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Hamden CERT
Community Emergency Response Team
Serving the Community in the Land of
The Sleeping Giant since 2004
"See our 2022 Annual Report on our News Page!"
It's time to become part of a Great Team!
"If you're interested in our upcoming February, 8 week, CERT Basic Training Class, drop us a line and let us know"
January 2nd & 3rd, 2023
Our Hamden CERT Members along with North Haven CERT provided logistical support to the North Haven Fire Department, for their Brother Firefighter, LODD Services over 2 days!
The Hamden CERT Members would like to thank Chief Paul Januszewski, his staff, officers and department members for allowing us the honor of taking part in the services for the Line of Duty Death of North Haven Fire Department Member Matthias Wirtz. Our members were honored to participate along with the North Haven CERT Members, during the two days of services, providing logistical support for the family, friends and general public.
It was an outstanding display of devotion and honor to see the large contingent of firefighters, from throughout our state and neighboring states show their respect for the loss of their Brother Firefighter. Although the weather was very challenging on Tuesday, both teams came together to supply tents & awnings to allow the overflow of uniformed personnel to watch the church service (On a large video screen) in the rear yard of the church, before heading back into formation, as the procession headed to the cemetery.
"Our sincere condolences go out to Matt’s Family, Friends and Brother Firefighters of the North Haven Fire Department."
Our Hamden CERT Members completed a busy 2022 Holiday Season with supporting 5 Holiday Food & Toy Drives!
On Saturday, December 17th our Hamden CERT Members, along with the Hamden Volunteer Firefighters and Hamden Police completed our 2022 Holiday Food & Toy Drives over the last 5 weekends! All of these efforts supported the Hamden Community Services at the Keefe Center to donate to families in need. Thank you to Stop & Shop and Aldi’s for allowing us to be in front of their businesses.
A special “Thank you” goes out to all of the caring and kind folks who took the time to buy some groceries, toys and/or make a monetary donation! Thanks to you, many of our neighbors, families and children will have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season.
From all of our Hamden CERT Members, again, "Thank You" for helping out and making a difference for our community! We wish you a Merry Christmas & a Very Happy, Healthy & Safe Holiday Season!
"Our Hamden CERT Members wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving & a Happy & Safe Holiday Season!"
(Glance through our other pages here, to see how we serve our community!)
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
State of CT Announces Funding For The New Hamden Fire Department, Station #2
It's Great Day for the Hamden Fire Department along with our residents of the southern part of Hamden. Hamden CERT has called this station our home for our CERT vehicle, supplies & equipment for the last 5 years! We thank Chief Merwede, A/C Naples, the staff & especially the line personnel who have welcomed us & shared their home away for home with open arms! We truly appreciate all the members of HFD for their outstanding service to our community! Thank you for sharing your station with us!
Monday, May 30th 2022
Hamden Memorial Day Parade
Thank you to our dedicated Hamden CERT Volunteers, who came out on their day off to support our town parade and pay tribute to our U.S. Military Personnel, who died while serving in the United States armed forces.
After getting the marchers and units in position at the high school for the start of the parade, our members headed over to the middle school to help with the conclusion of the parade. Then, most importantly, we took the time to attend our towns Memorial Service to our military members who gave the ultimate sacrifice, to secure our safety and freedom. God Bless America, our veterans and their families for their sacrifice.
"Never Forget!
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Hamden CERT Members prepare for a Busy 2022 Season of Community Events!
We have graduated over 30 dedicated individuals into our Hamden CERT Program since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, in March of 2020. With the start of the upcoming spring & summer season, we plan to resume many of our community events! Thank you to our 27 members who attended our monthly meeting & training on Tuesday evening as we prepare for a very busy season. To be totally prepared, we reviewed the subjects of Traffic & Crowd Management along with Golf Cart Safety and other well-being concerns. “Thank you, Hamden CERT Members, for your commitment to our team and your cooperation relating to the many community events, that are held throughout the year!”
March 31, 2022
Congratulations to our New Members from Hamden CERT Class #20!
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Congratulation to our Class #20 Students who graduated this evening after completing their 7 weeks of classroom and practical training. We thank them for their commitment and dedication and look forward to them joining us, at our future meetings, trainings and activations.
Welcome to our Team!
February 14, 2022
Hamden CERT Responds to a 3 Alarm, Multiple Family Dwelling Structure Fire that displaces over 60 Residents
"See our 2021 Annual Report on our News Page!"
Tuesday, June 18, 2021, 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.
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 30, 2021 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 2, 2021 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:
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!
"Thank you so much for your efforts today;
you make us the Great Team that we are!"
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 2020!
"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.
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!
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.
Food Distribution – 10 total events, packaging & distribution – 720 Hours, serving over 2,400 meals to needy families. (Averaging 200 to 300 cars per event)
Points of Distribution for PPE – 11 POD’s totaling – 137 Hours, distributing hundreds of face masks and digital thermometers to area small business owners.
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.)
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!
Continued:
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.
“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.
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.
"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!
"We thank you again, for our 2022 Grant Award!"
"Service above Self!"
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 for all of us!"
EMERGENCY OPERATIONS
The primary mission of Hamden CERT is to assist the community after major disasters when first responders, who normally provide fire and medical services, will be unable to meet the increased demand for their services.
Factors such as increased number of casualties, communication failures, road blockages, and damaged infrastructure will prevent people from accessing emergency services they have come to expect at a moment's notice through dialing 911. Our residents and visitors will have to rely on each other for help in order to meet their immediate life- saving and life-sustaining needs. This is when and where CERT volunteers would step up and provide our community with the emergency care and skills needed to help them stay safe until additional services can be provided.
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PRE-PLANNED COMMUNITY EVENTS
Our goal is to educate our residents and make all of our citizens aware of the need to be prepared and to assist our neighbors and first responders when needed.
As a volunteer community organization, we constantly reach out to the public. We have assisted our town and its residents at many annual community events, including; Hamden Town Road Race, Hamden Expo, Earth Day, Summer Concert Series, Food Truck Festivals and the Annual Fireworks Celebration.
We are proud to be the recipients of the Hamden Chamber of Commerce's 2012 Award for Service Organization of the Year!
Hamden CERT Upcoming Events
Please be advised because many of the restrictions of public assembly due to the COVID-19 National Emergency have been dismissed , many of the planned community events have been rescheduled. We will be sure to keep you advised, you as we get updated information!
Also, please be advised because of the impact from the COVID-19 Pandemic on our totally volunteer membership, the availability of our members has been decreased and we may not be able to staff as many events as we have in the past. Be assured, that we will make every effort possible to support all request for our services relating to any large, town sponsored event.
Thursday, January 19th, 2023, Monthly Meeting & Training, Dunbar Hill Station, 7:00 pm.
"Note: Listed times are the start of the venue; Hamden CERT Members will arrive earlier!"