESK staff to develop harm reduction procedures; Jason passed away in 2021. Jason’s sister, Rebecca Greenberg, accepted the honor on Jason’s behalf, and spoke about her brother and his struggles through recovery while supporting others.
Keith Petrulis was a founding member of U-ACT, and a tireless advocate for the rights of unhoused and unsheltered individuals. He himself was actively experiencing unsheltered homelessness at the time of his death in 2023. His work and example helped provide the framework for incorporating people with lived and living experiences and expertise on DESK’s staff and Board of Directors. Alexis Terry (DESK Board member and member of U-ACT) and Bridgett Williamson (Director of the Citizens Project at the Yale Program on Recovery and Community Health) accepted the honor on Keith’s behalf, while speaking lovingly of their friend and colleague, as well as about their own struggles.
Werlin noted that it is especially critical to honor Jason and Keith because “the services they provided and the people they advocated for are under renewed attack..” He went on to describe the ways in which the Trump Administration’s funding cuts and policies have worsened the overlapping housing and opioid crises, while emboldening more hardline and less compassionate approaches compared to the practices that were developed and deployed during the pandemic years and Biden Administration.
“But,” Werlin added, “thanks to you—our donors, sponsors, neighbors, volunteers, board members, and friends—we managed to continue providing services to those in need and respond quickly to the crisis.”
Additionally, DESK’s Executive Director thanked guests, volunteers, clients, and Board members in attendance, highlighting the generosity of Perry Law as the evening’s presenting sponsor.
To commemorate the evening, Board member Natalie Judd and Past Board President Tim Opstrup, both of whom will be cycling off in June, kicked off the night’s giving by donating $2,500 each. Their donations were followed by Frank D’Ostilio ofHoulihan Lawrence Wareck D’Ostilio, who pledged $7,500, John Wareck who pledged $1,000, and Charles McLean, the son of Past Board President Scott McLean, who pledged $2,000. Over the coming hours (and days), additional contributions helped the event exceed its $150,000 goal.
In wrapping up the evening, Werlin made one final pitch by emphasizing that “DESK is a community-based organization, and so our funding is really provided by you all, our community.” To support DESK’s work, donations can be made online at deskct.org/bb26.
Additional photos of the event can be viewed here.
