2020 Hometown Hero Honorees

Executive DirectorNew Haven Legal Assistance Association Inc.  Alexis H. Smith is the Executive Director at New Haven Legal Assistance Association. Clients come to New Haven Legal Assistance as walk-ins or through referrals from partner organizations. For more than a half century, New Haven Legal Assistance has worked to balance the scales of justice by providing free…

The Storehouse Project: Mobile Food Pantry delivers groceries to residents of housing projects and students on college campuses including Gateway Community College. When the Mobile Food Pantry was on campus in spring 2020, it served 100 students per semester, which fed roughly 400 family members. The Mobile Food Pantry will be on the Gateway campus for…

American Medical Response (AMR) is a medical transportation company in the United States that provides and manages community-based medical transportation services, including emergency (911), non-emergency and managed transportation, fixed-wing air ambulance and disaster response. AMR provides services in 40 states including Connecticut and the District of Columbia. There are several Gateway graduates currently employed by AMR…

Ena M. Williams, MBA, RN, CENP is Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH). Williams has oversight for all nursing practice at YNHH and direct oversight for surgical, musculoskeletal, neuroscience, and nursing resource operations center, with a special focus on safety and quality, the patient experience, human resources and…

Claire LaPia Criscuolo, RN, Owner and Chef, Claire’s Corner Copia. In 1975, Claire and her late husband Frank Criscuolo opened Claire’s Corner Copia, a vegetarian restaurant, in downtown New Haven, Connecticut. A former nurse, Criscuolo prides herself on offering healthy food. “I am so proud of the way we continue to conduct our business, of our…

Chief Executive Officer & President Connecticut Center for Arts & Technology (ConnCAT) Erik M. Clemons is the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the Connecticut Center for Arts & Technology (ConnCAT), a nonprofit organization based on the model of Bill Strickland’s National Center for Arts and Technology. ConnCAT is dedicated to providing job-training programs to give…