Senior Nutrition Program - Congregate Meals
30 Myano Lane
Stamford, CT 06902
Phone: (203) 324-6175
Fax: (203) 323-1108
Email: cphelps@ccfc-ct.org

What is the Senior Nutrition Program? The congregate meal program is a federally and state funded program sponsored by Catholic Charities. Funds are awarded through a grant process and the Southwestern Connecticut Agency on Aging is the funding agent. We serve over 500 congregate meals daily to the elderly of in Southwestern Connecticut.

Who is eligible? Anyone who is 60 years old or older.

How do you register for this program? A site manager will be at each site from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday. Each participant must register prior to his or her participation in the lunch program. Registration should be made at each site two days in advance.

Appropiate Referrals: Any and all.

Is there a fee for the meals? Participants are asked to contribute toward the cost of the meal, according to their means. The suggested donation is $1.75 - $3.00 per congregate meal.

How services are paid for: The Southwestern Connecticut Ageny on Aging; client contributions; some third party payments as well as fundraising.

When and where are the meals served? Meals will be served at noon, Monday through Friday. All sites are listed with their telephone numbers below:

Stamford Sites
Stamford Senior Center, 888 Washington Blvd. (203) 977-5151
Quintard Center, 18 Quintard Terrace (203) 323-1439
Our Lady of Montserrat/Saint Benedict, 1 Saint Benedict Cir (203) 323-0238

Norwalk Sites
Norwalk Senior Center, 11 Allen Road (203) 840-1336
South Norwalk Senior Center, 20 West Avenue (203) 854-4911
Elderhouse, 7 Lewis Street (203) 847-1998
Broad River Homes, 108 New Canaan Avenue (203) 846-3700 (seven days a week)
Irving Freese, 57 Ward Street (203) 838-8471 (ext. 152)

Westport Site
Westport Senior Center, 21 Imperial Avenue (203) 341-5099
Kosher Site Center of the Jewish Community, 1035 Newfield Avenue, Stamford (203) 322-7900

Greenwich Sites
Hill House, 8 Riverside Avenue (203) 637-3177 (seven days a week)
Greenwich Adult Day Care, 70 Parsonage Road (203) 622-0079

Dinner Site, 5 p.m. (seven days a week)
Norwalk: The Marvin, 60 Gregory Blvd., Norwalk, (203) 854-4660

Transportation Information Please Call:
Stamford - DIAL A RIDE (203) 977-4049
Norwalk - Norwalk Senior Center (203) 853-7465
Westport - Westport Transit District (203) 226-7171

The Home Delivered Meal Program is a federally and state funded program sponsored by Catholic Charities. Funds are awarded through a grant process and the Southwestern Connecticut Agency on Aging is the funding agent. We serve over 500 home delivered meals to homebound elderly in Southwestern Connecticut.

Who is eligible? Anyone who is 60 years old or older and homebound

How do you register for this program? Appropiate Referrals? Call the office at (203) 324-6175. Professionals only, ie. social workers, physicians, SWCAA.

Is there a fee for the meals? Participants are asked to contribute toward the cost of the meal according to their means. A suggested donation of $2.50 - $5.00 per home delivered meal pack is requested.

How are services paid for? The Southwestern Connecticut Agency for Aging; client contributions; some third-pary payments; as well as fundraising

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Thomas Merton Center

Thomas Merton Center
43 Madison Avenue,
Bridgeport, CT 06604
Phone: (203) 367-9036
Fax: (203) 367-8828
Email: mgrasso@ccfc-ct.org
Direct Help Website

"From the moment we sit down at the table and put a piece of bread in our mouths, we see that we are in the world and cannot be otherwise than in it, until the day we die."
- Thomas Merton

Being in the world means recognizing we are all children of God, entitled to dignity, respect, and a sense of self-worth. With that in mind, The Thomas Merton Center is much more than a soup kitchen to so many. It is a house of hospitality, day shelter, sanctuary, and welcoming place of hope and care to the hundreds of people it provides with food, love, and a helping hand each day. Our guests are the elderly, the chronically ill and mentally ill, the homeless, the unemployed, and the working poor. They are children and infants, men and women from every race and ethnic heritage.

Since the founding in 1974, Merton Center has grown from 200 to 10,000 square feet. Each work day, we serve meals to more than 250 people. For the first ten years, our main focus was feeding. However, the changing face of those in need has caused us to dramatically expand our mission to include programs to help people move out of the grinding cycle of poverty. Today, we are committed to helping our guests become more self-sufficient, and we currently have several programs that enable and encourage them to take their lives in a positive direction.

Merton Center programs include the following:
Family Center
This center creatively delivers services to high-risk children and families. The goal is to support parents as they nurture their children and to facilitate the children's development so they may reach their true potentials. Our social worker and play coordinator organize activities for the children, speakers for the mothers, and outside field trips for all who participate.

Merton Center Men's Group
This program promotes greater self-esteem, cultural pride, and fosters a sense of hope and possibility in group members. Through one-on-one counseling and in group sessions, both led by our staff facilitator, we develop a process to enable men to live more productive, meaningful lives and to take advantage of programs available to them in the wider community.

Women's Support Group
Like the men's group, this is a safe place for women to come together to deal with issues that impact their lives in an honest and realistic manner. Many of the problems facing our women are serious and longstanding. These include abusive relationships, addiction, and childhood trauma. Facilitated by a staff person who provides support and encouragement, the group is committed to helping restore a sense of self-worth and dignity to participants.

Other Programs and Services
St. Vincent's Medical Clinic provides medical care three days a week.
Mental Health services are provided as needed.
Prayer Groups meet three times a week.
Literacy Volunteers are scheduled as needed.
Showers are available to guests on Mondays & Thursday

Services Provided

Merton Center is a non-profit agency that relies on the generous and consistent support of volunteers and the financial contributions of concerned individuals, faith communities, civic organizations, and businesses throughout the greater Bridgeport area. Merton Center is named for Thomas Merton (1915-1968), a Trappist Monk whose life of prayer, contemplation, teaching, and writing has inspired and comforted countless people over time.

If you would like more information, are interested in volunteering, or want to make a charitable donation to this worthwhile work, we invite you to call us at 203-367-9036, email us by clicking on our email address at the top of this page, or stop by. Please know you will always be welcome.

New Covenant House of Hospitality

New Covenant House of Hospitality
90 Fairfield Avenue, PO Box 10883,
Stamford, CT 06904
Phone: (203) 964-8228
Fax: (203) 357-0314
Email: bjenkins@ccfc-ct.org

Geographic Area Served: Connecticut

Goals of Service: The New Covenant House of Hospitality is an ecumenical hospitality center for the homeless, poor, and disadvantaged in the Lower Fairfield County area that will provide companionship, meals, provisions, appropriate council, referrals to other community services, basic medical services, and other feasible services to the guests. New Covenant House offers volunteers the opportunity to give meaningful help to neighbors in need and fosters a climate of fellowship among workers and guests in the spirit of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Program Narrative: New Covenant House is an inner-city soup kitchen located on the West Side of Stamford. New Covenant House was established in 1978 with the mission to provide nutritious meals to the poor, the homeless, and the disadvantaged in the Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, and New Canaan area. New Covenant House was founded on the premise that all are welcome and that each person who passes through our door is to be treated with the same respect and dignity that one would provide to a guest in our own home. Additionally, our mission is to provide help, where possible, so that each person who comes to us will have an opportunity to become self-sufficient and reintegrate themselves into the mainstream of society.

Eligibility: No age limits. Guests range from infants to elderly. Male and female. The poor and needy, including the homeless and near homeless.

Restrictions: None.

Saint Stephen Food Pantry

St. Stephen's Food Pantry
43 Madison Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06604
Phone: (203) 394-0881
Email: mgrasso@ccfc-ct.org

Hours of Operation: Monday, Wednesday, Thurs. 10:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Geographic Area Served: Bridgeport's Hollow Section (in zip code 06604)

Primary Service: The Food Pantry gives up to a five-day supply of food to individual's and families in need.

Goals of Service: To provide Nutritious food items to individuals and families in need.

Eligibility: Must reside in 06604 Zip code

Appropiate Referrals: Must obtain a food voucher from a Social Service Agency. The food pantry receives support from the Bridgeport Housing Authority and other religious congregations.

New Heights

New Heights
66 West Street,
Danbury, CT 06810
Phone: (203) 794-0819
Fax: (203) 731-3260
Email: scole@ccfc-ct.org

NEW HEIGHTS is a psychosocial rehabilitation program for adults with mental illness in the Greater Danbury, CT area. New Heights offers a variety of services to meet the varied needs of each program participant in their personal recovery. We offer vocational and prevocational services, educational services, including computer training and support groups; social activities, and peer support services, including a Warmline that offers telephone support to people in the evenings and is staffed by people with mental illness. All of our programming emphasizes ownership and involvement of all people attending New Heights.

Geographic Area Served: Danbury, Bethel, Brookfield, New Milford, New Fairfield, Newtown, Ridgefield, Redding, Sherman, Bridgewater, and Roxbury.

Eligibility: Members must be diagnosed with a mental illness, live in one of the towns listed above, and be receiving services from the Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services.

Morning Glory

Morning Glory
New Hope Baptist Church
10 Dr. Aaron Samuels Boulevard
Danbury, CT 06810

Contact: Michelle Conderino
Phone: (203) 748-0848, ext. 231
Email: mconderino@ccfc-ct.org

MORNING GLORY is a new breakfast program for the hungry and homeless. Breakfast is served Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m. Open door; people of all faiths welcome.

Geographic Area Served: Danbury

Donations of food and funds welcome!