Asylum Hill Multicultural Resource Corner

The January 26th opening of the Multicultural Resource Corner at Catholic Charities’ Asylum Hill Family Center, 60 Gillett Street in Hartford marks an important occasion not only for local residents seeking information and assistance there but also for the members of the Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association’s (AHNA) Welcoming Committee who have been working tirelessly on the establishment of a multicultural center in Asylum Hill.

The AHNA Welcoming Committee was formed by residents and stakeholders from the neighborhood’s receiving and immigrant communities in the summer of 2013 as a result of a unique collaboration forged between AHNA and Hartford Public Library to offer increased support to Asylum Hill newcomers. The committee was officially approved as one of five AHNA sub-committees the following year. Welcoming Committee members rolled up their sleeves and got to work exploring approaches that would reach out to and welcome new arrival immigrant and refugee families living in Asylum Hill - many of whom initially experience culture shock and feelings of isolation. NOTE: At least 30% of the Asylum Hill resident population is made up of immigrants and refugees hailing from such countries of origin as Nepal, Togo, Peru, Sri Lanka, the Ivory Coast, Iraq, the Republic of Congo, Burma, Somalia and Ethiopia.