Saint Franqui, Resident, Local 34

I work at Yale in the clerical union, and I live in New Haven. Other workers before me organized for the wages and benefits I have today. But even with those protections, it’s still hard to make ends meet in New Haven. My partner and I are able to live alone only because we make financial sacrifices elsewhere, like not owning a car, so I need to live close to campus. Rent is my biggest expense, with landlords passing down property taxes so tenants absorb the strain Yale puts on the tax base. So it's hard to imagine long-term stability here. I’m early in my career, and I don’t see a path forward other than burning out under much more work or losing out through insane healthcare costs in a non-union job. My partner and I are juggling everything stay afloat, and homeownership in Connecticut just feels out of reach.  If you’re a Yale student, you have a vote in this deeply unequal state. Use it. Vote for Norah in Ward 1, and help hold Yale accountable to the city it’s in.

Before working at Yale, I taught at a school here. I saw students falling behind in reading, families juggling work and bills without enough support, and overworked staff like me trying to fill the gaps. We leaned on nonprofits like New Haven Reads, but those programs can only do so much when the need is so widespread. At the same time, Yale is New Haven’s largest employer and has the power to do much more for local residents. It prides itself on selectivity, but that often means hiring fewer people from the neighborhoods right around it like the Dwight area. And while university affiliates coming to work in New Haven voice concern about issues like homelessness, I haven't seen the university put real resources into long-term solutions like housing or mental health services. Many unhoused people in my neighborhood are stuck in halfway systems with no path forward. Meanwhile, Yale is funding studies on risk-taking and targeting participants from the very neighborhoods that need actual investment, not just data collection.

I want to stay in New Haven. I want this to be a city where people like me — people who work here, care about the city, and are trying to build a life — can afford to stay. But that takes policy changes and pressure on institutions to do better. That’s why I’m supporting Norah and Frank's slate for alder. They’re both focused on what working people actually need: housing that’s affordable, more union jobs that go to local residents, and resources that reflect the needs of this city.