contributed photo
I cannot believe the hate being spread this week, in 2024, calling Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.” My feelings when I first heard about it were — Wow! What a despicable, ugly, offensive comment about an American territory and American citizens! An island full of culture, beauty, majesty, and a varied mix of races and ethnicities.
There is a lot of reaction to the toxic speeches. And, gratefully, there is also a lot of love coming from those who know us and appreciate who we are and all we contribute.
First: whether you vote early or vote on November 5th, please vote!
Second: I love Puerto Rico. We are a Caribbean Island and unincorporated “Territory” of the United States, in the form of a Commonwealth. Our population is about 3.2 million, a little less than Connecticut’s 3.6 million. We have been U.S. citizens for over a hundred years.
But this isn’t an education piece about the history of my Island of Enchantment. It’s more like a love letter and a raising-my-hand-to-be-counted, proud of my Hispanic heritage and commitment to service — just like everyone in the best cohort, 28!
It should go without saying, but I guess it needs to be said: we Puertorriqueños and Hispanics in general, have contributed and give in endless positive ways to the culture and history of the United States. ¡Puerto Rico se respeta!
My grandmother was born in Cataño on the northeast coast of Puerto Rico, which is on the San Juan Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. My dad was born in Santa Isabella. My mother was born in Brooklyn, and I was born and raised in The Hill neighborhood of New Haven. Today I live in West Haven with my wife Shirly. I am Power of Attorney for my dad who has serious health issues, and I am a loving uncle to my two nephews, Luis 17 and Xavier 13 whom I love very much and extremely proud of. We are all proudly Puertorriqueño, living in Connecticut.
As someone who loves his New Haven and West Haven community, both Hispanic and otherwise, I really am bothered and feel extremely disheartened to hear the awful rhetoric of the land native to my bloodline. However, this will not stop my flow or my willingness to serve. If anything, I feel emboldened, and now, more than ever, even more determined, to continue making a difference in my community.
I am just a regular kid from New Haven that benefitted mucho from a lot of the programs and social services some say is money wasted.
But I tell you this, I am who I am because of those programs — welfare, food stamps, Section 8 — and how my parents raised me. They imbedded a sense of PR pride that is often hard to explain in words. I saw my mom grow from being on welfare to obtaining her 6th-year degree! It motivated me then, and still does to this day.
Playing Hip-Hop on Friday nights, listening to Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata music all day while cleaning the house on Saturday, and enjoying BBQ pork shoulder with arroz con gandules after church on Sundays, is what makes me, ME!
During National Hispanic Heritage Month, the City of West Haven honors Hispanic heritage and contribution, including through a “Hispanic-American of the Year” award. I am very proud to share that I am the newly-named 2024 recipient! For me personally, the award is just a small piece of the puzzle, but definitely a culmination of a lot of work. And it feels nice to be recognized, especially on behalf of my family and community.
So many of us are living lives of service; Puerto Ricans have been involved and serving our fellow American citizens for over a hundred years.
For my part, I’ve been on the Board of Latino America Unida, Neighborhood Housing Services, and Creative Arts Workshop. I am on the Board of Ethics for the City of West Haven, chairman of my district for the West Haven Democratic Town Committee, and serve on a Citizens Advisory Board and a blue-ribbon panel that distributed over 4 million dollars to nonprofits and businesses.
I graduated from New Haven’s High School in the Community, where I got to serve as Class President and President of the Student Council. I studied communication at Southern, then got a master’s in organizational leadership from Albertus Magnus College in 2008.
I joined the City of New Haven full-time in 2014, after working for years in the private sector. I knew I wanted a life of service, after working with youth as a career facilitator for the Career Pathways Program for at-risk youth, math tutor at Gateway Community College, and credit counselor at New Haven’s Adult Education Center.
When I started at the City of New Haven, I was hired as a neighborhood specialist, working in arguably the best neighborhood in New Haven, The Hill! Which is filled with Puerto Ricans, the neighborhood I grew up in. We were focused back then on tackling blight in the neighborhood, working with key community stakeholders and City agencies and entities.
It was very cool and completely different from the private sector where I was before that. Being back, working in my own neighborhood was a moment I will remember forever. I had another big moment of pride recently when the Hill South Clock in Kimberly Square was erected; it was one of the very first projects I worked on.
I was promoted to Project Manager, a role I’m still in today. This was when the fun really started.
I’ve gotten to work with many businesses on the main commercial thoroughfare of the city, giving grant dollars, facilitating the City’s Leasehold Improvement Program for internal cosmetic improvements and equipment purchases. I love working with businesses and the best part is giving them their reimbursement check after the process is all said and done. During Covid, I assisted with PPE and mask distribution to local businesses.
It was at a ribbon cutting for a Kimberly Avenue project that I met and eventually married my beautiful wife, Shirly; we just celebrated our 2-year anniversary.
Today, there’s a wide range of things we are focused on. Redeveloping Strong School — vacant for 13 years — into affordable housing units. Rehabilitating an old community center, and a large, former optometry office. Assisting with the rehab of the Trowbridge Community Center (known as the Barbel club, where I attended as a child!). Many vacant building surveys, business surveys, projects with non-profits that were awarded CDBG funds. Cleaning out a City-owned parcel plagued with illegal dumping; environmental assessments and remediation planning, including incorporation into the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. Neighborhood beautification. Safety committee. An anti-litter campaign in the city’s Fair Haven neighborhood.
We have all done a lot. And there is a lot more to do. We get there by respecting each other, not by dismissing each other.
¡Venceremos porque nacimos para triunfar!
Con Amor (with Love),
Jeffrey
Connect with Jeffrey via LinkedIn, Facebook
Learn more about West Haven’s Hispanic of the Year award
Johnny, thanks for sharing brother. I appreciated your honesty and openness related to passions and who you are… what a gift you are. Cohort 28, what a gift…very special space was created for us to grow/discover/learn about much (and more importantly each other). Congrats on your marriage, keep on keeping on brother.
Much Love,
Stevie (another homegrown New Haven brother)