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By Emanuela Palmares
It’s school budget season, and whether or not you have children in the school system, you should get informed and involved. According to an analysis by the Connecticut School Finance Project, Danbury Public Schools is the 7th largest district in Connecticut and educates 11,483 students. Of those students, nearly 60 percent are low-income, over 1…
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By Janet Stolfi Alfano and Joanne Samuel Goldblum
It should not be a struggle – and certainly not an impossibility – for families to meet their basic needs. Yet it often is, and that’s why organizations like diaper banks exist. While we spend our days trying to get children the things they need to thrive, we all too often see policymakers float proposals…
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By Emanuela Palmares
Hope, by definition, is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. However, as many of us who share the immigrant experience know, hope is a feeling of expectation and desire that propels action, fueled by sacrifice that allows you to make your own future. Over 22 years ago, my parents,…
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By Francis P. DeStefano, Ph.D.
Republican Bob Stefanowski’s campaign for governor of Connecticut followed the same path that led other millionaire candidates like Linda McMahon and Tom Foley to flop on election day. Even though he garnered more votes than Foley, he lost the election because he could not overcome large Democrat majorities in cities like Bridgeport, Hartford, and New…
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By Emanuela Palmares
I recently attended an awards ceremony where one of the keynote speakers shared a story to illustrate the value of struggle. The story is called “The Moth and the Cocoon,” and its author is unknown. In it, a man finds the cocoon of an emperor moth. He takes it home so that he can watch…
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By Emanuela Palmares
On October 27, an unspeakable tragedy was inflicted upon the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in United States history; eleven people were killed and six were injured. The sole suspect, a 46-year-old man, was arrested and charged with 29 federal crimes and 36 state crimes. Using the…
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By Emanuela Palmares
Since 1999, we have worked to build bridges and join cultures, informing our community regardless of origin, but with a primary focus on connecting immigrants to the communities they have chosen to call home. During election years, we reflect on the role of the media in the divide and animosity we see in politics in…
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By Amy Faith Lionheart
This is quite a busy summer in Volunteer Services at Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital and Norwalk Hospital. We have some upcoming needs for which you might be interested in volunteering! Mission Health Day 2018 will be held on Saturday, October 13, 2018! We are looking for volunteers aged 18 and over to assist on the…
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By Juliana Fetherman, Founder & CEO of Making Authentic Friendships LLC
One of the biggest challenges any person with special needs or disabilities faces is lack of social skills. This makes it extremely difficult and, in some cases, nearly impossible, to make friends. My brother is 20 years old, diagnosed with autism and ADHD. Although high functioning and verbal, he lacks many social skills and is…
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By Emanuela Palmares
Under current Connecticut law, undocumented students pay in-state tuition rates into the institutional aid fund at Connecticut colleges, but are unable to access those funds to help them lower the cost of their education. Without the ability to access federal loans and scholarships, these students pay the full amount of tuition. So for a second…
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By Brian Donohue-Lynch
The Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education continues its push to consolidate the 12 state community colleges into one, having most recently submitted the necessary change proposal to the regional accreditor, NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges), for its approval. Promoters of the plan have, among other things, have circulated a recent…
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By Emanuela Palmares
Do you know someone in the immigrant community who has gone above and beyond to help others? A student who is an immigrant or the child of immigrant parents, who juggles their studies, helping at home and a job and deserves an incentive to keep going? A veteran, who is an immigrant or the child…
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By Angela Chastain
Danbury Prospect Charter School, a new public school option for Danbury, is now one step closer to making its Fall 2019 opening a reality. After being approved for a public hearing by the Connecticut State Board of Education, the school’s organizers are working closely with members of the Danbury community to clear this next hurdle…
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By Emanuela Palmares
On February 14, Valentine’s Day, Nicholas Cruz, 19, allegedly carrying a black duffel bag and backpack, in which he hid loaded magazines, arrived at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, at 2:19 p.m. by Uber, entered the building and pulled out a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle, and “began shooting students that he saw in…
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By Camila Bortolleto CT Students for a DREAM Campaign Manager
These are difficult times for our immigrant community and many are feeling anxious with the increasing number of deportations taking place in Connecticut and across the country. Every week, it feels like there’s a new policy meant to target our immigrant community and make our lives more difficult. One source of anxiety for many young…
By Kay Bell
Dear Editor, It is a pleasure to inform you that Danbury Robotics is currently recruiting for all robotics teams. We are a non-profit community competitive robotics team program that competes through FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – www.firstinspires.org). We coach kids from the Greater Danbury Area, including New York, from ages…
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By Emanuela Palmares
Editor’s Note: In honor of Independence Day, Tribuna wants to share with its readers the full text of the Declaration Independence of the United States, signed on July 4, 1776. The document is often referred as the “promise” set forth by our founding fathers more than 200 years ago, and our constitution the “fulfillment” of…
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By Emanuela Palmares
No political party has monopoly over intolerance, hate or violence. On June 14, a 66-year-old man who identifies himself as a Democrat opened fire on Republican members of Congress at baseball practice for a charity game in Alexandria, Virginia. The gunman was shot by two Capitol Hill Police officers who were at the scene as…
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By Emanuela Palmares
Do you know someone in the immigrant community who has gone above and beyond to help others? A student who juggles their studies with home life and a job and deserves an incentive to keep going? A veteran, who is an immigrant or the child of immigrants and is willing to make the ultimate…
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By Abel Fiorot Loureiro
I have been living in the United States for approximately one year. In my academic and professional environment, especially in the financial market, I have had an opportunity to deal with people of different nationalities. Thinking about my homeland, we recently had a week in which everything indicated that Brazil was following a path to…
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By Emanuela Palmares
A new option for educating our children is emerging in Danbury, and ALL in the community should set aside their pre-conceived notions about school choice and take a deeper look at Danbury Prospect. Danbury Prospect is in its development phase. It is currently in the process of submitting a new charter school application to the…
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By Erik Cafarella
Like a profligate spender with maxed-out credit cards and limited income, Connecticut finds itself stumbling towards financial ruin. Relying on an addict to convey the true depth of his or her problem is, in general, ill-advised. This instance is no different. Hiding behind accounting gimmicks impermissible in the private sector, Connecticut politicians in the state’s…
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By Emanuela Palmares
In the last week of March, the Danbury immigrant community witnessed two arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to the authorities, both men have criminal backgrounds. One of the men had already entered a guilty plea regarding an offense against a minor child and signed a self-deportation order one year prior to committing…
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By Jacqueline Rabe Thomas | CTMirror.com
Given the Trump Administration’s increased focus on deporting more undocumented immigrants, state legislators want to know just how many children they may end up leaving behind. On March 6, the Department of Children and Families reported to the Appropriations Committee that there are 22,000 children of undocumented immigrants who are under 18, U.S. citizens and living in…
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By Emanuela Palmares
In the definition of the American Dream written in 1931 by James Truslow Adams, a Connecticut native, he says that the dream should feel like “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. The American Dream…
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By Emanuela Palmares
In light of the recent news stories regarding ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and the City of Danbury, Tribuna Newspaper organized a community dialogue and panel discussion with Mayor Mark Boughton, Danbury Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour and Deputy Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bill Glass on immigration and community relations. Fifty community leaders and stakeholders from…
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By Emanuela Palmares
It spread on social media, rippling through immigrant communities like rumor. It was reminiscent of the times when someone wanted to spread fear and chaos by sharing an old story of ICE raids from the early Obama years, and posted it like it had just happened in the community. But this time the rumor was…
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By Emanuela Palmares
U.S. President Donald Trump’s promise to “keep America safe,” is bound to reach well beyond the Muslim world, affecting global businesses, universities and tourism — in essence all LEGAL immigration, before giving us a plan to address illegal immigration beyond a border wall. His draft proposals, along with an executive order on Jan. 27 halting…
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By Tracy Kelley
The New Year brought good news to Connecticut residents working for better educational options in some of our most underserved communities. The state finally released a charter school Request for Proposals (RFP). This means that new school applicant groups can move forward with the goal of making their visions for new schools, and more public…
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By Emanuela Palmares
The year 2017 will undoubtedly be full of uncertainty at the national level. With every tweet, President-elect Donald Trump makes it hard to fathom what his presidency will look and feel like. Will his bro-mance with Russia’s Vladimir Putin bloom in full force, will millions continue to have access to health insurance, will he continue…
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By Emanuela Palmares
For our last issue of the year and with the New Year around the corner, Tribuna went out to the streets and asked readers their thoughts on the holiday season. For some, 2016 was a year taken over by divides, tensions and uncertainty. But for most, as you will read in our cover story, hope…
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By Emanuela Palmares
Many in the community have reached out to me to talk about a feeling of uncertainty for the future, helplessness as to what 2017 could bring… Some were very engaged in the last election and unhappy with the results, or could not participate but were following the process closely. Others who were not previously engaged…
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By Jonathan Coelho
Sitting here and reading Donald Trump’s “plan of action,” I have started to suspect that he might be the biggest “joker card” that the United States has ever seen. It is something new and completely surreal – a magnate who happens to be a great actor and who is now the president of the United…
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By Emanuela Palmares
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), hate crimes against Muslims, LGBT individuals and blacks are on the rise in the United States after being on the lower side for the last 20 years. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has tallied more than 200 accounts of racial- and bias-related incidents at K-12 schools since…
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By Neal Galinko
Fall signals the start of many annual traditions – a new school year, football season and holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving. Fall is also the season for another important annual tradition: open enrollment, when many people have an opportunity to select or change their health benefits for the following year. With the vast majority…
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By Katie Roy
In his decision on September 7 in Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding (CCJEF) v. Rell, Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher made a lengthy, wide-ranging ruling on education and equity in our state. At the heart of Judge Moukawsher’s historic ruling is the affirmation of what educators, parents, students and community leaders have been saying…
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Dear Editor, The Silas Bronson Library has launched three new weekly programs and one new monthly program for children this month. All programs are free and open to the public. Bronson Library Homework Help for children in Grades 4 through 8 is held every Tuesday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Children’s Room. Coding…
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By Katie Roy
Across Connecticut, children’s access to opportunities plays a pivotal role in their success in school. Unfortunately, children who live in low-income households often have reduced access to opportunities, and often they need additional support in school to ensure they have an equal shot at success. From unstable housing and food insecurity to limited language exposure and parents working multiple…
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Many years ago, after I had become a four-star general and, then, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Times of London wrote an article observing that if my parents had sailed to England rather than New York, “the most they could have dreamed of for their son in the military was to become…
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The Danbury Police Department wishes to thank the residents and local businesses who have reached out to us at this time. The outpouring of support from the community we serve has reaffirmed why each and every day we wear our badge and serve proudly the great community of Danbury. We would like to thank the…
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By Camila Bortoletto
I’ve watched protests where immigrant leaders and allies commit acts of civil disobedience with increasing frequency over the past few years in the immigrant rights movement. More immigrant leaders and allies are risking arrest and committing acts of civil disobedience, such as blocking traffic, staging sit-ins and disrupting. I have always admired the brave leaders…