CCNE has been reaching out to community groups, churches, civil rights organizations, and unions in Hartford in order to build the kind of powerful community coalition that has been so effective in New Haven. Hartford's economic problems are no less severe than New Haven's, and the potential to build a community coalition is significant: Hartford neighborhoods and churches are active.

Hartford is the poorest city in Connecticut, with 31% of its residents and 41% of its children living below the federal poverty level. Hartford is home to many recent immigrants. 52% of public school students come from homes where languages other than English are spoken.

Already CCNE has allied with other Hartford-based groups to work on such issues as funding for the Hartford Public Schools, immigration rights, public policy for working poor families, and implementation of the Hartford Living Wage Ordinance.

As Hartford watches publicly-funded development projects transform its downtown, CCNE will investigate community organizing models for ensuring that the Hartford economy reaps the benefits of this public investment. CCNE believes, for example, that the permanent jobs at Adriaen's Landing should pay living wages and decent benefits.