Search This Blog

Saturday, April 9, 2016

SOMETHING POSITIVE FOR THE WEEKEND: HPD "STUFF A CRUISER WITH FOOTWEAR FOR THE HOMELESS"




A great effort by Officer Barrett and Officer Otero and all of those involved.


WEST HARTFORD, April 9-The goal Saturday is to stuff a Hartford Police cruiser with urgently needed shoes for homeless children and adults in Hartford. Taking place from 9:30 a.m. to noon at Fleet Feet, the event kicks off a new  program to bring  footwear and foot care to Hartford's homeless .

Called "Footwear with Care," it partners Fleet Feet of West Hartford http://www.fleetfeethartford.com/,  the nonprofit Community Partners in Action http://www.cpa-ct.org/, the Connecticut Podiatric Medical Association http://www.cpma.org/, and Hartford Police Department. Though decent clothing is often available through charitable organizations,
footwear is not.  And when it is, it's often in poor condition. Foot care, too is in short supply.  "Footwear with Care" is aiming to change all
that.

On Saturday, Fleet Feet is offering to donate a new pair of shoes for every $25 donated to the program. "Like new" donations of children and
adult shoes also will be accepted.

"Footwear with Care" was inspired by Hartford police officer, Jim Barrett, an Iraqi War veteran and advocate for the city's homeless. Moved by a homeless vet, whose only shoes were a pair of disintegrating flips-flops, Officer Barrett bought him some new sneakers. He will be at Saturday's event.


Homeless children and adults are referred by Hartford police officers, directors of homeless shelters, and Community Partners in Action through its work with individuals recently reintegrated into the community and the
Community Service Program that it operates at Hartford Community Court.
Community Partners in Action administers the program, getting and fitting donated shoes to children and adults. Though Saturday is the program's formal launch, it has been operating since February, putting 80 pairs of shoes and boots onto the feet of our most vulnerable population.

As part of the program, the Connecticut podiatry association is also holding foot screening clinics; its first is April 23 at Holy Trinity Church in Hartford. Participants also will receive new shoes, socks and personal  care items.

Others supporting the effort are  Footprints of Newington, Mickey Finn's, REI, RisCassi & Davis, PC, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Asics, the North Face, Saucony, and New Balance.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh man... It seems too late at 3 PM.

Class 03-01 said...

Barrett is an awesome guy. Everyone at city hall likes him. Always been a hard worker. He really loves the job and im honored to call him a classmate. Yut!

Anne Goshdigian said...

I've said this many times, both to people in person, and on social media: Officer Jim Barrett is a truly wonderful person. He is caring, kind, friendly, and ever so helpful to the residents of Hartford and visitors to the city. I told Chief Rovella that he needs to clone Jim. I cannot praise him highly enough for his warm heart. Jim, you are the best!

Anonymous said...

I couldn't be any prouder of my coworker. You're a good person jimmy.

Kevin I'd like to propose a challenge to you. I would love to see you post at least one positive feel-good story such as this about our emergency responders whether it would be police or fire at least once a week. The city of Hartford has a lot of great employees and it would be great to see their kindness and hard work on your blog on a regular basis.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

If am aware of it, I will post it.As soon as I received the release from Chief Foley this morning, I went over to West Hartford Center to check this event out.

I would much rather post about good things our police officers , firefighters and City employees are doing rather than about a disgusting Assistant Superintendent of Schools predator.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

5:24PM

and don't limit your challenge to just one thing, if two things occur, I can find the space for both of them

Janice Rossetti said...

Kevin, great news reporting. Try to focus on the good deeds that folks perform daily. The nonsense of misleading measures enacted by greed is not productive. It makes more sense for folks to do positive things in 2016. Congratulations Officer Jim Barrett you are one of Hartford's Finest!

Anonymous said...

Kevin, I don't give a S@#T if I piss off Chris Lyons or anyone else for this comment. HFD did over 28,000 calls last year , why no daily or weekly exposure from you for that good work? And please don't act naïve that you couldn't acquire information to pass along,PIO or not ,you have contacts to provide you "good stuff". Last year you constantly highlighted HFD's shortcomings(which by the way is a small percentage of who they are and what they do). You state above that you would rather post good things about HFD? You had and have the opportunity to do so, but you chose not to. There are hundreds of competent firefighters doing good work to offset the handful of bad apples you obsessed on for the past couple years. You are a disappointment to those of us who fell for the illusion of support early on in this blog.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

10:53am

Your constant comments are getting annoying. If you want to be taken seriously, maybe you should try avoiding "anonymous" and use your real name, like Chris Lyons has the guts to do. I am not sure where you get the idea that I have any obligation to be the spokesperson for the good of HFD. I am not here to launch a public relations campaign for HFD, I have been more interested in bringing about information that has forced change rather than fluff pieces. Every time you put your air mask on, keep in mind why your Fit tests took place after the machine was broken for years. And my "highlighting the shortcomings" most likely resulted in several positive changes in HFD, including the retirement of Terry Waller instead of his promotion to Assistant Chief. It probably also highlighted the need for new leadership to move HFD forward and the retirement of Carlos Huertas and his replacement by a real professional, Reginald Freeman, not to mention sending Scott Brady back into retirement.

And you are clearly a firefighter so if you care so much, go to "blogspot.com" and there are instructions there on how to start your own blog and post all the fluff and propaganda you want. That is how I got started and it took me several years to get a following, but rather than criticizing me, go do it for yourself and then you can gain the credit for yourself as opposed to me being the "disappointment" you
claim I am.

And I would challenge you to produce one press release or something positive about HFD sent to me that I have not posted. And since I don't know who you are, I am still pretty comfortable saying that you have never called me asking me to post something positive about the Hartford Fire Department. On the flip side, I got my fist e-mail and text from Deputy Chief Foley from HPD shortly after 7:00am today. Yes, 7:00am on a Sunday. Foley understands how to promote a positive image and I don't have to chase him for it, and he also knows that I post just about everything he sends me. And his first e-mail yesterday was before 9:00am on a Saturday. Media relations, if you want it , is a 24/7 position. That resulted in yesterdays posting about Jim Barrett and his positive work.

Maybe HFD needs to get with the program and treat Public Relations as a priority and not just a necessary evil tacked onto someone's job description. You have the image problem, not me.

And again a thank you to Chris Lyons and everyone else that has the guts to comment under their real names.

Anonymous said...

So for the fourth time ,why don't you eliminate the anonymous option? You really should stop why belittling something you created! Well enough about this ,,please tell me again how great Bronin is, I could use a good laugh right now!

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

I have no problem with the anonymous comments, if I did I could shut them off with one key stroke. They do serve a purpose for people who want to vent and I do understand the necessity.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 10:53,
You have a new name: FOB (Fireman On a Bender). Seriously man, you sound like you've either had a few or your ladder's missing some rungs. You're embarrassing yourself and HFD. How about instead, you bring Kevin a real story. It'll take more than repeating "28,000 calls" over and over, but it might just do some good.