Make the Road Connecticut opens ‘People's Mansion' to serve Bridgeport community

A mansion opens its doors in Bridgeport - and it belongs to everyone. Make the Road Connecticut, an organization that supports immigrant and working class communities, has moved into a brand-new community space.

“We're standing in front of our People’s Mansion,” Barbara Lopez, Make the Road Connecticut director, said.

With a grand opening last week, the cultural and resource center is officially available for public use.

“We've been building community with the immigrant, Latinx, first generation folks here. So we're happy to open our doors,” Lopez said. “It's really just going to serve as a community hub where we can continue to do community organizing, provide legal and survival services.”

Make the Road Connecticut started up in 2015, and serves people across Connecticut out of Bridgeport and Hartford. The group connects people to healthcare, and advocates for coverage for the undocumented. They educate people about their workplace and housing rights.

The organization also supports youth, holding meetings just for teens, and pushing for the English Learners Bill of Rights that would require school districts to translate documents for parents of ESL students.

Now they have a new space to do this work.

“This is the Malala room,” Mary Elizabeth Smith, Make the Road Connecticut development and programs director, said. “Actually all of our rooms are named after either famous national or international activists who made a difference in their communities or local changemakers.”

In the three-story house, there is a general conference room for large meetings.

“This is where a lot of our community work happens,” Smith said.

There are spaces set aside for teen groups and young children.

“A lot of programming around college access,” Smith said. “We try to make it as kind of welcoming a place as possible.”

There is even a quiet relaxation space with a small trickling fountain and yoga mat. The mansion serves as an office to 10 staff members and is open to about 2,000 Make the Road Connecticut volunteers across the state.

As the organization develops some of the unused spaces in this People's Mansion, they also aim to expand services to the community.

“One of our dreams of expansion of the both the building and programs and services is having some sort of legal services. Immigration, legal services, or like workers’ rights,” Smith said. “This room, which is currently unoccupied, is one of the spaces that we have thought would be perfect for that.”

Smith says Make the Road Connecticut is now launching a three-year plan to raise money and expand programs, brainstorming alongside community members to determine future growth.

“We want to really think through, in this building, how can we grow? What are the ways that we can grow? And what are the priorities for the community?” Smith said.

All while continuing their mission of building up people in Bridgeport and across Connecticut.

“Just be in relationship with others, which is important, especially if you're newly arrived to the country. It can be kind of scary,” Lopez said. “So we want to be the cultural hub. We want to be the first point where people come and learn about what are the possibilities in particular are in Bridgeport.”