and caring communities. We are dedicated to inspiring people to reach
their full potential as productive and valued citizens.

The agency was formed in 1972 as a community response to the
devastation being wrought on families by the problems of abuse, neglect,
addiction, and crime. Beginning with our flagship program, Connection House, a halfway house located in an attractive Middletown neighborhood, The Connection has been a leader in creating community-based treatment programs. We have found that services provided in the community are very effective, helping both the person in need and contributing to the well-being of the entire community. While the agency has grown dramatically – now totaling over 38 programs across the state, providing services in the areas of supportive housing, women and children, behavioral health and community justice – each of our programs must pass this simple test: it must cost the taxpayer less than if the government provided the service, or cost society more if the service were not provided at all.

We are proud of a long history of innovation. Many of our programs – described in detail on this website –
have been the first of their kind in the state. Examples are Liberty Commons, the first supportive housing program in Connecticut; our Center for the Treatment of Problem Sexual Behavior, a nationally-recognized program that promotes public safety by treating sex offenders; and Supportive Housing for Families, a unique program that seeks to reunite children with their parents. We have a strong history of working in true partnership with our primary funding sources – Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families, Court Support Services Division, Department of Correction, and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services – to develop, test, and implement innovative solutions to complex human problems.

As someone who has been at The Connection since 1976, when it was comprised of a staff of four, to the present day in 2012 during which we'll celebrate our 40th Anniversary, I invite you to learn about our wonderful agency and our 500 employees who serve over 5,000 neighbors in need every month throughout Connecticut.

Regards,





Peter Nucci, President and CEO

About The Connection

Thank you for your interest in The Connection, Inc.
The Connection is a Connecticut-based nonprofit Human Services and Community Development agency. Our agency works to strengthen our collective ability to build and sustain safe, healthy
Executive Management Group
Peter Nucci
President and
Chief Executive Officer
Thomas Forschner
Chief Financial Officer
Lynn Spencer
Vice President,
Human Resources
Charles Barber
Director of Grantwriting and Special Projects /
Director of The Connection Institute
Jake Villeneuve
Senior Director,
Community Justice

1972 Connection House
1977 GMCC and Valley Shore Counseling Center
1982 Cochegan House
1983 CTPSB
1988 Meriden AIC
1988 Middlesex AIC
1988 Roger Sherman House
1988 AIC Community Service
1990 Connecting Children & Families
1991 Eddy Shelter & Eddy Center
1991 Hallie House Women and Children’s Center
1991 Center for Problem Gambling
1993 Women’s Services of Groton
1995 Supportive Housing for Families®
1998 Region II Recovery House
1998 South Central Counseling
1998 Middlesex and Groton PILOTS
1998 Women’s Recovery Support Program
1998 Juvenile Connections/Juvenile Diversion Board
1998 Elm City Women’s & Children’s Center
2001 Bridgeport Supportive Housing Program (SHP)
2001 Zero Tolerance II
2001 Women’s Behavioral Health
2001 Sierra Center
2003 Re-Interview Program
2004 Re-Entry Assisted Community Housing (REACH)
2004 Project Safe Neighborhoods
2007 CREST Center
2008 Connect4Success
2012 The January Center

Board of Directors
Dr. Gloster Aaron

Joseph Bibisi

Katchen Coley

Grady Faulkner
Judith Felton, Secretary

Margaret Jordan Addo, Esq.

Mary Klaaren, Vice Chairperson

John LaRosa, Chairperson
Andrew Lasko, Treasurer

Peter Nucci
Our Mission
Building Safe, Healthy, Caring Communities and Inspiring People to Reach Their Full Potential as Productive and Valued Citizens. 
Our Purpose
The Connection, Inc., was formed in 1972 as a community response to the devastation being wrought on families and communities from the problems of substance abuse, dependency, addiction, crime, poverty and neglect.

The Connection was one of Connecticut's first agencies to initiate community-based treatment programs.  We have found repeatedly, and research has shown, that services provided in the community are especially effective – helping both the person or family in need, as well as contributing to the well-being of the community.  We strive to offer the community a chance to recognize the power and benefits of caring for people and supporting their ability to grow. 
Selected Staff Profiles
The Connection boasts a staff of more than 400 full- and part-time employees dedicated to the agency's mission of "helping men help themselves." These competent, caring professionals, ranging from counselors and senior managers to supervisors and support staff, work tirelessly to respond to the ever-growing needs of those seeking our help. Please get acquainted with these staff:
"We get to know the children and impact their lives"
As a senior therapist for The Connection’s Connecting Children and Families Foster Care Program, Michele and her staff match children with parents in Connecticut who are willing to make a long-term commitment to the child, then provide an array of all-encompassing services when and where they are needed.  Michele has worked with us for more than ten years and she acknowledges that she gets pleasure from placing children in homes and then watching them grow up. According to Michele, “We get to know the children and impact their lives.”

Michele Klimczak
Connecting Children and Families Foster Care Program
"I am able to see families and children reunified"
Prior to coming to The Connection, Daniel coordinated a micro credit program for individuals in one of the poorest areas of Mexico City, so he understands the need for self sufficiency among families. As a case manager for three years in our Supportive Housing for Families program®, Daniel works toward seeing children reunified with their parents, saying, “I like the fact that I am able to see
families and kids reunified while working to help the family become self suffcient.”  He is currently working toward a Master of Social Work at UConn.

Daniel Melchor
Supportive Housing for Families Program®, Hartford
"I've found a place in the world where I can fit"
Rita Natale struggled with alcohol addiction for over a decade, but is celebrating 22 years of sobriety.  Getting sober wasn’t as easy as she had hoped, and she struggled for more than six years with sobriety and recovery.   Over the years, Rita has volunteered as an advocate for the recovery community, sponsoring other women in recovery, speaking at conventions, prisons and retreats.  She enjoys her role in connecting women and families in need with housing.

Rita Natale
The ConnectionSupportive Housing for Families® Program
Acclaim for The Connection
"The Connection's dedication to the well being of its clients and its capacity to provide high quality services to the most vulnerable members of our community is well known. Throughout its history, it has turned around the lives of at-risk individuals and families throughout Connecticut."

U. S. Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro
Representing Connecticut's Third District
“Growing up in Middletown – the home-base of The Connection, Inc. – I have seen firsthand the extraordinary efforts the agency has made to serve people in need in Connecticut. The agency’s high quality services help our most vulnerable citizens to become productive citizens, prevent the use of costlier emergency and higher-intensity services, and enhance the quality of life for us all.”

Susan Bysiewicz
Former State of Connecticut Secretary of the State
"The Dime Bank Foundation supports and gives back to the communities it serves.  We are pleased to support The Connection and thank them for the admirable goals and excellent work achieved by their organization."

James P. Cronin
President/CEO, Dime Bank
Partnerships
Where We Serve in Connecticut
For a detailed listing of communities where we maintain offices to deliver services to our neighbors in need, please click here or on the map at left.
© 2012 The Connection, Inc.  All rights reserved.
Please report any problems to the webmaster
Dr. Michael Grey, MD
Medical Director
(Part-time)
* Click on staff name for biographical information
Marcie Dimenstein
Senior Director, Behavioral Health
Lisa DeMatteis-Lepore
Senior Director,
Supportive Housing,
Women and Children
Patricia Clark
Director of
Quality Improvement
Beth Connor
Director of
Communications &
Fund Development