Norwalk Kiwanis takes shot at serving community as new CAP agency

NORWALK, Conn. – A dark horse has emerged in the contest to offer anti-poverty services to the greater Norwalk area – the Norwalk Kiwanis Club.

Three organizations made the deadline to apply for the contract to become a greater Norwalk Community Action Agency, taking the place of the defunct Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now (NEON), Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) spokesman David Dearborn said Tuesday. Two applicants were already known to the public – the Norwalk Housing Authority and the Community Action Agency of Western Connecticut, formerly the Community Action Agency of Danbury. Dearborn said the Kiwanis also applied, which surprised Mayor Harry Rilling as well.

“Several applications have been submitted to the state by organizations seeking to provide social services within the Norwalk catchment area,” Rilling said in an email. “I had not heard about the Kiwanis application however.  I am confident the applications will be carefully screened and the submission most meeting our needs will be selected.  The important issue at hand is to bring much-needed services to those in need.”

“Our club is dedicated to serving one child and one community at a time,” Norwalk Kiwanis President Paula Conte said. “We are an international organization, we have clubs all over the world. We can do a lot by helping people through networking with other clubs. We can do a lot by connecting the community because we are nonpartisan. We are a group of community people joined together for this common cause.”

DSS, in putting out a Request for Qualifications, said that it was looking for a new agency that would serve New Canaan, Norwalk, Weston, Westport and Wilton in a $869,008 contract that would run from May 25 to Sept. 30, 2016.

The Kiwanis filed an application April 21 and has not heard anything from DSS yet, Conte said.

“The procurement process is ongoing and a date for conclusion is not available at this time,” Dearborn said.

To qualify, an organization “must currently provide services to low-income persons located in the Greater Norwalk catchment area or that is contiguous to the catchment area,” the RFQ said.

The Kiwanis held a bicycle rodeo for children on May 2 at City Hall. The group has helped Norwalk Reads buy books to distribute and raises thousands of dollars for scholarships, Conte said.

“If we get the bid we are going to be more dedicated to the Norwalk community and we’re going to hopefully be able to do more than in the past,” Conte said.

A Kiwanis member who has lived in Norwalk all his life, who “knows what it’s like to live in poverty sections,” came to Conte and suggested that the “mission driven” club apply to be the Norwalk CAP agency, Conte said.

Also, Conte attended the Fair Housing Commission’s presentation on housing discrimination last month and was touched by talk of Upward Mobility Counseling, she said.

“I thought it was the perfect thing to get involved with and it seems to fit into this community grant program. So it’s like all these little things kind of like triggered an opportunity to bring to the community,” Conte said.

There are 20 people in the club, including business people, teachers and community-minded people, but political affiliation never comes up in conversation, she said.

She stressed that Kiwanis has connections all over the world. Norwalk member Steven Hill has been an international trustee for two years and is currently running to be vice president of the national Kiwanis, she said.

“We feel we’ve got the entire organization behind us, and hopefully, if we get this grant, they’ll come to our aid if we need it,” Conte said. “There’s nothing more that we want to do than to bring the hope back into our community and show the people that there is a way, there is a way out of this situation.”