Originally from New York, Williams experienced a period of homelessness from 2015 to 2017 and spent time at the New London Homeless Hospitality Center.
“It was a really hard time in my life, not the greatest,” he said as he recalled his memories there, “but I’m in a great place now. And that ball started rolling there.”
Williams was joined by a friend and around 200 individuals at Parade Plaza on Sunday morning for a rally before taking to the streets for the 2-mile walk. The 19th-annual event, organized by the New London Homeless Hospitality Center and Connecticut College’s Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy, also included speakers, lunch and a DJ. The route took the crowd through downtown, from the waterfront up to Williams Street and back, with a shortcut available through Washington Street.
There was a reccomended $25 registration fee, but participants were encouraged to pay what they could. All money raised from the event will go toward operating the center’s shelter. As of Sunday afternoon, the event had raised almost $50,000, or 83% of their $60,000 goal.
The Homeless Hospitality Center opened 20 years ago with the mission of being a place of safety and community for adults facing homelessness in southeastern Connecticut. They operate an overnight shelter and daytime hospitality center on State Pier Road in New London. In December, the hospitality center reported that since 2023, there has been a 16% increase in homelessness. As of 2024, there were 3,140 homeless individuals statewide. In southeastern Connecticut they estimate at any given time, there are about 150 people who are homeless.
“Now more than ever before, it’s so easy to fall into homelessness,” said Maryam Elahi, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, as she addressed the crowd. The walk was sponsored by the foundation.
“These are people who are our friends and neighbors, we stand up for them, with them, and we will bring about real change.”
The walk was created in 2006 by the Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy at Connecticut College. The center encourages students, faculty and staff to participate in responsible civic engagement and leadership for social justice within the local community, according to Rebecca McCue, the school’s director of community engagement and Holleran Center operations. The center helps students find volunteer opportunities and coordinates service learning, classes that have community service connected to their coursework.
McCue said the walk began after students organized the walk for one of these classes.
Lucy Koester, a Program in Community Action scholar and senior at Connecticut College, has been volunteering at the shelter for over a year and helped plan this year’s walk.
“I’ve really learned how volunteers can engage with a community and make a difference,” she said of her time at the shelter. She noted how impressed she is with the staff who always put the needs of the community they serve first.
“They’re so resilient,” she said of the staff, noting how changing restrictions or laws can impact how they operate at any given moment.
These days, John Williams identifies as a homelessness advocate and runs a weekly recovery group at Reliance Health. Through help from the shelter, Reliance, and other resources, he found an apartment nine years ago that he still calls home and a job that he enjoyed until he went on full disability three years ago.
“It wasn’t an easy road,” he said, “but it has a happy ending.”
