Anti-Poverty Agencies NEON and CTE To Announce Merger

Anti-Poverty Agencies NEON and CTE To Announce Merger at Thursday, Oct. 4th Press Conference

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NORWALK – Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now’s interim CEO Patricia Wilson Pheanious, will announce details of NEON’s official merger with the Stamford based, Committee on Training and Employment, CTE at a 3:30 pm press conference Thursday, October 4th, at NEON’s offices located at 98 South Main Street in Norwalk. Norwalk Mayor, Richard Moccia and other public officials are anticipated to participate in the press conference that will launch the newly expanded anti-poverty agency.

Since October 2011, NEON and her sister organization CTE have been negotiating a merger of the two agencies that will combine their staff and services covering lower Fairfield County. NEON’s new service area includes the municipalities of Stamford, Greenwich and Darien along with the cities and towns already served by NEON: Norwalk, New Canaan, Weston, Westport, and Wilton. The new agency will maintain administrative offices in Norwalk at 98 South Main Street and in Stamford at 34 Woodland Avenue.:

NEON, the Community Action Agency that has served the Greater Norwalk area since 1965, is one of eleven Community Action Agencies designated by the State of Connecticut to provide community development and emergency assistance services to economically disadvantaged persons.

The combined agency with a staff of 277 provides a wide range of services to thousands of residents in Lower Fairfield County. Through the merger of NEON and CTE, the newly expanded agency is anticipating a bright future, positive innovation and enhancement of the quality of our services.

At the press conference CEO Pheanious will present NEON’s new Management Team. Executive Managers include Chief Operating Officer, Chiquita Stephenson; Chief Financial Officer, Norma Brown and Chief of Programs, Mary Mann. Mrs. Pheanious will discuss plans for the future that include the recruitment and process for selection and installation of a new board of directors that will be representative of the Greater Norwalk and Stamford region. The new board will include NEON service area residents representing low- income communities, citizens from business, labor, religious or social service organizations as well as elected or appointed officials. Once convened, the new board will rename the agency to better represent the wider geographic area it now serves.

NEON’s mission is to provide economically disadvantaged residents of the greater Norwalk and Stamford area with the range of community, social, and economic development and emergency assistance services needed to enhance the quality of life, increase self-sufficiency, and reduce the incidence of poverty.

NEON operates numerous services and programs, striving to assist low income area families on their journey to selfsufficiency:

Adult and Youth Employment and Training programs, Energy Assistance, Head Start and Child Development programs, Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP), two Neighborhood Centers and three after school programs, Criminal Justice and Alternative in the Community programs, eviction and foreclosure prevention programs (EFPP & HPRP), Single Residence Occupancy (SRO), State Administered General Assistance referral program (SAGA), and three Halfway House programs. A Legal Aid office is also housed at NEON’s Norwalk offices.

Programs from the former CTE will now be operating under the NEON umbrella including services for Education and Youth, Workforce Development, Family Services and the Viewpoint Recovery Program.

 

Press Contact:

Scott Harris (203) 451-6799