People First of Connecticut

People First of Connecticut People First of Connecticut is a advocacy group for people with disabilities that was founded in 1983 and is a nonprofit corporation.

People First of Connecticut was founded in 1983 and is a legal nonprofit corporation. The original goals were to close Southbury Training School, advocate for the right for meaningful jobs, to close sheltered workshops, expand self determination, and assure that all people, regardless of ability or disability be treated with dignity and respect. Over the years we have seen many changes. People wit

h disabilities are learning our rights and speaking up for ourselves. We are living more independently and taking advantage of our rights and responsibilities. People First of CT is especially proud of two things: we, along with two other human rights agencies, sued the state of CT over the treatment of people at Southbury Training School, also we fought very hard and were successful in getting CT DMR to get rid of the " R Word " and change its name to the Department of Developmental Services! Our current goals are similar to the ones we started with more than 20 years ago. We are advocating for closing sheltered workshops, educating the public about people with disabilities and educating people who have disabilities about their rights and how to speak up for themselves.

02/13/2026

Happy Valentine day everyone from people first
Of Connecticut

Josh Mears, President of People First of CT, invites all CT self-advocates and supporters to our statewide meeting. When...
01/14/2026

Josh Mears, President of People First of CT, invites all CT self-advocates and supporters to our statewide meeting.



When: Thursday, January 22nd, 2025

Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/9241327065?pwd=otXqzAaIbBgU7TtzrboGyk7FIGykQe.1&omn=81967192459

Meeting ID: 924 132 7065
Passcode: People1st

Special Guest Speaker: Lisa Nee, showing the People First movie about “The Jeffy Doll Project”



Thank you, People First of Connecticut Leadership Team Josh Mears, Varian Salters, Jossie Torres, Denise Lyon, Quentin Hughes and Bethlynne Heller

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01/12/2026

Hi everyone we going to be having a state wide meeting next Thursday night on zoom from 6pm to 8pm be on the lookout for a zoom meeting link

People first of Connecticut would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy healthy new year we are looki...
12/16/2025

People first of Connecticut would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy healthy new year we are looking forward to 2026

12/01/2025

Dear People First of Connecticut supporters, we want to wish you happy holidays and we have a few updates to share with you.

· We will not be having a statewide meeting in November
· We will not be having a meeting in December or a holiday party

Our next statewide meeting will be Thursday January 15th at 6:00pm. You will receive more information and the Zoom link in January.

As always, you can reach out to the members of our leadership team through the leadership team of People First of Connecticut at [email protected].

Thank you,

The People First of Connecticut Leadership Team

Josh Mears, Varian Salters, Denise Lyons, Jossie Torres, Quentin Hughs the III and Bethlynne Heller

10/28/2025

Good morning
We are well aware of the snap benefits are ending on November 1st we have a list of food pantry’s across the state of Connecticut please email us we will provide information
[email protected]

10/01/2025

Happy October from people fist of Connecticut

09/19/2025

Hello everyone we will be having Our first state wide meeting for this coming Thursday night be on the lookout for an email

Josh mears president

08/12/2025

Happy summer! People first of Connecticut will not be meeting in August enjoy the rest of your summer we will let you know when our next meeting is

Address

C/o Midstate Arc, 200 Research Parkway
Meriden, CT
06040

Telephone

+18607365321

Website

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