U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro at a press conference in New Haven on Monday.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro dropped into a virtual meeting of the Valley Health & Human Services Council Tuesday morning to talk about what the federal government is doing to support low income and middle class families.
The Valley Council tackles local issues such as food instability, the lack of housing, economic stability and opportunity, health care coverage and affordability, education, and issues related to childcare.
The mission statement of The Valley Council, a large network of nonprofit groups working together to make the Valley better.
DeLauro, a member of Congress since 1991, told a group of more than 30 people that the federal government is changing its priorities.
“What I’m watching is where federal resources are going these days. In past decades there has been serious disinvestment in domestic priorities,” DeLauro said. “The benefits of federal resources have gone to the richest one tenth of one percent of the people in this country; and to the biggest corporations, many of whom do not even pay taxes.“
Now, the federal government is sending more money to deal with the very socio-economic challenges groups like The Valley Council wrestle with.
“We are trying to turn it around so that the beneficiaries of federal resources are children, families, community services, state and local governments, education, health, hospitals, climate and energy issues, creation of jobs; all by way of trying to assist families with a cost of living that is out of site today,” DeLauro said.
A screen shot from Tuesday's meeting of The Valley Council On Health & Human Services.
DeLauro is chair of the House Appropriations Committee. She said programs such as the infrastructure bill and the inflation reduction act are designed to make federal dollars work by putting money in people’s pockets.
DeLauro, a Democrat, is running for re-election to Congress. She is being challenged by Lesley DeNardis, a Republican from Hamden who has said runaway spending by Democrats is responsible for huge spikes in inflation.
The other candidates seeking to represent Connecticut’s Third District in Washington D.C. are Independent Party candidate Amy Chai and Green Party candidate Justin Paglino.
DeLauro’s remarks Tuesday morning dovetailed with the mission and purpose of the council, a network of Valley nonprofit agencies working to improve the quality of life in the lower Valley.
David Morgan, the president and CEO of TEAM, Inc., a community action agency in Derby, is the chair of The Valley Council on Health & Human Services.
Morgan noted that the 2019 Valley Community Index had data showing poverty was on the rise in the Naugatuck Valley while the median income was on the decline — and that was before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The Valley Council has been working diligently to address those issues, and, during Tuesday’s meeting, Morgan announced the group had received a $40,000 grant from The Valley Community Foundation. Morgan said The Valley Council is taking steps to become a more structured organization. One goal is to eventually hire an executive director.
The data in the 2019 Valley Community Index was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A slide presented Tuesday showed the direction the council is heading in terms of organization.
The $40,000 grant from the Derby-based Valley Community Foundation will be used to start putting that plan into action.
Morgan told DeLauro that the newly-organized Valley Council could one day come to DeLauro for support.
In addition, Morgan and other speakers at Tuesday’s meeting said Nov. 15 is poised to be a significant day in the lower Valley. A new community index will be unveiled during an event scheduled to start at 8:15 a.m. at Center Stage Theater, 54 Grove St. in Shelton.
In addition to reviewing the data — which will include information about how COVID-19 impacted the Valley — there will be panel discussions. The event is being organized by The Valley Community Foundation, and specific details about the event will be sent out as the date approaches.
