United Way Community Campaign

None

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Welcome the Pulse of the Region,brought to you by the Metro Hartford Alliance.
The Metro Hartford Alliance collaborates with investorsand partners to elevate the Hartford region
through economic development work, convening thecommunity around share challenges, and providing local
chamber support. Learn more about theirmission and how to get involved at Metro
Hartford dot com. Pulse of theRegion is produced in partnership with o'kill.

(00:24):
Originally founded as a school for theblind in eighteen ninety three, OKILL has
provided holistic, person centered services forindividuals with disabilities for over one hundred and
thirty years. With empowerment and independenceas its guiding principles. OKILL works in
partnership with the individuals it serves toprovide residential education and enrichment opportunities. Learn

(00:44):
more at okill ct dot org.Now here's your host for Pulse of the
Region, Kate Bowman. Hello,and welcome back to another episode of a
Pulse of the Region. I'm yourhosts Kate Bauman here today in what I
lovely lovingly call the candy Cane Billto on Columbus Boulevard in our capital city
of Hartford. I'm here. Wehave live humans here in the studio today.

(01:06):
They did not lock me in abox, so I'm very excited about
that. It's great to hear peopleactually laugh for your jokes, Sue in
person. So today we have agreat show coming up for you. Today
we are getting the Pulse about theUnited Ways Community campaign and how the business
community is connecting to support workforce developmenthere in the Hartford region. So today
I'm joined by two guests. Firstis a return visitor to the show,

(01:29):
so we didn't scare him off toomuch the first time around. It is
the President and CEO of the UnitedWay of Central and Northeastern Connecticut, Eric
Harrison. Eric, welcome back toPulse of the Region. Thanks for having
me well, of course, ofcourse happy to have you in studio today.
And our second guest is a participantof the United Way supported Job Training

(01:49):
program. It is Victor Sosa.So Victor, welcome to the show.
Thank you guys for having me.Of course, we're thrilled to have you
here today. And really first thingsfirst, love to do some introductions if
you both don't mind, So Eric, I know many of our listeners are
very familiar with the United Way butif you don't mind giving just kind of
a refresher reminder who the United Wayis and really kind of what's the impact

(02:10):
you're making here in the region.Yes. United Way's mission is to engage
and bring to other people and resourcescommitted to the well being of children,
families in our community. And wejust feel there's you know, there's really
no better way to do that tosupport families that are struggling to get by
right now than our United Way Communitycampaign that happens every year. Fantastic.
Can you talk more about the bigcampaign? Yeah, so, you know

(02:34):
right now, it's a lot ofgolf tournaments, So we have great companies
that are doing golf tournaments of benefitUnited Wig all the time. We have
workplace campaigns that are kicking off thisfall and throughout the year. But we
also have companies like you know,many of Metro Hardford Alliance investors and you
know their employees and individuals who annuallyraise awareness to really support our programs around

(02:55):
you know, supporting children, makingsure that families achieve financial stability. This
is what United is all about.Fantastic And I feel like a lot of
these companies get creative too, whichis always fun. Oh they do.
I mean, like we even doour own internal campaign. I know there's
been discussion of a pie in theface for me this year, so that's

(03:15):
to be determined to find the CEO. But yes, there's a lot of
creativity, all sorts of things aregoing on, and we know we love
that. I think, I thinkyou know that's one of the highlights of
our community campaign. It's a lotof employee engagement and being creative and talent
management, team building. It's justa great opportunity to give back to the
community and also engage your employees.Fantastic and certainly raises a lot of funds,

(03:39):
were a lot of great causes,great programs here in our capital region.
And one thing I want to reallytouch on is you know, today
we are going to talk a lotabout kind of a workforce development and Victor,
I'm so pleased to have you hereon the show today because you're kind
of a living proof of a fantasticprogram that the United Way helps to support.
So first things, before we getinto kind of all the details there,

(04:00):
would love Victor if you could justtell us a little bit about yourself
and your family. Well, okay, a little bit of myself. Well,
my name is Victor obviously, right, I would say let's start with
my name is Victor, right,I'm twenty three years old. I'm currently
is finishing up my undergrad I workat Pritte Woodney. I started off third
shift, and now I've developed alittle bit seniority, so now I have

(04:24):
a better shift than I guess athird shift, right, me and my
family, I guess before the pipelineprogram, I mean it was it was
a little rough. You know.We lived in a two bedroom apartment with
me and my mom, my sister, my brother, and you know,
we're struggling to make ends meet.However, Ever, since a pipeline program
happened to me and my mom wereable to buy our very first house.

(04:46):
And now with with with Pritte Woodney, they allow me to chase and try
to achieve my goals. I've triedmany of things working at Prior Woney like
right now, currently I am studyingfor the outside and hopefully in going to
be applying for law school in nextfall for twenty twenty four. So I'm
very excited to be here. I'mvery excited to be talking with the United

(05:10):
Way. I feel like everything thatUnited Way has done for me, has
led me in the path that Iam today. That is absolutely wonderful.
First of all, congratulations on thehome. That's incredible and all the accomplishments.
They are so excited to talk moreabout that. First thing, if
you could kind of share a littlebit about the workforce development initiative that you
participated in. Well, okay,So what I participated in was it was

(05:32):
a pipeline program and it was thevery first one that they had. It
was a seven week training that whenyou participate in you will have developed the
skills to be successful at Pratt Whitney. And the funny thing is is that,
right I was eighteen years old,and I was nervous because it was
a lot of applicants. But youknow, I'm never going to let something
like that ever stop me. SoI kept on going. And I remember

(05:55):
the very first thing when I gotin there, they were teaching me about
like shopmat things said that you wouldneed to know on the on the floor
of like a manufacturing plan, andI was completely lost. I was like,
what is going on here? Butright with the yeah, it's the
truth. But with the help oflike my mentors and stuff, I knew
that people invested in me, andsince people invested in me, I'm not

(06:18):
going to let them down. SoI took every single initiative that I can
to study and make sure I wassuccessful. So I did not let anything
intimidate me, like being young orbe or not knowing you the information or
anything like that. I took thatas an opportunity. I remember my interview.
I told h it was. Isat next to this guy. His
name was Philos and he was agreat guy. He's worked for Pride Winning

(06:39):
and he interviewed me and he toldme like, hey, like, why
should we hire you? And Itold him why I didn't. He asked
me, like I told him this, I said, well, I don't
know. You can hire me,or you can hire someone else that has
a ton of experience, someone thatis gonna work and they're gonna come in
here with experience from from this manufacturingplan or this manufacturing plan. And I

(07:00):
guess that could be my biggest weakness. But here's this, here's the thing.
My biggest weakness is a lack ofexperience. But however, having no
experience only makes the door wider.I have my entire life ahead of me
to learn what I need to learn. I can be couachable, teachable,
or trainable. I can retain,retain and apply information. I'm not going

(07:23):
to come in here learning anything fromX, Y and Z manufacturing plan.
I'm going to learn the pritte wouldn'tyou wah? And I'm going to embrace
a pride wouldn you weigh and becomethe best version of myself I am today
And look and look now I gotmy I'm finishing up my associates and going
to law school. So I'm prettysure I didn't lie to them, not
at all. That is absolutely inspiringstory. Victor. Thank you so much

(07:46):
for sharing that, and you know, certainly you are one of many stories
kind of through this workforce development program. And Eric, if you could talk
a little bit more about kind ofthe work that the United Way is doing
to support workforce development, not onlyhere in Hartford, here in the region
and also really in the state ofConnecticut. Yeah, thank you for that,
you know, And I just wantto touch on on something Victor said

(08:07):
because I didn't know this piece aboutabout his story today, but the home
ownership piece, right, I mean, you think of that piece, what
that does for Victor and his family. That's not just a one time you
know, incident of home ownership.That's generational wealth for someone, you know,
So that is just a real lifechanging, you know, outcome of

(08:28):
this program. So congratulations on yourhome. Thank you. That's that's an
amazing accomplishment. But you know,his his story is just one of nine
hundred adults that we actually had enrolledin United Waves supported workforce development initiatives.
So you know, having that youknow, earning job relevant licenses, certificates,
credentials, you know, really increasingtheir their family sustaining employment are important

(08:52):
to all those things that Victor justmentioned. But aside from that too,
you know, aside from the programitself, we also work on advocacy.
So we're always looking at, youknow, opportunities that we can partner with
our local legislators, our state legislators, legislators to really make a difference in
workforce development and create that pipeline.And so we have more success stories,
success stories just like victors. Fantasticand Victor you talk to kind of mentioned

(09:16):
I love this. That's a widerdoor kind of to begin and so if
you would highlight you touched a littlebit, but if you could highlight some
of the things you've really learned throughthis program. If you were to say,
kind of what were the top onesthat come to mind. I think
the biggest thing I learned is neverto let anything intimidate you in achieving your
dreams. I remember when I firstgot in, like I said, I
had no experience at all, andI just use that to be my biggest

(09:39):
strength rather than my weakness. Andthe biggest thing is that anyone can sit
down and say that the odds areagainst them or or they can't achieve something
they were I think they're over twomunthred applicants in the initial pipeline program and
they only chose sixteen people, right, And I am here here, I
am right. It's eighteen year oldkid. I don't know any then,

(10:01):
you know what I mean. Iwas working at Sonic actually, and I
was I was I was roller skating, so I'm super underqualified, right,
But that's a good talent to have. I'm always impressed at Sonic how you
could do that rollways exactly. ButI didn't let that stop me. And
you know what it was, andlike I touched upon it before, it's
it's the investment that people have madeinto you. When somebody has believed in

(10:22):
you and made an investment to you, you need to repay them on that
investment, whether that is through successor however that the case may be.
And that's my biggest thing. Soif there's anything I learned, is never
to let situations intimidate you. Icould have I could have easily given up.
I could have easily given up,and I couldn't. I couldn't.
I can't look at United Way,I can't look at my teachers, I

(10:45):
can't look at my parents. Ican't look at anyone and say I gave
up because I know that there wasat least one person to believe in me.
So my biggest things I left.How did you first find out about
the program? All Right? SoI was working at Sonic, like I
said I was. I was sixteenor seventeen, probably sixteen turning seventeen.

(11:05):
I was sitting in uh, I'mfor me Startford. So I was in
eat Herford High School and I usedto come into class and I used to
just go to sleep because I wasI would close the store the night before
and then be in class the nextday. So I was really I was
really working. Because you know,my mom's a single mom, and I
never wanted to ask her for anything. So I got a job as soon

(11:28):
as I can, and I wouldwork and go to school, which I
still do now, but I woulddo that in high school. And one
of my teachers notice, and youknow, they were giving away internships I
think for like one of the banksaround here, and I didn't get it,
which was cool, though it's onehundred percent of cool. So I
didn't get an internship. But theteacher noticed that I am a hard worker.

(11:48):
I just I just never really appliedmyself. So what she She came
up to me one time she said, Victor, I got this amazing opportunity
for you. I just come outof my staff meeting. I was can
a vote who I should tell?I don't know who, but you're the
first person that came to mind.It's a probably Whitney pipeline program and they're
gonna start you off at twenty eightdollars an hour. You don't have to

(12:09):
rule or skate anymore, you don'thave to be sleeping in my class.
You can you can basically start alife. You can turn everything around in
your life. And it was basicallylike a I don't know what it was.
It was like a light that likeclicked and I asked her, I
was like, hey, but howdo you know I'm gonna get into this,
Like how do you know? Andshe said, it doesn't matter.
The worst thing that can say isno. And I stood after there every

(12:31):
single day. She taught me howto write emails. She taught me how
to make a resume, and thatthat's exactly how I how I learned about
it is a teacher noticing that thepotential in me, you know. And
that's what I mentioned about earlier,is like the investment, even no matter
how small it is, even noticingpotential in someone can make someone's life turn
around. And that's exactly what happened. That's certainly you're kind of you know,

(12:54):
focus, and really I'm sure inspiredher. And I'm sure Now do
you still talk with that teacher?Of course? Yeah. She invites me
all the time to go speak tothe other Academy of Finance students. That
is wonderful. And what's some ofthe advice you kind of share with them?
I say the exact same thing.Because I'm Eatrford High and I'm from
eat Sarford and I still leave ineat Sartford. So I tell them the
exact same thing about I know howit is. I know how it is

(13:18):
to feel lost, to feel likeyou cannot achieve, to be intimidated too.
How can I compete if I've nevereven entered their race, you know
what I mean? So I wantto I go there and I show them
that it doesn't matter where you are, where you come from, who you
are. As long as you believein yourself, then you can achieve.
And that's what I like to tellthe students. And whenever I go back

(13:41):
and speak as wonderful and Eric,I know, I'm a bit overwhelmed here
with such I mean, incredible story, incredible passion. What are your thoughts
on you know when you hear Victor'sstory is you know, what are your
thoughts and the thoughts of your team? You know, seeing this inspiration,
well, his passion, for one, literally gives me goose. I know
that's sitting here. I was like, okay, we're not three hours,

(14:01):
so it's sorry, Victor, You'rehere for a while. He's just an
incredible, incredible speaker, And Ijust love the passion comes from the heart,
you know, I you know,I think of the impact that we
make in the community. And youknow, oftentimes we talk about big numbers
like I talked about the you know, the nine hundred you know adults that
went through a program. But ifwe even change one person's life, one

(14:22):
person's life like Victors, to me, it's worth it. It's worth our
mission of everything we do. So, you know, I just think that,
you know, people can really knowthat when they're donating to our organization,
when they're supporting United Way, we'rejust really working with the region to
really make a better community in abetter place that we are invested in the

(14:43):
outcomes of this, you know,greater Heart for region. Completely agree with
you and with that, you knowyou mentioned kind of the region and those
that make up the business community makeup our community here. You know,
what can we all do? AndI know there's you mentioned a lot of
companies doing fundraising events, doing differentprograms to help support the United Way,
But really, what can you know, our Metro Hartford Alliance investors and also

(15:05):
other members from the business community doto get involved. Yeah, so there
are a variety of ways you canyou know, if you want to do
the dunk Tank and then and bythe face. We certainly are there for
you. Our team is just fantastic. You know, really, whatever your
corporate social responsibility goals are, UnitedWay wants to partner with you. We
want to tailor a package for youthat makes sense for you and your company.

(15:28):
Not all companies do run a UnitedWay fundraiser, you know, within
their workplace, and that's fine.We have great partnerships with some of our
workforce around volunteer engagement, employee engagements. So again, you know, I
know that you know, as we'rewe've opened up, you know, we
have a lot of folks coming backto downtown and coming in person downtown.
We're just a great partner in termsof thinking about how you can you know,

(15:50):
engage your employees and do great workfor the community. Fantastic and would
like kind of to shift gears alittle bit, but you know, not
that that much, but looking atkind of the job landscape and certainly you
know we're talking workforce development and howwe're kind of filling that pipeline. But
Eric, if you don't mind ifwe take kind of a you know,
thirty thousand foot view of just reallywhat are you seeing here? Kind of

(16:12):
what does the landscape you know,it look like here in the region at
this moment. You know, it'sjust on a panel discussion yesterday and with
a gentleman from the Council Region onGovernments, and you know, we were
talking about some of the challenges withinthe Greater Hartford area and there are a
lot of barriers I think that workersare experiencing right now, and it's it's

(16:33):
something that we experience when folks goto our two on one Connecticut dot org
website to seek assistance. So housingagain, something that you know Victor touched
on before childcare is you know,significant barrier that we see. And I
think we also need to think asemployers and you know, the nonprofits are

(16:55):
not excluded from this about what typeof flexible work options can we have for
employe ease. I think that youknow, is a is a constant debate
out there about you know, whatwhat what is what is the right balance
for that? Is a hybrid?Is it in person? Obviously there's value
to both, but I think wejust we have to think about, you
know, how we are best insupporting that employee. And I think that's

(17:17):
something that you know, we asan organization have really invested in this past
year and thinking about how how canwe best support our employees, including including
pay equity. I think pay equityis something to to talk about, you
know, really looking at competitive salarieswithin within your different sectors. I think
all of those things are important interms of you know, supporting the employee.

(17:40):
Fantastic and Vitchor would love for youto chime in here too, just
kind of your thoughts from your perspectiveon you know, sort of the job
landscape and really what are the opportunitiesout there you know that you're seeing currently.
I mean, the opportunities are endlessall the time, especially from me.
I know I can speak on mypersonal experience with it, with opportunity.
So, like I said, right, they the United Way helped me

(18:00):
get into the pipeline. The pipelinehelped me get into Pride. Whitney probably
wouldn't help pay for my education,and with probably wouldn't helping pay for my
education. I went and got myback. I'm finishing up my bachelor's and
on my bachelor's now I'm going tobe applied for law school in fall of
twenty twenty four. So the opportunitiesare endless, you know what I mean?

(18:21):
I have. I honestly cannot believethe course of action in my life.
I can't. I can't believe it. I feel like I can do
anything. And I was speaking earlierand I was saying, like, I've
tried out so many things. I'vetried out real estate. I found out
it wasn't for me. I've triedout a bunch of things, and these

(18:41):
are things I would have never beenable to try out if it wasn't for
United Way, if it wasn't forprograms like this. You don't know who
you are, what you are,what you want to do until you try
it. So for me, Ifeel like I can do anything. So
that and I can only speak formyself, but that's my experience with with
the with the pipeline and opportunities thatI have been given. And that's basically

(19:03):
I've changed my degree with like twice. One time I was a English may
I mean, I was, uh, computer science major. Then I was
like, you know what, letme try out English. And I loved
it, you know what I mean? I loved it. So like you
can do whatever. It really isendless, The opportunities are endless. It

(19:23):
truly isn't. Where are you consideringlaw school. So I'm diehard Connecticut.
You know, I'm not. I'mnot leaving. This is my this is
my home, this is the wholepart of the plan. So I I'm
finishing of CCSU. I work atPratt, So I'm a hunt versent,
not leave it. I'm never goingto leave my job. If I left,
though, and I'm considering. Ithink my number one choice is Yukon,

(19:47):
but I'm considering Quinnipiac as well.Just the Connecticut staples here. I'm
not. I'm not leaving the stateat all. Ever, it's good.
Well, yeah, I'd say we'regoing to tie you down here because we
need more victors here in the stateof Connecticut. It's incredible and exciting and
you know, really looking at someonewho maybe kind of at a point maybe
you were on your roller skates atage sixteen seventeen. You know, Eric,
what's some of the advice that you'relooking to. You know, your

(20:10):
programs are looking to kind of offerindividuals who may be looking questioning like what's
next or what could be next?Yeah, I think it's really highlighting you
know, the companies the Victor justmentioned, right, you know, we
have great partnerships with organizations like PrattWhitney, you know, and looking at
our Stanley Black and Decker, youknow, and looking at their programs and
highlighting you know, what's it liketo be in this this particular environment or

(20:33):
in a manufacturing environment or an officeenvironment. And I think all of those
opportunities are there. We just wantto inspire more Victors to graduate from our
programs. Well, I think weneed to put Victor on a road show.
Well, I'm totally fun with that. I think that sounds great.
Here we go. Are you in? I think yes, yes, this
is recording Victor and sign yet foranything, you guys can be my power

(20:56):
of returning to sign side for me? Sold? Everyone heard it here?
Fantastic? Well again, want togo back Eric on just different unique ways
that companies can get involved. Youknow, you kind of talked about some
of their you know, volunteering,fundraising, all the type of stuff,
anything else that you've seen you know, or kind of you know, ideas
that maybe are kind of spurring inyour head for what companies could look to

(21:18):
do. Especially I think as thatemployee engagement definitely has shifted with working that
hybrid in person, you know,at home, you know, what are
you seeing and what are your hopeskind of for the near future. Yeah,
I think I think, you know, the volunteers and piece obviously is
really big for us aside from givingmoney. But there's another composent to volunteerism.
And I talked about this, Ithink on our last program. But

(21:41):
that's you know, serving on oneof our committees. We have a variety
of committees, be it you know, finance committee or an audit committee,
or are one of our program committeesa fundraising committee. And I you know,
aside from United Way, I encourageindividuals, professionals, you know,
in the with all of our theorganizations we partner with, to think about
how you can add value to thenonprofit space. You know, they are
smaller nonprofits, smaller than us partnersof ours, you know, think about

(22:06):
how you can help add your professionalexpertise to help build the capacity of the
nonprofit community because I think, Ithink that's just a very valuable opportunity of
volunteerism, extremely valuable and again circlingback, you know, going back to
really help tackle you know, tougherissues that are happening here in our community.
And you know, so kind ofto close the show out, we'll

(22:26):
ask one additional question on this topic. Then maybe we'll have a fun personal
one for you guys at the endif you have time. But so I've
given you both the warning, butreally want to kind of get each of
your perspectives on why it's so importantfor our community come together and you know,
really looking to build these programs andcontinue to transform these programs that are
impacting children, adults and families.So I'll look at both. You don't

(22:48):
know who wants to take that questionfirst, but would really love both of
your your perspectives on this. Ican definitely uh the victor go first.
Yes, perfect. The reason whyI believe it's import for our communit it's
come together. And I'll give youan example of my life. So I
got into prid Winny, and afterI got into Pride Winny, my friends
try to get into prid Winny.Three of them got into prid Winny after

(23:10):
I got in. So that justgoes a show. Right before I got
in, that wasn't even an optionon anybody's table here, you know what
I'm trying to say. So nobodyever knew that you can find success,
especially in a town that we alllive in He's Harford. Why were my
friends even he's Harford. No,everybody believed when I was growing up at
least that we had to leave tofind success or we had to go somewhere

(23:32):
else venture off. But as soonas I did, I was like the
light in the tunnel. Right.So now everybody started to go to school,
they started to get their manufacturing license. I have one of my friends
right now, he is starting toget his electrical license, so he wants
to be an electrician. So like, just doing something for one person can

(23:53):
really you know, like it's likethe opposite of like when you put like
a bad apple and a ruined theybatch, it's the opposite. So like
maybe like I don't know what's abetter saying, like you put like like
something fresh and don't make everything elsefresh. I don't know. I really
don't know how to make that analogywork. But yeah, that's exactly why
I feel like it's important because notonly just did this program helped me,

(24:15):
it helped everyone around me, andpeople are still contacting me to this day
and asking me to do speeches orasking for advice on how they should tackle
things. I just spoke with myfriend I would say a few days ago
he wanted some interview advice because hefelt the same way I felt, just
being young and not having a lotof experience. And I told him exactly
what I told you guys today abouthow you can look at that as a

(24:36):
weakness, you could look at itas a strength. It really is going
on the perceiver, you know,the excellent, excellent answers there and Eric,
anything kind of from your perspective onyou know, again, so many
programs in the United Ways doing ishelping to impact families, you know,
kind of what can be next andwhat do you really see the future impact?
You know. I say this becauseit's in her name United, you

(24:57):
know, and I believe in beingunited. I believe in being united in
the purpose of everything that we're doinghere in the region. And I have
to say that, you know,no matter what issue comes up at the
government level or nonprofit level, wehave to be working together. We have
to be working together. We haveto have you know, legislators supporting you
know, issues like the child taxcredit. The United Way was very much

(25:21):
behind. We have to support othernonprofits. We cannot work in silos like
we used to. So I thinkif we're going to make really big transformational
change within the region. We needto work together at all levels, at
the government level, at the nonprofitlevel, and the business level, and
I think United Way is just thatperfect entity to unite the public and private

(25:41):
sectors around that collective vision. Completelyagree and Eric, if companies or individuals
are looking to get more involved withthe United Way and the work you're doing,
work is best to go get moreinformation. You can go to our
website. Thank you for asking UnitedWay Inc. Dot org. Yes,
and you'll see all of our eventsthat are upcoming. You'll see different opportunities.

(26:03):
We'll also be releasing our Alice Reportthat I know people are always interested
in. So that's a data reporton asset limited, income constrained and employed
individual households and I know that's somethingthat the community looks forward to every year,
so be on the lookout for thatcoming out in a couple of weeks.
Fantastic nice Well, thank you somuch, And I did say that

(26:23):
I'd leave with one final question,which we love to ask if we have
enough time on the show, andtoday we do so we'd love to ask
each of you, and when Victorwill start with you, is what do
you love most about living and orworking here in the Hartford region. Okay,
so it doesn't really have to bethe top, but like one of
the favorites. All right, allright, so this is just a place

(26:45):
I call home. Right, I'vebeen here my entire life. What do
I love about working here? Well, everything I told I told you know
a way earlier when I was speakingwith them, Like I had a speech
for Manchester Community College, I wouldsay two years ago, and I know
mister Quinnell was there. He usedto be the principal for Eastuffert Middle School,
so I've known him for a littlewhile. I think Blueminthal was there

(27:07):
as well. But when I whenI was having this speech, what I
told everyone when I was there isthat I know Connecticut. I love Connecticut.
When I was twelve or thirteen yearsold, teachers would ask me like,
hey, like, where do youwant to go to college? I
want to go to Manchester Community College. That's exactly where I want to go.
And I'm not lying. You couldlook that up on Google and that's
there. So as documented, Ilove the people I love. I mean,

(27:33):
I don't know his words strolled arounda lot, but I just like,
how how diverse the community is.I know, like me, when
I went into Praya Whitney, Iwas probably like the youngest person there,
but I'd never felt like the youngestperson there. I always felt, I
don't know, like at home,maybe because East Hartford is my backyard and
I lived in East Harford. ButI always felt comfortable where everywhere I went.
I had never feel bad anymore.I know, I used to feel

(27:55):
intimidated, but now I don't,you know, especially with people like you
guys. You know, I couldeasily be intimidated now, but I'm not.
I feel like at home, thisis my backyard. So that's why
I love being in Connecticut and Iwould never leave fantastic. I like that
at home. And now, Eric, this is a newer I was going
to say, and when you're comparingVictor and I have been here kind of
born and raised, you're a littlebit newer to Connecticut. So I would

(28:18):
love your thoughts on this. Ijust echo that, you know, the
diversity I think is just really it'svery rich here. Not only are the
people, but I also just justthe region. You know, you can
go on hiking trails, you canhave their waterfalls, some you know,
and in different parts of Connecticut youcan go down to the shore. I
love that beauty of Connecticut. Ithink it's just it's just a really,

(28:40):
you know, great place to be. But the other thing, aside from
the diversity, it's accessibility of people. It doesn't matter what your title is.
I just find so many people tobe very accessible, willing to talk,
willing to have a conversation, andreally invested in the future of this
region. Yes, fantastic, bothincredible answers, incredible conversation to so thank

(29:00):
you so much. Victor. Pleasekeep us posted on kind of what's next
for you, where you end updeciding to go to law school or if
you change your path you know again, but certainly wishing you the best of
luck. Absolutely, thank you somuch. I will keep in touch absolutely
so I'm death serious. Yes,fantastic and Eric, thank you so much
for being on the show today.Thank you to your team who we have

(29:21):
Kate Blackburn who's here behind us takinglovely photos for every for the day today,
and also your entire team for allthe work that they do. So
really appreciate what you're doing for theregion. Thank you, of course,
and for all the details about today'sshow, you can visit metro Hartford dot
com. We'd like to give abig thank you, as always to our
show partner, Oak Hill, andthank you to you for listening. I'm
Kate Allman. Go out and maketoday a good day here in Connecticut.