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At Catalyst CT, our mission is as diverse as the individuals we serve, with a central focus on supporting our neighbors at every stage of life —from pre-K through adulthood. Partnering closely with families, educators, community leaders, state agencies, and policymakers, Catalyst CT tackles the tough issues that youth, families, and communities often face by preventing street violence, mediating and resolving conflict, improving school climate, boosting mental health, and planting the seeds for a healthy, safe, and restorative life.
Through credible messengers with shared lived experiences, we strive to empower and uplift individuals who resemble our community, ensuring everyone can thrive.
Restorative Justice is a way of approaching conflict by focusing on repairing harm that was done rather than punishment. It brings affected parties together to talk about what occurred and how to move forward. Our Restorative Justice work is done in a variety of settings, including the area public schools, juvenile review boards and youth diversion teams, and the juvenile court systems.
Together with students, parents, and staff, we build and promote Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and help students and families succeed in several Bridgeport schools. Our embedded team provides extra interventions and engagements through restorative practices, mediation, and conflict resolution.
We provide services to the juvenile court systems in Bridgeport, Stamford, Danbury, Waterbury, and Torrington. All parties involved in an incident meet with a professional mediator in a conflict resolution process that is restorative rather than punitive.
The Youth Diversion Team serves youth who may have committed minor-level delinquent offenses or displayed at-risk behaviors. Our staff supports them in a voluntary restorative process where they can identify how to repair the harm done by their actions.
We enable parents to become leading advocates for their children. Using a nationally recognized curriculum, participants make a difference in the lives of children and families in their neighborhoods, schools, and communities.
We connect Bridgeport youth (ages 17-20) to community resources and workforce opportunities to prepare them for a future career, trade school, or higher education degrees.
An AmeriCorps program, we provide pro-active, community-focused solutions regarding opioid education, substance misuse awareness, and stigma reduction. Our members serve a ten-month term at nonprofits and city agencies statewide and capacity-building projects.
Based on a violence interrupter model, our credible messengers focus on reducing youth violence in the city, including group/gang and gun crime. Our staff members connect with clients in their own surroundings and become mentors, helping them to positively re-engage with society. We also advocate for at-risk communities at the local and state levels.
Serving the 14 communities from Greenwich to Stratford in Southwestern CT, we are a strategic partner, government liaison, advocate, and resource for communities, focusing on mental health, suicide awareness, substance misuse, and gambling.
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