by Nishanth Krishnan In 2019, DESK hosted Nishanth Krishnan, a rising junior at Yale, as a full-time intern through the Yale President’s Public Service Fellowship program.  Nishanth oversaw a pilot program based in Fair Haven, as a partnership with the United Way of Greater New Haven.  Today, Nishanth remains highly engaged as one of the co-directors of the Yale Hunger …

by Daniel P. Scholfield Dan Scholfield is the Immediate Past President of DESK’s Board of Directors.  He became Board President in 2017, and in that time moved with all deliberation to not only shore up the governing processes of the Board, but also to create a sense of duty and commitment at the Board level, ensuring that Board members have …

by Thomas Breen It’s always difficult to say goodbye to friends.  Robby was a familiar face with us at DESK.  He was a positive force in the room, showering our chef with compliments, and bringing smiles to those around him.  Robby’s memory shouldn’t be defined by his mental health, but if we can find a path forward from this tragedy, …

By Donna Golden, Ph.D. February 2019 – Donna Golden has been volunteering with DESK for over 15 years, but she is best known as the organizer of an amazing group of Veterans who volunteer at our weekly Food Pantry.  On January 26, 2019, Donna received DESK’s Chris Carbone Memorial Service Award, given to a supporter who has made a substantial …

Earlier this fall, our Executive Director, Steve Werlin, had the pleasure of sitting down with Kim Hart, Susan Harris, and Wanda Perez from the New Haven Chapter of Witnesses to Hunger.  Witnesses to Hunger is an advocacy group made up of those who have experienced or are currently experiencing food insecurity.   Steve: What is Witnesses to Hunger? Susan: It’s …

by Kaitlyn Spear DESK prides itself on offering an internship program that fosters up-and-coming leaders in our community and in the social services sector. This past summer, we were very fortunate to have hosted Kaitlyn Spear, a rising senior at the University of New Haven. Kaitlyn worked exceedingly hard over the summer, often under some very difficult (and hot) conditions. …

By Marina Marmolejo In the spring of 2018, DESK partnered with the Yale School of Public Health’s Practice-based Community Health Research Practicum.  The goal was to measure DESK’s nutritional standards against both national best-practices and client-choice, i.e., what our Guests want, and then to make recommendations on how we can improve what we do.  What the students learned though, extended …