When the emails began arriving after 10 p.m., most of the recipients could not believe what they were reading. Nearly every employee at the Blue Hills Civic Association was told that the nonprofit, which had served residents in Hartford’s North End for more than six decades, was out of money and that they were immediately […]
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When the emails began arriving after 10 p.m., most of the recipients could not believe what they were reading.
Nearly every employee at the Blue Hills Civic Association was told that the nonprofit, which had served residents in Hartford’s North End for more than six decades, was out of money and that they were immediately out of a job.
“Due to unforeseen financial challenges, the board has made the tough decision to reduce our BHCA team. Subsequently, your employment with BHCA is terminated effective today, April 8, 2025,” the message from Blue Hills’ board chairwoman read. “You will not need to return to the office after this date.”
Kelvin Lovejoy, a community organizer at Blue Hills, and many of his coworkers assumed the message had to be a scam or a poorly timed April Fools joke, because, as far as they knew, Blue Hills had plenty of money and had actually been growing in recent years.
“We were like, this can’t be real,” Lovejoy recalled.
They quickly came to realize, however, that the layoff notices were no prank.
More than a year later, it’s also become apparent that Blue Hills and its former employees were just the first casualties of a growing political scandal that has cast a shadow over Hartford’s nonprofit community and is now threatening to topple a senior state Democratic lawmaker.
The Connecticut Mirror reviewed thousands of internal records from the nonprofit and interviewed seven former Blue Hills employees and contractors in an effort to understand the events that preceded its collapse.
That reporting reveals how state Sen. Doug McCrory, who has represented Hartford’s North End for more than two decades, reshaped Blue Hills into an arm of his political office and used the nonprofit to direct state taxpayer money to other organizations, some of which were operated by close acquaintances.
Emails, meeting minutes and bank statements show that McCrory forged a relationship with Blue Hills’ executive director that enabled him to influence the spending of millions of dollars between 2022 and early 2025.
Those documents also highlight how McCrory used that relationship to burnish his reputation as a politician who could deliver state funding to an impoverished community — by spending money on social events, small business grants and aid to “well-known” members of the community.
The message wasn’t always subtle. He once delivered a giant novelty check from Blue Hills to a local nonprofit — at a campaign event that he organized.
McCrory’s influence at Blue Hills and some of the larger expenses that he authorized sparked questions from the nonprofit’s auditors and attorneys and raised concerns about “excessive” spending and “potential risks” to the organization.
And his involvement at Blue Hills eventually drew the attention of the FBI, which began investigating the Democratic senator more than two years ago.
Several months after Blue Hills’ layoffs were announced, the nonprofit and its former executive director, Vicki Gallon-Clark, were both named in subpoenas that were issued as part of that ongoing criminal investigation.
A subsequent audit commissioned by state officials also reported that McCrory used Blue Hills to funnel millions of dollars in state funding to other entities, including several businesses owned by Sonserae Cicero, whose relationship with the senator is being scrutinized by the FBI.
Blue Hills former employees watched over the past 12 months as details about their former workplace slowly spilled into public view. But many of them said they still don’t fully understand how a 62-year-old institution — a pillar of the north Hartford community — could crumble seemingly overnight.
“It’s crazy how the integrity of an institution just got washed down the sink like dirty water from dishes,” Beverley Hines, who led Blue Hills’ Parent Power Initiative, said. “Nobody wants to stand up for the integrity of this place. What made Blue Hills stay in existence for 60 years?”
Like Hines, many of the former employees said they are frustrated that the nonprofit was cast aside so easily. But even more, they said, they are concerned about what the loss of Blue Hills will mean for the wider community.
For decades, they said, Blue Hills provided a voice to the low-income neighborhoods throughout Hartford’s North End.
The nonprofit and its staff helped to rally support to save Weaver High School more than a decade ago. It staffed a permanent office in that school where Blue Hills employees provided tutoring and other support to students. And its youth summer employment program was one of the largest in the city — training and engaging hundreds of teenagers every summer, keeping them off the streets and out of trouble.
But much of that legacy vanished last year when Blue Hills locked its doors.
