Blog

Now in its fifth year, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) clinic at Trinfo is expanding free tax preparation services this tax season. The clinic has increased student participation, hours, and the total number of returns filed each year since opening in 2018. Under the leadership of Serena Laws, Senior Lecturer in Political Science and the site’s director, the clinic offers free tax preparation services to English and Spanish-speaking clients who make less than $60,000 per year.

In the fall of 2022, I had the opportunity to participate in the Inclusive Museum Project at the Liberal Arts Action Lab. Our team consisted of three Trinity College students and three Capital Community College students. We collaborated on a research project aimed at expanding the audience of the Connecticut Historical Society (CHS) over the course of a semester. Our community partners, Ilene Frank and Andrea Rapacz, of CHS, posed critical questions for us to investigate: Why do 18-28 year olds in the Hartford area choose to visit the museum? How can the museum attract more diverse visitors? CHS hoped to use the findings from our research to reshape curation of exhibitions, presentation of programs, and marketing activities to broaden museum attendance. 

During the summer of 2021, with the support of a Mellon Inclusive Pedagogy grant from the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), the Center for Hartford Engagement and Research (CHER) examined the experiences of students of color in community engagement programs at Trinity. As one response to the findings, CHER recently announced the Community Learning Faculty Toolkit, a compilation that includes resources on anti-racist community learning and Hartford history.

This year, Trinity’s Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement has been increasing its focus on food justice in Hartford. Students in Trinity Homelessness Project (THP) and the community service club JELLO have been revamping programs to support food security work in the community. Food recovery with the dining hall, the Backpack Nutrition Program with Hands On Hartford, and weekly volunteering at Place of Grace Food Pantry have seen renewed leadership and energy this year. 

Recognized for community partnerships, faculty resources for community learning, and more

Community access on campus, researching Hartford changemakers, and more

This semester, in collaboration with the Hartford History Center, five groups of Community Action students created profiles to add to the Hartford Changemakers collection, an online archive of reference materials on Black, Latinx, and Indigenous historical figures who made a difference in their communities. Each group of students was tasked with researching a Hartford changemaker and learning about their story through archival research and interviews. 

The Center for Hartford Engagement and Research is pleased to share final research posters from the Fall 2022 Community Learning Research Fellows! This competitive program allows selected students with previous community engagement experience to challenge their learning by taking on research or creative projects grounded in the value of mutual benefit: students deepen their learning and their project advances the goals of Hartford community partners.

This past fall semester, the Liberal Arts Action Lab welcomed new community partners, an interim director, and a postdoctoral fellow. The new energy contributed to the Action Lab's continued work, where Trinity and Capital Community College students partake in an Action Research Methods in Hartford course (LAAL 200) and a Hartford Research Project (LAAL 201) each semester. Professor Atalay taught Action Research Methods in Hartford and led one of the three Hartford research projects. Professor Minor led the other two projects. Each team worked with a community partner who posed a pressing question about the city.

Students in Professor Elise Castillo’s Race, Class, and Education Policy course worked with the Anti-Racist Teaching and Learning Collective this fall to contribute to the Collective’s ongoing research on anti-racist teaching in schools across Connecticut. Students conducted ten interviews with CT teachers on how they define anti-racism, how they implement anti-racist practices in their classrooms, and what support they need to do this work.