255 Homestead Avenue, Hartford, CT 06112 | 860-263-4400 | www.chrysaliscenterct.org
Our Mission: Chrysalis Center provides supportive services to assist people in need to transform their lives.
Chrysalis Center was founded in 1975 with a purpose of providing support services to adults living in poverty who struggle with mental illness, helping them live as independently as possible in the Hartford community. Today, 45 years later, Chrysalis Center has expanded its services and is now a socially innovative, multiservice nonprofit that serves individuals and families in the State of Connecticut, including those living in poverty, veterans, women and children, young adults and individuals who are struggling with mental health, addiction, HIV/AIDS, and homelessness, and those returning from incarceration. Through job training, employment services, housing and other community healthcare services, Chrysalis Center helps individuals transform their lives by “Getting Help … Getting Better … Giving Back.”
Chrysalis Center offers a continuum of services in five core areas: Community Employment Services, Community Support Services and Case Management, Community Supportive Housing, Recovery Services, and Community Connections. Chrysalis Center continues to develop a holistic, multi-faceted service delivery approach, while also ensuring fidelity to evidence-based practices and supporting positive participant outcomes to meet program performance goals. Based in Hartford, Chrysalis Center proudly serves approximately 1,450 individuals and families across the State each year.
How have the services you provide to the community changed in response to the COVID’s impact? Have you developed new and far-reaching services/support?
Chrysalis Center, like many organizations, has been impacted since the onset of COVID-19. As essential providers, our staff have been on the frontlines supporting clients and families every day. The organization has seen a significant increase in the need for food, housing, and other critical resources, as well as a heightened sense of anxiety and depression. Despite these uncertain times, our clients have remained a priority and, together, with the help and support of our community, we have been able to care for them.
Freshplace, Chrysalis’ innovative food pantry located on our main campus in Hartford, remained open since the onset of the pandemic. Freshplace’s goal is to provide individuals and families living in the poorest neighborhoods in Hartford with access to fresh, nutritious food and case management services to address both the immediate need of hunger and the root cause of food insecurity — poverty. Loss of income, lack of transportation, and having children home from school contributed to an increased need for food in many of Chrysalis’ programs. As a result, Freshplace expanded services to provide food to all clients in need.
Chrysalis Center is there when life’s challenges are so isolating and overwhelming. To be seen and supported as a whole person with your own needs and opportunities makes all the difference. That’s what Chrysalis does so well.
– Carolyn Thornberry & Kevin Sullivan
Chrysalis Center sustained numerous unplanned COVID-19 expenses because the organization kept all programs operational to maintain critical support for its vulnerable populations. In addition, two Freshplace fundraisers were cancelled. The increased need for food, combined with a lack of funding, continues to be a significant challenge. Two social enterprise programs, the TCC (Training & Conference Center) and La Cocina Catering, our job readiness program which trains individuals for a job in the culinary arts, suffered lost revenue as well. To meet this challenge, Chrysalis quickly pivoted its catering model to begin offering meals-to-go and bakery items daily to the public. The organization recently launched La Cocina online, which provides a convenient way for the public to purchase baked goods and meals and also offer monthly dinners and brunches on its renovated patio.
The organization’s giving opportunities include virtual fundraising events, in-kind giving, and a new online monthly giving program offering individuals the opportunity to make an impact year-round. The organization offers numerous volunteer opportunities with safety measures since the pandemic. Opportunities include helping in Freshplace and our gardens, and new virtual ways to support clients in a safe way.
Chrysalis Center is committed to serving its vulnerable populations and is grateful to supporters, business partners, and foundations for their generosity during this time and throughout the year.
