Beth-El Center Breaks Ground on Its New Home on Bridgeport Avenue

MILFORD — After years of work, Milford’s homeless shelter and community kitchen has started building its next home.

The Beth-El Center held a groundbreaking celebration Monday afternoon, Oct. 19, for a new building planned at 995 Bridgeport Ave., the address the City of Milford lists for the project in its federal grant plan. Beth-El operates today out of 90 New Haven Ave.

Michael Moses, president and CEO of the Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce and a member of Beth-El’s board, was there. In a column posted by the chamber that day, he wrote that the event included “the usual speeches, congratulations, and ceremonial shovels,” and that the new facility “represents years of determination, generosity, and collaboration.”

It won’t solve homelessness overnight. No single building or organization can. But it represents a lasting investment in solutions rather than simply responding to symptoms.

Michael Moses, Milford Regional Chamber of Commerce president and Beth-El board member

Moses, who also volunteers overnight at Beth-El’s emergency shelter, wrote that the project is “not simply about replacing an aging building,” but about creating a place “where individuals can feel safe, respected, and supported as they work toward rebuilding their lives.” He closed with a line for the next phase: “Now, let’s get those bigger shovels in the ground.”

Earlier this month, Beth-El executive director Jennifer Paradis spoke at Mary Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church on the Milford Green about “the exciting plans for the soon-to-be new home for Beth-El, as well as the journey to get here,” according to an Oct. 5 post on the church’s website, which announced the Oct. 19 groundbreaking.

What the city’s grant plan sets aside

Milford’s plan for its federal Community Development Block Grant money for the year that started Oct. 1 (running through Sept. 30, 2027) lists three Beth-El items. The plan posted on the city’s website is the version labeled draft; it went through a final public hearing on June 10.

• $100,876.25 for soft costs for the 995 Bridgeport Ave. development
• $18,932 for Beth-El’s no-freeze emergency center
• $18,000 for its community kitchen

Soft costs are the planning side of a construction project, such as design, engineering and permits, rather than bricks and mortar.

Beth-El hasn’t posted the new building’s total cost, size or opening date on its own website. Milford Voice will update this story when the center releases those details.

What Beth-El does now

Beth-El describes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides emergency shelter, meals and support services to individuals, families and veterans experiencing homelessness and hunger. It serves 13 municipalities along the shoreline and in the lower Naugatuck Valley, and offers case management to help people reach self-sufficiency and permanent housing.

Its programs, according to its website:

• Community kitchen
• Emergency shelter
• Outreach and engagement
• Supportive housing
• Diversion services
• Extreme-weather services

The center is also studying a pilot homesharing program, starting in Milford and Woodbridge, in which a homeowner rents a private bedroom to an unrelated person in exchange for rent, help around the house or both. It has a survey for Milford and Woodbridge homeowners on its website.

How to help

Beth-El’s next big fundraiser is its 15th annual Trick or Trot on Saturday, Oct. 31, Halloween itself. The 3.2-mile run and walk goes through downtown Milford, and costumes are encouraged.

• Check-in starts at 7:30 a.m.
• The kids’ fun run starts at 8:30 a.m.
• The 5K starts at 9 a.m.

All proceeds support Beth-El’s programs. Registration is through the Milford Trick or Trot website, linked from Beth-El’s homepage, and the church post invites people to sign up as community partners on Beth-El’s Give Help page.

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