Select Page

DESK Blog

News , Updates, and Insights

Community Comes out for DESK in the Great Give!

Last week, Greater New Haven showed their love for DESK during the Great Give by raising over $60,000 in support of our mission and those it serves! The Great Give is a 36-hour, community-wide event run by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.  More than 500...

DESK raises over $175,000 at its annual Breaking Bread Dinner presented by Yale Hospitality

DESK raises over $175,000 at its annual Breaking Bread Dinner presented by Yale Hospitality New Haven, Conn., April 18, 2023 – Last month, Yale Hospitality hosted the annual Breaking Bread Dinner to support Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK). Held on March 17, 2023,...

Breaking Bread 2023 Gallery

New Alliance Foundation awards DESK William W. Bouton III Grant

We are excited to share New Alliance Foundation’s press release in support of DESK, which went out today: For Immediate Release Contact: Luis Olmo-Rivera                           Maryann Ott Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, Inc.        New Alliance Foundation (475)...

Breaking Bread 2023 Address

Last Friday, DESK held its fourth Breaking Bread Dinner.  The annual fundraiser is hosted by our generous supporters and friends at Yale Hospitality, and this year, we were able to raise over $75,000 in support of the renovations to our Drop-in & Resource Center...

Advocating for State Funding

Last night, the Connecticut General Assembly's Appropriations Committee held a hearing as they consider the Governor's proposed budget for the next two fiscal years.  I was grateful to have the opportunity to offer some general comments on the proposed allocations to...

Offering Recommendations & Demanding Action

DESK staff stood alongside members of U-ACT (the Unhoused Activists Community Team) in the City of New Haven's Aldermanic Chamber earlier this week.  On Wednesday night, the Board of Alders Joint Community Development/Human Services Committee held a public hearing at...

NYT Interactive: What’s Homelessness Look Like?

As part of their Headway series, The New York Times recently posted an interactive page of interviews with thirty individuals from all over the U.S. who have experienced or are currently experiencing homelessness.  It's powerful, illuminating, and, most importantly,...

Strategic Planning Retreat

This past weekend, DESK hosted its annual Strategic Planning Retreat.  Board members, staff, volunteers, and other stakeholders came together to revisit our mission, examine our impact, and determine a path forward for future services and programming. This year, our...

NHR: Spike in New Haven overdose deaths prompts expanded harm reduction efforts

The New Haven Register reported yesterday on the recent spike in opioid overdose deaths in New Haven: Officials earlier this week reported that 12 people had fatally overdosed since Jan. 25 — a threefold increase in the number of weekly overdose deaths, which is...
Strategic Planning Retreat

Strategic Planning Retreat

This past weekend, DESK hosted its annual Strategic Planning Retreat.  Board members, staff, volunteers, and other stakeholders came together to revisit our mission, examine our impact, and determine a path forward for future services and programming. This year, our...

Housing Committee Hearing

Housing Committee Hearing

Today, the Connecticut General Assembly's Housing Committee held their first ever public hearing on homelessness!  DESK's Executive Director, Steve Werlin, joined our partners from across the state to offer testimony in-person for H.B. No. 6554, "An Act Appropriating...

See How We’ve Grown!

See How We’ve Grown!

DESK has grown a lot in recent years.  When I first started working here in 2017, all the work was carried out by one fulltime kitchen staff, one parttime maintenance specialist, an intern, a few hundred volunteers, and a Board of Directors that had shrunk to six...

Donation Guide

Donation Guide

The people I work with will tell you that -- for better or worse -- I hate to say "no" to good intentions.  Whenever someone comes to me with a good idea, a bold, new strategy, or a helpful resource, I often can't resist.  In fact, I find that balancing our resources...

NHR & NHI on U-ACT & Tent City

NHR & NHI on U-ACT & Tent City

Unhoused people were in the local news this week in two separates articles. Yesterday, Mark Zaretsky wrote in the New Haven Register about U-ACT (the Unhoused Activists Community Team).  U-ACT is an advocacy group composed primarily of people with lived experience. ...