My Tia's Place

09/02/2026

🏠 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐔𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘?

My Tia’s Place wants to hear your story.

We want to learn about the experiences, challenges, and barriers that housing insecurity can create during a student’s college journey. Sharing your experience can help bring greater awareness to what students are facing and help create a better future for students like you.

📲 If you or a Connecticut college student you know is experiencing housing insecurity, 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐑 𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfvTRBFQC_ceJPocVRnTE_Wbq3iwlazXe0fvPE6Bt8rPJChng/viewform

Every story matters. Every voice deserves to be heard. 💛

07/08/2026

Hartford Healthcare is coming back
THIS UPCOMING MONDAY, July 13th, from 9am-2pm. No
insurance needed, just stop by MACC, and get your
free healthcare check! Down below is the list of
services they will be offering!

Address various urgent needs (not limited to):
Common cold/flu
Stomach aches
Ear aches/infections and foreign body removal
Family planning
Abscess incision and drainage
Minor burns, lacerations, sprains and fractures
Rashes and insect bites
Corneal abrasions
Medical Screenings:
Blood pressure, Blood sugar
Lab tests:
A1C, Cholesterol, Hepatitis C, Hemoglobin, HIV
Chemistry Panel (Liver and Kidney function)
Referrals, Follow-up Care:
Social Services, Behavioral Health, Primary Care and
Specialty Care
Immunizations:
Tetanus (Tdap)
Pneumonia
Shingles
Hepatitis B
Meningitis
Gardasil
Polio
Flu (seasonal)
MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella)
COVID-19

06/04/2026

06/04/2026

Building Community Through Partnership

My Tia’s Place is grateful for the opportunity to connect with dedicated community leaders, educators, advocates, and business representatives who share a commitment to supporting students and strengthening our community.

We extend our appreciation to Dr. Dwayne, Dean of Students; TJ, Associate Dean of Student Development; June Dunn, Dean of Faculty; Prof. Claudia LaRocque; Georgette of Disability and Accessibility Services; Brian Cleary of Academic Support at Manchester Community College; Gabryela Currie; Richard Adgers Sr.; Jake Monsarrat; Jennifer Greer of CHR; Rene of Uphill Climb; Jayleen of The Laundry Girls; Shakira Acevedo of LEAD; and Jordan Knight of Modern Homes for taking the time to engage with our organization and learn more about our mission.

These conversations and partnerships are essential to expanding resources, fostering collaboration, and creating meaningful opportunities for students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. Through collective effort and shared purpose, we can create lasting change and ensure students have the support they need to succeed.

We look forward to continuing these relationships and working together to make a positive impact throughout our community

05/31/2026

On the 28th of May, My Tia’s Place held a networking event with high attendance! We had a plethora of Clothing donations that Got collected by students! We are enthusiastic about the turn out we had!

05/22/2026

Join My Tia’s Place at a Community Networking Event at CT State Manchester! We are looking for businesses and opportunities to hear our story and Future Partnerships to help out with the event! We are also doing a Clothing Drive and Giving away free clothes to students in Need!

04/28/2026

Finals are coming, and a lot of students are struggling with more than just school.
At My Tia’s Place, we’re starting a mini podcast to talk about the student housing crisis right here in Connecticut.
Because no student should have to worry about where they’re sleeping while trying to succeed.

04/09/2026

My Tia’s Place is Addressing Community College housing insecure Students in Connecticut

🔹 The Problem
60% of college students face basic needs insecurity
14% experience homelessness annually
5,600+ CT students experience homelessness before college
No statewide structured programming for housing-insecure college students

🔹 The Impact
Students experiencing housing insecurity are:
More likely to drop out
More likely to experience mental health challenges
Less likely to complete degrees

🔹 The Gap
Despite increased funding:
No targeted systems for college student housing insecurity
Limited emergency housing solutions
Lack of coordinated support services

🔹 Our Solution: My Tia’s Place
We provide:
Transitional housing support
Emergency placement pathways
Community sponsorship programs
Wraparound services (food, mentorship, resources)

🔹 Why It Matters
Stable housing =�✔ Higher graduation rates�✔ Stronger workforce�✔ Economic mobility

🔹 Call to Action
We are seeking:
Corporate sponsors
Monthly donors
Institutional partners
📩 Contact: [email protected]�📍 Connecticut-Based Nonprofit

03/27/2026

As someone who has walked the very path I now advocate to change, I understand the overwhelming struggles faced by housing insecurity of community college students. I was once there—navigating classes, assignments, and exams without the security of a stable home. Today, as the President of My Tia’s Place, that lived experience fuels my unyielding passion to create transformative change.

The harsh reality is that upon graduating from community college, many students face a variety of barriers not because of lack of ambition or perseverance but due to systemic gaps. Without established credit histories or stable income, how can these young adults qualify for housing? This crisis isn’t isolated; it ripples through families forced to push their children out due to financial strain, impacting household incomes, food security, and rental assistance balances. It even affects Section 8 allocations, creating a cycle of hardship.

Students, some as young as 17, are left scrambling for temporary shelter, hotels, motels, even short-term rentals, or sleep in their cars while juggling academic responsibilities and, in many cases, caring for their own children. This is unacceptable in a society that values education as a pathway to success.

At My Tia’s Place, we are committed to breaking this cycle. We seek funding and partnerships with organizations that understand the urgency of this crisis. We aim to provide safe, stable housing solutions so students can focus on what truly matters—their education and future.

This is more than advocacy for me; it’s a call to action. Join My Tia’s Place in making a lasting impact. Together, we can ensure that no student has to choose between education and shelter.

� � �


Support & Partnerships for:
✨ Community fundraisers�✨ Resource collaborations�✨ Donation drives�✨ Student support programs
Together, we can build a stronger safety net for students trying to complete their education.

02/04/2026

Their/Our Story:
When Survival Ends,Purpose Begins
A Manchester, Connecticut Story
In Manchester, Connecticut, there are students who wake up before dawn, not because they are ambitious, but because sleeping in a car makes rest impossible. They brush their teeth in gas station bathrooms, attend class with quiet determination, and go to work carrying a secret no one sees — they are surviving, not living.
Survival mode changes the brain. It steals clarity, focus, and hope. Even the most capable student cannot fully learn, dream, or lead when every thought is about where they will sleep that night.
But something remarkable happens when survival ends.
When a student is given stability a safe place to sleep, a door that locks, a moment to breathe their mind begins to clear. They start to think beyond the next 24 hours.

They get to remember why they enrolled in school. They begin to imagine a future.
This is not hypothetical. It has already happening right here in Manchester Connecticut.
Community colleges, not only in Manchester but across the state. We have been the launching ground for some of the most impactful contributors to our workforce and communities — nurses, social workers, recovery counselors, educators, tradespeople, and small business owners. These are not abstract roles; they are the people who keep Connecticut running.
History reminds us that when doors are opened, lives change and so do communities.

Frederick Law Olmsted, a Connecticut native, transformed how cities care for their people by designing public parks that made health, beauty, and green space accessible to all.�Prudence Crandall, teaching in Connecticut, stood against injustice by opening her school to Black girls when others would not, changing the future of education.�Ella Grasso, the first woman elected governor in the United States, showed that leadership rooted in service can reshape government and opportunity.
None of these individuals began their journeys in ease or excess. What they had was access someone willing to invest before the outcome was guaranteed.
Today’s community college students in Manchester are no different.
They are the future nurses in our hospitals, the counselors in our recovery centers, the workers in our businesses, and the leaders who will give back to the very neighborhoods that supported them. But they cannot become that future if they are forced to live in survival mode.
Investing in community college students is not charity.�It is workforce development.�It is economic stability.�It is community preservation.
When we stabilize a student, we don’t just help one person we strengthen families, classrooms, workplaces, and the future of Connecticut itself.
When survival ends, purpose begins.�And when we invest in students, entire communities rise.