2026 is slated to be a strong year for EGH. We are making progress with the State of CT on the $250k CIF planning grant PLUS we have four new Board Members helping lead the direction of the nonprofit.

To kick off the new Board working together, the EGH team gathered with our friends at design studio Atelier Cue for an inspiring morning learning about the healing garden in New Haven dedicated to victims of gun violence. Sharing the same architect with that project has been a critical ingredient to our process as Marissa Mead has been able to help EGH fold community input into every step of our work, while reminding us that we need to be flexible to pivot and balance our wish list of design concepts with the great ideas our community share.

We talked about the power of storytelling through design. The ability to deliver impact and emotions through sculptures, walkways, and other intentional elements woven throughout the garden. This particular garden includes an impact walk which lists the names of people in New Haven killed by guns every single year, by year, from 1976 through now, that’s 50 years of names of lives lost to gun violence. The stories of innocent children, such as zero-year-old Tashika Nelson, or street battles where the names of murdered and murderers are not far apart on the walkway. Families with many names of loved ones lost.

After the field trip to the garden on Valley St we headed to Sherkaan for a delicious brunch to meet each other and bond over our shared visions to help the community heal in nature.