"To  Our CERT Sister Carol Teodosio, You Will Be Remembered Forever, Thank You For All You Have Done For So Many, RIP." 

October 2021
Hamden CERT Members say: "Thank you to our Fire, Police and 911 Communicators during a busy few weeks!" 

It’s been quite busy over the last few weeks for Hamden CERT along with the Hamden Fire Department. Two Multi Alarm Fires occurred within 10 days. One on Kaye Vue Drive, October 14th (unfortunately a fatal fire) and the other on Mix Avenue, close to a week later, October 28th. Fortunately, Hamden Firefighters were able to rescue 2 occupants from the Mix Avenue fire and definitely saved their lives!

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This is the 5th Multiple Alarm Fire that Hamden CERT has responded to this year with one of these being a 5 Alarm Fire that accrued on Mix Avenue, June 26th . Our CERT Members assisted at all these incidents providing rehabilitation services and logistical support for our firefighters, along with offering assistance to the many displaced residents.

"With the heating season upon us, please remember to use caution with all heating and cooking devices and make sure to regularly check your Smoke & CO Detectors. Having these detectors maintained and functioning correctly, can keep you and your family safe!" Thank you again to our Hamden First Responders for the outstanding work that they do for all of our residents, and visitors. Many in our community are not aware of the protection provided by our Hamden Fire, Police and Emergency Communicator’s (911 Operators) who are there for us, every hour of every day & night!

Thursday, October 21, 2021 

Congratulations to Our Students from our 19th CERT Basic Class, that started on  September 9th!  Now graduated, with their FEMA Certification, they are now ready to use the skills:
"That Can Make a Difference! "

(See more info about CERT Training on our History & Training Page.)
Our next scheduled class will be starting in February 2022.  

Tuesday, June 18th Hamden CERT supports Hamden Middle School Staff with the "End of Year Celebration" over a 2-day period! 

Our Hamden CERT Members were honored to support the “Hamden Middle School, End of Year Celebration” over the last 2 days. Congratulations to the Middle School Staff for an outstanding program that paid tribute to the students over 2 days during 4 separate sessions.

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The Hamden Middle School Staff produced a great program, honoring the students who will be moving on to the high school, next year. We congratulate the students and wish them and the staff a fun filled, safe summer!

On Tuesday, March 30th at the
Miller Library/Thornton Wilder Hall
Hamden CERT assisted Quinnipiac Valley Health District with the second of two
COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics. 

Thank you to our 16 Hamden CERT Members who came out to support the 2nd QVHD COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic at the Thornton Wilder Hall. Hamden CERT Members managed many of the Logistical Support Functions like: Medical Screening, Registration and Transport Support for special needs patrons who needed assistance to and from their vehicles. Again, it was an honor to work along with Hamden Fire, the QVHD Team, Quinnipiac University Students, Miller Library and Hamden Senior Center Staff. Special “Thanks” goes out to our members who took a day off from work, to assist our community during this ongoing COVID-19 Emergency.

On Tuesday, March 2nd at the
Miller Library/Thornton Wilder Hall
Hamden CERT assisted Quinnipiac Valley Health District & The Hamden Fire Department with the first of two
COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics. 

To Our Hamden CERT Members: 

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We understand that we are a Volunteer Service and enjoy serving our community, but a "Special Thank You" goes out to our 12 Members who put in a very long day today at the COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic. Everyone of the 243 people who were vaccinated today were greeted, screened, registered and guided by our team members during their visit today! Your friendly, professional and caring service did not go unnoticed!

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"Thank you so much for your efforts today;

you make us the Great Team that we are!"

Hamden CERT's 2020 Annual Report
 

The members of Hamden CERT have had a very busy 2020, during this historic year because of the COVID-19 Pandemic National Health Emergency! Because of the many CDC Social Distancing Restrictions, many essential events required a higher level of logistical support, that our members were able to provide, having had much training and technical experience in that field. 

Saturday, December 12, 2020

Hamden CERT helps out with the final day of the 2020 Holiday Season Toy & Food Drive with Hamden Community Services, Hamden Police & Volunteer Firefighters !

On a raw & rainy Saturday, Hamden CERT along with Hamden Community Services, Hamden Police and Hamden Volunteer Firefighters were delighted to handle the "Deluge" of Toys, Games, Bikes and Food Items that were dropped off by so many Good-hearted Citizens! We thank all of you who went out of your way today to stop by and make a donation that will mean so much for our neighbors and their children who are in need during this Holiday Season.

"BTW, Santa wanted to send a Special Thanks to Chris & Donny for all of their hard work & efforts that make this great event happen!"

Hamden CERT steps up to help during the 
COVID-19 Pandemic with Food Distributions for over 2,700 families since March!

"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!"  
 

Hamden CERT prepared, Ready & Equipped to assist Emergency Management with the COVID-19 National Emergency 
July 2020

As summer has now arrived and we hope for less social distancing and restrictions, we would just like to share with you what Hamden CERT has been accomplishing over the last 3 months, during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Since the FEMA sponsored, Community Emergency Response Team Program (CERT) is all about helping our community, as our purpose, we have been very busy.

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Just to review, the CERT Program is a 3-Fold Program with specific goals. First, members make sure to protect and secure themselves and their family during any emergency. Second, when able to, members reach out to their neighbors to support any needs.  Third, when safe and available, members reach out and connect with other team members to supply any assets or support to their community as part of the trained and certified team. With the lack of community events that we are accustom to over the past years like Fireworks, Concerts, Food Truck Festivals and other major events, many of our members were concerned about what other activities we could support. In reviewing the first half of year (2019) compared to what we have done over the last 23 weeks, it was very surprising to see what has transpired!

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Last year Hamden CERT Members contributed over 600 service hours from January to August, supporting community events. This year starting with the pandemic impact starting around the middle of March, our volunteers have provided much needed support to many of the vital services required by our community members. I would like to share with you what the dedicated volunteers of Hamden CERT have accomplished over the last 15 weeks.

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Food Distribution – 10 total events, packaging & distribution – 720 Hours, serving over 2,400 meals to needy families. (Averaging 200 to 300 cars per event)

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Points of Distribution for PPE – 11 POD’s totaling – 137 Hours, distributing hundreds of face masks and digital thermometers to area small business owners.

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Food Deliveries, Assisting Hamden Elderly Services – 11 Deliveries – 98 Hours – making weekly deliveries every Tuesday to homebound elderly residents throughout Hamden.

The mission statement of Hamden CERT is all about people helping people and as you can see, we take pride for the fact that we work alongside our First Responders and are also an exclusive part of Hamden Emergency Management.

(See Our Mission Statement below.)

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Mission Statement – Hamden, Ct. CERT

The mission of the Hamden Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is to assist our families, neighbors and community, along with our local Police & Fire Departments when needed. Our team is FEMA Certified, trained and available to provide logistical support for any large-scale emergency or planned community event that would deplete the on-duty first responder personnel.

Hamden CERT is also the volunteer branch of Hamden OEM (Office of Emergency Management). Members are always available to assist all operations of Hamden’s EOC (Emergency Operations Center) and trained to manage any Mass Care Sheltering Operations, Points of Distribution for food, water or medications or any other logistical needs!

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Continued:

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Hamden CERT Members were also able to support the Grace & St. Peters Episcopal Church: “Dinner for a Dollar” in collecting $570 from our CERT Members to support and serve 2 Dinners, serving close to 200 community members! During this time, we were also able to assist our Hamden Fire Department Personnel, with logistical support and rehabilitation services during the 3 weeks of Live Burn Training that was held during the month of May, totaling 150 hours. As we head into the month of July, we are now preparing and planning for the “Drive-by Hamden High School Graduation” where we will be assisting with the logistics of directing and parking  over 400 vehicles that will drive by the portable stage at Hamden Town Center Park and allow the graduates to receive their diploma’s.

“I’m sure that I speak for all of our members when I say: thank you to Mayor Leng, Chief Merwede, Fire Department Staff and Personnel for allowing our members to participate and be part of the team that provides so many vital services to our community on a daily basis.” It is always an honor to serve alongside of our First Responders, especially during this national emergency and trying times over the last few months.

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“Please remember to be safe and do your part, for all of us during this difficult time. We are all in this together!”   

Respectfully submitted,

R.J. Freeman Jr.

Hamden CERT

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!

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 and are proud to have you as a member of our team! 

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! 

"We are privileged to have the opportunity to work along side of our Hamden Rotary for the betterment of our community!"

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 and equipment. 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 and teamwork of Volunteer Emergency Services helping our community to be a better and safer place!"

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