HARTFORD, Conn. (July 30, 2015) – The Connecticut Public, has received a $15,000 grant from Melville Charitable Trust to fund a WNPR comprehensive Housing and Homelessness Reporting Project.
The Melville Charitable Trust grant will be used to pilot a one-year, comprehensive reporting venture, committed to increasing the public knowledge around housing and the prevention of homelessness in Connecticut. Over the past year, WNPR has intensified its focus around housing and homelessness in the state. Working with local reporter and homelessness prevention advocate Susan Campbell, WNPR is now poised to pilot this project that will further draw attention to how our state can solve the problem of homelessness.
“Susan Campbell has long had one of the leading voices in the Connecticut media to speak on behalf of the homeless,” said John Dankosky, Vice President of News at WNPR. “We’re very proud to be working with her on this project that explores the homelessness issue, as well as the larger questions of housing in our state.”
The initiative will tell stories that help the public understand that our state’s homelessness problem is a multi-layer issue, but is one that can in fact be solved. Through exploring other communities across the country that have demonstrated proven solutions to tackling their own homelessness problem, WNPR’s goal will be to raise awareness about what can be done right here in Connecticut. Stories will employ frameworks for examining various cohorts within the larger homeless population, and focusing efforts statewide to examine housing and homelessness – not only in Connecticut’s major cities, but in small cities, suburban towns, and rural areas as well.
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The Melville Charitable Trust is the largest foundation in the country that is exclusively devoted to supporting solutions to prevent and end homelessness. Since 1990, MCT has invested more than $120 million dollars to alleviate homelessness by developing supportive housing, community solutions, and a stronger policy environment.
About Connecticut Public Broadcasting
The Connecticut Public (CPBN) is home to CPTV, WNPR and the Learning Lab. CPTV is a locally and nationally recognized producer and presenter of quality public television programming, including original documentaries, public affairs and educational programming. WNPR is an affiliate of National Public Radio, Public Radio International and American Public Media. The Learning Lab serves high school seniors through a partnership with Hartford Public Schools and the Journalism and Media Academy Magnet School. It is also home to the Institute for Advanced Media, a program that provides the men and women of our armed forces and adult learners an opportunity to learn skills necessary for the 21st century digital media workplace. For more information, visit cpbn.org.