Excel Bridgeport is a movement of parents, students, and other community members to advocate for excellent schools. We believe that going to college and having successful careers should be the expectation and not the exception for Bridgeport children. To get there, we need to focus on 1) Achievement, 2) Good Governance, 3) Effective Leadership, & 4) Community Empowerment. This report provides a summary of 2013 student achievement data, in order to equip parents and community members to be informed advocates and suggest strategies for moving forward.

Beginning in September 2012, Greenwich Hospital led a comprehensive Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) to evaluate the health needs of individuals living in the hospital’s Service Area.  The purpose of the assessment was to gather information about local health needs and health behaviors. The assessment examined a variety of indicators including risky health behaviors (alcohol use, tobacco use, etc.) and chronic health conditions (diabetes, heart disease, etc.).  

This report helps develop a baseline of information about a variety of barriers that may prevent AfricanAmerican men in Bridgeport and other Connecticut cities from achieving their full health potential. When these barriers involve system-wide, avoidable and unjust social and economic policies that create unequal access to opportunity, they are often known as “health inequities.”

The Primary Care Action Group completed a community health needs assessment in 2013. The purpose of the assessment was to understand current health trends, needs and assets. New federal legislation requires hospitals to conduct community health assessments every three years. Understanding the current health status of the community is important in order to identify priorities for future planning and funding, the existing strengths and assets on which to build upon, and areas for further collaboration across organizations, institutions, and community groups.

The NAACP Greater New Haven Branch of the NAACP created the Urban Apartheid report, involving DataHaven to work with NAACP staff and board members and contribute the research material used throughout. DataHaven also received a separate contract from the Annie E. Casey Foundation to support its work on the development of this 25-page report. The report includes data from the 2012 DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey.