NEWS New Haven methadone clinic plans on hold for now as alternate use explored Photo of Mark Zaretsky Mark Zaretsky March 25, 2022
New Haven methadone clinic plans on hold for now as alternate use explored
NEW HAVEN — Plans to convert a former school building into a methadone clinic and associated office space, which met with strong community opposition, are on hold for now, according to Mayor Justin Elicker, as a local partnership is exploring an alternate use for the site.
A partnership between the Rev. Boise Kimber and Clifford W. Beers Guidance Clinic wants to buy the former Achievement First Elm City College Preparatory in Newhallville from the APT Foundation — and is on next week’s State Bond Commission agenda for a $2 million state grant to help make it happen.
They want to use the property at 794 Dixwell Ave., near the Hamden line, as the site for a trauma-informed community wellness and education center focused on youth and families, Clifford Beers Chief Executive Officer Alice Forrester said Friday.
They have proposed naming it “The Resilience Academy.”
Any sale would be contingent on the APT Foundation, which bought the property for $2.45 million in December 2021 with the intention of moving its headquarters, a methadone clinic and other facilities now at 1 Long Wharf there, finding another acceptable property, said Forrester.
Hundreds of residents of Newhallville, southern Hamden and beyond signed petitions opposing the location of a methadone clinic in the neighborhood as part of a drive organized by “Newhallville - Hamden Strong,” a community group spanning both sides of the border. Many were angered because the APT Foundation never informed the public or discussed its plans before completing the sale.
The partnership’s bonding request lists the support of state Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, and state Reps. Robyn Porter, D-New Haven, and Toni Walker, D-New Haven, as well as U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3.
None of the three state legislators immediately returned requests for comment.
Elicker “is really involved in trying to help APT solve that problem,” said Forrester. She said she didn’t want to be in a position of speaking for the APT Foundation.
Neither APT Foundation CEO Lynn Madden nor Kimber immediately returned calls for comment. Clifford Beers’ partner, Kimber’s First Calvary Baptist Church, is located at 609 Dixwell Ave.
Elicker said the APT Foundation has agreed to hold off for a period of time on applying for necessary zoning approvals for its proposed use of the property.
“APT has sent me a letter committing to not doing anything for three months,” he said.
“We’re having ongoing conversations with APT” and “APT has been clear that if they were to change course, they would need to identify another location,” Elicker said. “We have been meeting them to find them a more appropriate location.”
He said “we would need to see a lot more details about Clifford Beers’ potential proposal and partners to better understand the direction that this partnership might take.” But “Clifford Beers is a good foundation” and has a strong track record in New Haven,” he said.
Elicker said he was a little surprised to see the grant request show up on the State Bond Commission agenda.
“Nobody from the state has reached out to us about this bonding proposal,” Elicker said. “I think we all can agree that we’d like to find a better solution, but we also have to work together.”
News of the potential alternative use for the property first surfaced Tuesday night at a meeting of the Newhallville Community Management Team and was first reported by the New Haven Independent.
Forrester’s letter in support of the grant request listed the state bonding as 70 percent of what would be a total $3.58 million expenditure to create The Resilience Academy, with another $750,000 to come from other grants and donations and $234,000 coming from the Clifford Beers Endowment Fund.
Of that $3.58 million, $2.4 million would be to buy the building, $500,000 would be for solar electric, $35,000 would be to clean and paint walls, $85,000 would be to replace flooring, carpet and tile, $45,000 would be to clean and landscape outdoor spaces and $45,000 would be for phone and internet.
Another $225,000 would be for heating and air-conditioning, $55,000 would be for construction, $74,000 would be to build a playground and $120,000 would be for furnishings, the letter states.
Forrester said the project fits in with the direction Clifford Beers has been moving for some time.
“I think the first thing to recognize is that for the last 10 years Clifford Beers has been moving closer to communities to provide services,” she said. “We partnered and assumed Farnam Neighborhood House in July and have helped them get back up in rebuilding their programs and their camps ... and have found it a really wonderful to connect with the community.”
Clifford Beers is a 109-year-old New Haven mental health institution that, among other roles, was the organization chosen to lead the first five years of recovery efforts in Newtown followed the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting, where it pioneered its efforts working with people who have been involved in trauma.
It also does work in New Haven public schools and will be in 24 New Haven schools next fall, delivering both mental health services and wraparound care coordination, Forrester said. “We’ve been doing this for quite a long time” and have been recognized for it, she said.
Clifford Beers had been serving Newhallville from a facility in Science Park, “but we had to close our space due to costs” and because “everybody was working remotely” during the COVID pandemic, Forrester said.
“What we really are committed to doing is working with kids who are having a lot of trouble working in a traditional school setting,” she said.
mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
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