Hamden CERT steps up to help during the 

COVID-19 Pandemic with Food Distributions for over 1,200 families since March!

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"With the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency, our primary mission will now be to support the Food Distribution Events and help with deliveries of food items to residents who are not able to leave their homes!"  

(See our News Page!)

Hamden CERT prepared, Ready & Equipped to assist Emergency Management with the COVID-19 National Emergency 

Please Be Smart and Be Safe! Stay home if possible! It's a great time to avoid people if you can! Our team is trained, prepared and ready to do our best to help mitigate the impacts of this event if & when needed. Our team members are available and ready to assist any Food Deliveries, Points of Distribution of Food and PPE or any other needed logistical support. 

Please be assured that our Mayor, Town Leaders and Emergency Management Team will keep you updated and do everything and anything necessary to keep our citizens safe and secure!

Town of Hamden Closing Town Facilities & Departments in Effort to Minimize Exposure to Coronavirus;

(INFORMATION UPDATE - WHAT’S OPEN/WHAT’S CLOSED)

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In an effort to exercise precaution and implement additional preventative measures, the Town of Hamden closed all Town non-essential Buildings and Departments at 2:00 pm today and will remain closed tomorrow, Friday, March 13th, in order to minimize both residents’ and staff exposure to Coronavirus-19. Taking proactive steps to slow the spread of the virus and minimize exposure in every way possible is both our duty and our responsibility. During this time we will work diligently to physically sanitize facilities, prepare and distribute technology needs for remote work and finalize plans for what will be a reduced, but still service oriented, Hamden government operations.

All Offices, with a few vital exceptions, are closed to the public until we activate our plan for a reduced physical presence government operations that facilitates all public safety services, essential government functions and important protective services for our residents in need.

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Hamden’s Emergency Management Team remains activated and in constant contact with the State & Local Health Department and State Department of Emergency Management and more. In addition, an expanded team is consulting with the Town’s labor attorneys and personnel staff to finalize operational plans for the duration of this public health emergency.

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Expect and trust that Hamden will continue to operate, but in an amended capacity, until further notice. (Again, all Public Safety Services and 1st Responder Services are fully operational!)

Announcements regarding future operations, building closures, and how the provision of essential services will be delivered in the weeks to come will be made available as soon as possible.

Hamden CERT Members were invited to a Special Training Session at Vinal Tech High School in Middletown on February 29, 2020. 

Our Hamden CERT Members would like to thank our teammate Jay Cruickshank and his son Dave for a great information session today during our visit to Vinal Tech High School in Middletown, CT. Department Head, Dave Cruickshank is the Lead Instructor of the Criminal Justice and Emergency Management Program offered at Vinal Tech. It was an honor for 14 of our team members to meet with many of Dave’s Students who presented an outstanding demonstration of their personal capabilities and the equipment that allows them to produce all the charts, graphs and any information needed to manage any major incident that may occur. They were not only great kids but they are outstanding students who again volunteered their time, (on their days off) to organize this outstanding presentation. This was just another example of the many hours that they have volunteered to make this program flourish in only 3 years of operation!

As you can see by the pictures displayed, their EOC/Classroom would be the desire of any municipality, state run facility or emergency management team! These high school students who were selected to participate in this program displayed dedication and teamwork that was beyond anyone’s imagination! After a full tour of the facility and equipment used, we were given an up to date handout and presentation of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Incident, that has drawn our attention over the last few weeks and could have an impact for us in the future. This is just one example of the many training sessions that our Hamden CERT Members participate in, on a regular basis to keep us well-informed of the latest incidents or concerns that could impact our local community. Thank you again to Jay and Dave Cruickshank for making this training session available and also for the lunch that they provided for us! This was another indispensable training that helped our CERT Members understand the possibilities we may encounter and the functions that may be required of us, for our community.

Hamden CERT Members joined Hamden Police, Hamden Volunteer Firefighters and the Hamden Police Explorers for the Annual Holiday Food & Toy Drives! 

Thank you to Hamden Police Captain Kevin Samperi, Lieutenant John Sullivan and other members of the Hamden Police Department for the organization of the Hamden Holiday Toy Drive that took place over Saturday & Sunday at the Hamden Mart! A “Special Thanks” goes out to Don & Chris Buchelle who made this Toy Drive possible with the help of the folks at our Walmart! Thank you also to the Hamden Volunteer Firefighters who were at Stop & Shop and received many donations for the Holiday Food Drive that will aid so many folks in need this Holiday Season! “Thank you Quinnipiac University” for your very generous donation, you guys went above and beyond and it’s so appreciated!
 

Last but not least, “Thank you to our 14 CERT Members” who volunteered a good part of their weekend to make sure that there will be many Hamden Children who will be very happy this Christmas morning! We were able to double our donations from last year and we thank everyone who took the time to stop and say Hi, purchased toys, emptied their ashtrays and those who really dug deep to make so many generous donations to this great cause! You are the folks who made it happen! All the members of Hamden CERT wish you, your family and friends a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Safe Holiday Season! Hamden Proud! 🎅

The Members of Hamden CERT wish all our followers a Merry Christmas & a Very Happy, Healthy & Safe Holiday Season!

We were happy to support the 2019 Annual Hamden Silver Bells Holiday Celebration at Town Center Park on Saturday, December 7th 2019. 

Congratulations to the Members of Hamden Class #16 on their Graduation, October 16, 2019  

Congratulations to our newest members from Hamden CERT Class #16. Their graduation ceremony took place at the Dunbar Hill Fire Station #8, along with their family and friends. We thank them for their commitment and dedication in learning the skills needed to make a difference during any emergency or disaster. Thank you also to CT. StateRegion 2 OEM Director Jake Manke and many of our veteran members for stopping by to support our graduates. We look forward to working along with them in the future during any emergency activations or community planned events. 

Photos by Team Member John Homer

Congratulations to Hamden CERT on their National  Recognition in the latest issue of

"CERT Responder Magazine!" 

Congratulations to the Members of Hamden CERT on their National Recognition in the latest issue of "CERT Responder Magazine"! Thank you to Mayor Curt Leng and Fire Chief Gary Merwede for your support of our dedicated members and our community service program!

April 25, 2019

Thanks to Our Team Members who participated in a full day of training at the CT. Emergency Management Symposium!  

Thank you Team Members for coming out today to spend a full day at the 2019 CT. Emergency Management Symposium in Cromwell. It was a great day with excellent subject matter and outstanding speakers! We learned a great deal about Emergency Management Operations that will benefit our team, our community and our operations at any major weather event or other emergency that could expand into a multi operational period incident.  Thanks for taking time off from work and rearranging your schedules to attend this informative presentation.  It's your dedication to our team that makes us the proficient team that we are! Hopefully, some of our members who couldn’t join us today, can join us next year. 

Thank you to Porto's Tire of Hamden for their generous donation to Hamden CERT! 

Thank you to Porto's Tire Service of Hamden, CT. for their generous donation of 4 Chrome Wheel Covers for our Hamden CERT Emergency Response Vehicle! A Special Thank You goes out to Hamden CERT Member Marc Goldberg for making this happen! We truly appreciate your recognition of our service to the Hamden community . 

Hamden CERT assist Samaritan's Purse with Disaster Relief after the Tornado of 2018! 

Hamden CERT Members had the opportunity to assist the volunteers from “Samaritan’s Purse Relief Organization” in assisting homeowners recover from the damage caused by the tornado and storms of May 15th.  Multiple teams headed out to Hamden, North Haven and Wallingford in assisting homeowners with the cutting of hazardous trees, limbs, branches and removal of storm debris.

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Appreciative and amazed are two of the comments that we heard over and over durning our many days of deployments. Thankful beyond words and happy tears were not uncommon with the people we served. Rewarding and fulfilling were the feelings that we experienced in helping these folks and assisting them with their long road to recovery. The damage to our community is extensive and working alongside these outstanding volunteers from all over the country was a blessing that goes beyond words. A Special Thank you to Pastor Jim Detweiler of Hope Church, North Haven for the use of their facilities and to Chick-Fil-A, North Haven for supplying us with a great meal on Saturday, June 23rd for the workers and the folks that we served, during that day.

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"A Special Thank You goes out to our Hamden CERT Members" who volunteered over 100 service hours assisting the members of Samaritan's Purse.  It was an honor and privilege to be part of the team from “Samaritan’s Purse” who have helped folks from all over the area. Again, thank you to all the members of “Samaritan’s Purse” for the blessings that you provided for so many of our neighbors, in their time of need! We will always remember you for your fine example of people helping people! 

"Thank you to Our Friends from  the Hamden Rotary Club!" 

The members of the Hamden Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)  would like to thank the Officers, Directors and Members of the Hamden Rotary Club for their ongoing support of our program. We are honored to work alongside of the Rotary Members for the common, civic goals of making our community a better, healthier and safer place for all of us!  

Thank you Dunbar Hill Station #8 Members!

We would like to take the time to send a special thanks to the members of the

Dunbar Hill Fire Company #8 for their hospitality and opening their meeting hall to our Hamden CERT Members for our monthly meetings and trainings. Their generous proposal allows us to hold our basic training classes there also.

Their generosity allows us to have a place to hold all of our activities and also have a place to call home!

The funds raised by the rental of their hall are used for the upkeep & improvements of their station. If you know of anyone who is interested in the rental of the hall, please contact them through the information provided below. We sincerely thank the membership of Dunbar Hill Station #8 Volunteers for reaching out to us and proving again the affiliation of Volunteer Emergency Services to help our community!

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