News

Letter: A ‘Thank You’ to New Canaan

By |

Editor:

On behalf of STAR Inc., Lighting the Way, I would like to extend our deepest appreciation to New Canaan’s local businesses, customers and residents who supported STAR and its mission that benefits local people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) at our recent ribbon cutting and holiday shopping events. STAR is thrilled to have a new office location at 111 Elm Street with the specific goal to bring services for all ages closer to home for those in New Canaan with I/DD and their families. Our generous neighbors welcomed our open house. To Walter Stewart’s Market, ACME Markets and Garelick & Herbs, thank you for your donation of delicious food for our open house guests. To Gregg’s Garden Center and CVS, thank you for your donations of holiday decorations to dress up our front entrance and inside space.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

By |

The Cedar Knolls, N.J.-based company that brings in coaches from the United Kingdom to instruct youth soccer players in New Canaan hit a snag in immigration this year that’s limited its ability to bring back most of its coaches from last fall. The matter is being addressed head-on with parents by the New Canaan Football Club. The contracted company, UK Elite, has accelerated its search to bring in replacement coaches for the NCFC’s Travel and Academy teams this spring. ***

Police received a report at about 10:22 a.m. Sunday about a distressed dog in a car at the Acme (Food Emporium) lot on Elm Street. The owner turned up and left the with dog, according to Officer Allyson Halm of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section.

Around Town

‘We Are Not Going To Do Anything Irresponsible’: For Now, New Canaan Location of Abilis Tied To Doubtful Viability of The Hub

By |

The head of a nonprofit organization that serves people with developmental disabilities said his agency will only start operating out of The Hub in downtown New Canaan under the board now in charge of the facility if that group somehow achieves financial viability. New Canaan resident Dennis Perry, president and CEO of Greenwich-based Abilis, said his organization’s first priority is to avoid doing “anything that puts the population we serve at risk.”

“I will not open up and find the facility that we are operating in is not financially viable, and then have to shut down,” Perry said when asked about the prospect of operating out of the lower level of The Hub, as per a Memo of Understanding now in place. “The discontinuity that would create for these individuals who do not transition well—we would be irresponsible to do that.”

The comments come as questions surround The Hub’s ability to make money and self-sustain—a challenge that the building’s former operator, the Outback Teen Center, was unable to overcome, ultimately closing for good last summer. Inchoate plans for a catch-all community center appear to have garnered little support. An online campaign seeking to raise $25,000 in support of The Hub has banked just $2,320 in two weeks—with more than a quarter of that from board members themselves—raising questions about the community’s interest in the broad program that’s been proposed for the facility.