Updated Food Insecurity Numbers In CT, A Good Bill, HB5197, Reading At Roaring Brook

May 15, 2024


 
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Dear Neighbor,

We may be out of session, but we are still at work!
 
Today, I had the pleasure of reading to one of the third-grade classes at Roaring Brook School in Avon. As you can imagine, not only were they adorable, but the students also had great and often complicated questions. What a fun way to spend the morning!
 
I also led a bipartisan press conference today with Senator Henri Martin alongside CT Foodshare to discuss the Feeding America “Map the Gap” report. The news isn’t great and while there are many reasons for that, including the high cost of living and greedflation on the part of supermarket chains and food manufacturers, we know how we can help address it and the legislature needs to do more when we are in session in 2025.
 
Today is Peace Officer Memorial Day and we pay tribute today to all fallen local, state, and federal police officers who have died or been disabled in the line of duty. You may notice flags at half-staff across Connecticut for this reason.
 
Wishing you a great week,

Eleni
 
Not Good: Updated Food Insecurity Numbers for CT
As I mentioned in the opening letter, Senator Henri Martin and I held a press conference today with our colleagues and Connecticut Foodshare. Did you know that in District 17 CT Foodshare provides nearly 182,000 meals and an additional 25,000+ through their mobile food pantry? It’s hard to believe that our need could be that great but food insecurity doesn’t discriminate across party lines, age, race, or zip code.
 
We discussed Feeding America’s “Map the Meal Gap” numbers that are released every year. It’s not great news, especially since the bill that Senator Martin and I proposed did not even get a hearing this year. HB5011 would have provided $10 million to Connecticut Foodshare for the CT-NAP program and 15% of that would have gone to farmers in Connecticut for the food they grow. Some of the statistics that jumped out at us since last year’s report:
  • 468,150 people in Connecticut are food insecure, a 23% increase or around 90,000 additional people 
  • 1 in 8 Connecticut residents are food insecure, compared to 1 in 10 last year 
  • 1 in 6 children in Connecticut are food insecure 
  • 1 in 4 Black persons in Connecticut are food insecure 
  • 1 in 4 Hispanic persons in Connecticut are food insecure 
  • 1 in 11 White non-Hispanic persons in Connecticut are food insecure 

If you’d like to read the complete report, you can find that here. Senator Martin, the nearly 60 colleagues that co-sponsored the bill, and I plan to file the bill again in January. Our residents deserve nothing less. Please click on the video below to hear my comments.
 
 
A Good Bill: HB5197
Please click the video below for my thoughts on HB5197, An Act Concerning Social Workers. 
 
 
Reading at Roaring Brook School
Rutgers University has a great program where they send legislators a book as part of their “Teach a Girl to Lead” program. This year, the book they sent was “Grace for President” by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. The book is recommended for Kindergarten through 4th grade and I had the pleasure of reading it to a 3rd grade class at Roaring Brook School in Avon and donating the book to their library.

The book tells the story of Grace, who is shocked to learn that the U.S. has never had a woman as President of the United States. Her teacher devises a plan for her to run for President in their school and she runs against a fellow student, Thomas. The teacher even assigns each child a state and all of the electoral votes associated with that state so it was a great lesson on how running for President actually works.
The students were very attentive, had great questions when we were finished, and enjoyed sharing about their own visits to The White House. I appreciate their awesome comments and their enthusiasm for the topic. Go Blazers!
 
Welcoming Avon VFW Post 3272, Nadir Tarin and Family
We had so much going on in the last two weeks of session, I didn’t have a chance to share a very special moment in our chamber.
 
On Friday, May 3rd, it was my honor and privilege to welcome Avon VFW Post 3272 and Nasir Tarin and his family. Nasir was embedded with U.S. forces for over ten years in Afghanistan as a translator or as he says, he was their “tongue.” The Post, led in this effort by Tim Healy, has sponsored Nasir, his wife, and their four children as they begin their new lives in Connecticut.
I am so proud of the efforts of the Troop and all of the volunteers who have stepped up to help. They represent the best of Connecticut.
 
An AAPI Caucus in Connecticut
This month, lawmakers launched a bipartisan Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Issues Legislative Caucus within the Connecticut General Assembly. The caucus is open to AAPI legislators or whose spouses are AAPI.
 
Today is Senior Fraud Awareness Day
Many financial scams specifically target seniors. Here are some tips to remember on Senior Fraud Awareness Day.
  • Don’t let anyone rush you. Give yourself time to process what’s happening.
  • Verify the person’s credentials before giving out confidential information.
  • Talk with someone you trust if you’re unsure it’s a scam.
  • Keep your social media accounts private to prevent scammers from getting personal information.
  • Never wire money over to someone without verifying the person or organization.
 
Peace Officers Memorial Day
On Peace Officers Memorial Day, we pay tribute to the local, state, and federal peace officers who have died, or who have been disabled, in the line of duty. Their valor will forever be remembered. U.S. and state flags in Connecticut will be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset.
 
It's Food Allergy Awareness Week
 
For those not as familiar, here are the steps you should take if you find yourself in a situation where someone is having symptoms of anaphylaxis:
  • Immediately call 911 or your local medical emergency number.
  • Ask if the person carries an epinephrine autoinjector (EpiPen, Auvi-Q, others) to treat an allergic attack.
  • If the person needs to use an autoinjector, ask whether you should help inject the medication. This is usually done by pressing the autoinjector against the person's thigh.
  • ️Have the person lie face up and be still.
  • Loosen tight clothing and cover the person with a blanket. Don't give the person anything to drink.
  • If there's vomiting or bleeding from the mouth, turn the person to the side to prevent choking.
  • If there are no signs of breathing, coughing, or movement, begin CPR. Do uninterrupted chest presses — about 100 every minute — until paramedics arrive.

Remember - don't wait to see whether symptoms get better. Seek emergency treatment right away. In severe cases, untreated anaphylaxis can lead to death within half an hour!  

Sincerely,

Eleni Kavros DeGraw
State Representative
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