Before the success story, someone kept showing up.
From late-night phone calls to hospital rooms and high school graduations, Catalyst CT mentors show up for Bridgeport teens when they need support most. Get to know some of the local mentors and kids working toward brighter futures in a short email series delivered over the next few days.
You’re in.
We’ll send you a welcome and stories over the next few days. If you don’t see the first one, check your Promotions folder.
Who showed up for you?
A coach who brought out the best. A teacher who noticed your needs or gifts. A boss who took a chance on you. Most of us can name someone.
showed_up_for_you), so Allie can personalize the welcome series. Needs the form tool to accept a hidden field. R2 redesign: icon tiles (drawn for this comp; Coach is a basketball, Family Member is a person held in a heart, so any family member fits), and the reply opens with an arrow down to the next section.
Now imagine that person never came.
For too many teens in Bridgeport, adults in their lives are stretched thin. Schools are underfunded. Money is scarce, and meals and a roof overhead may be uncertain. For some, even a simple bar of soap can be difficult to come by. When it feels like no one else is in their corner, it’s all too easy to turn to a gang.
Being the person who shows up, time after time, is where our grassroots mentors come in.
The copy reads “it’s all easy to turn to a gang”; shown here as “all too easy.” Also: R1 took gang references out of the log story, and this line brings one back. Confirm Catalyst is comfortable with it on a cold-audience page. “Underfunded schools”: FY23 StreetSafe Impact Report.Raised on the same blocks. Still showing up.
Catalyst CT mentors aren’t outsiders. Most grew up in the neighborhoods they serve, shaped by the same struggles the teens and young adults they work with face now. They earn trust the slow way: showing up, staying real, and never giving up, even when a young person pulls away and comes back. But the rewards are real.
Tyese WilliamsCatalyst CT mentor and artist
Where our mentors show up
The Phone
Answered at 2 a.m., when a teen has nowhere to sleep.
The Block
Walked block by block, until people know them by name.
The Hospital
At the bedside after a shooting, to stop the next one.
The Courtroom
In the back row, so the judge sees someone in his corner.
The Kitchen Table
With a family that doesn’t know where else to turn.
Graduation
In the crowd when his name is called.
Who else is better to care for our communities than the people you live around and grew up with?
16
young people mentored per year, on average, by each Outreach Worker
88%
of these teens avoided arrest or re-arrest while working with our staff
51%
raised their grades and/or graduated with the help of tutors and mentors
62%
successfully obtained employment through our workforce readiness programs
Stats from StreetSafe Bridgeport program, 2023
Checked against the FY23 StreetSafe Impact Report (July 2022 to June 2023). Tony’s quote, 16, 88%, and 62% match. 51% does not: the report says 18 of 35 active clients (51%) were working on academic goals, not that they raised grades or graduated; it says only “several” did. 62%: the report credits workforce programs “hosted by community partners,” not “our” programs. Stat photos (Approved Content): 16, a boxing coach with a young boxer (Restorative Justice, 2025_Stone_CatalystCTToPrint_03); 88%, two teens hugging, seen from behind, so no identifiable teen sits on the arrest number (2025_Stone_CatalystCTToPrint_05); 51%, a StreetSafe graduate with his family (StreetSafe Bridgeport, Nashon Szuchs.jpg); 62%, a young woman at a machine shop training (Restorative Justice, KVON5772; confirm it was a workforce readiness program). Releases. The first R2 pass had a row of smiling faces here; Corti saved that treatment for another use (saved-treatments/faces-row.html). Design: the photo and color checkerboard, Corti’s pick (10/27).
My case manager Tyese guided me in the right way, instead of letting me continue on the wrong path. I enjoyed the times we spent chilling and talking. I learned a lot from Ty. He is one of the best male role models I have in my life and I appreciate him for it.
*Name changed for privacy
Send Me the Stories Catalyst’s rule: never “YDT” or “Youth Diversion Team” in donor-facing material, and this credit line uses it. Quote source not found in Source Materials: confirm where it came from and Jayden’s consent. Photo: Black Wall Street 12202025-14 (Approved Content, Restorative Justice), a second photo of Tyese, this time with a teen. He matches Tyese’s name-tag photo; confirm. The teen is probably not Jayden: after the client review, ask Catalyst for a photo of Jayden with Tyese (with consent). Replaces the stock photo the copy asked for.Meet the people who keep showing up.
Behind the progress of young people across Bridgeport are caring mentors, determined families, and teens working hard to build better futures. Get to know some of them through a short email series featuring real stories from Catalyst CT.
You’re in.
We’ll send you a welcome and stories over the next few days. If you don’t see the first one, check your Promotions folder.
about-graduate-orange.jpg). It was also in the About section; About now has its own photo. Confirm the program; releases.
Catalyst CT has definitely impacted my son’s life in a positive manner. He has a different outlook on his future. His confidence in himself has increased. The opportunities that have come his way can be attributed to the mentorship he received.
Be a catalyst for safer, healthier futures.
For 40 years, our organization has helped transform challenges into opportunities. As a trusted partner in Connecticut, we work alongside young people, families, and communities to tackle barriers to health, safety, and stability. From opening doors for youth and reducing mental health stigma to educating communities and advocating for systemic change, we help create the conditions people need to shape what comes next. Your support can help set this change in motion.
About photo: Youth & Family DSC_3618 (Approved Content), a mother and daughter, set into R3’s sunburst circle. Replaces the graduation photo, which is now only in the capture section. Releases.