HeArts For Justice Puts Youth First

Thirty vendors in a crescent surrounded a central green area. From the stage, a rotating selection of spoken word, music, and dancing was interspersed with an ongoing set from DJ Tunes. Off to the side of the stage, activities and crafts were available, including free tie-dyeing and a community banner. People of all ages darted around, chatting with vendors or people they recognized.

HeArts for Justice, held in the Hamden Town Center Park for the fourth consecutive year, started as a small event with 50 people and a handful of vendors, but has blossomed into a festival of crafts, music, and community. The event happens with support from the Hamden Plains United Methodist Church, the mayor’s office, and Eli’s Garden of Healing, but it is mainly organized by Perjah Delgado, a Hamden Plains congregant and Hamden High School senior who has run the event since it began three years ago, when she was a freshman, under the auspices of then-Hamden Plains pastor Jeremiah Paul.

“This year we have 30 vendors and we are expecting over 200 people,” said Delgado. The event has grown dramatically since it began three years ago. Over the years, Delgado has been increasingly involved in running the event, and with that, there has been increased youth involvement across the board.

Delgado wants to give youth a chance to both participate and lead, a mentality present in all aspects of the festival. This year the live events were emceed by Emmy Rosario, a high school senior from New Haven. The volunteer staff was entirely teenagers. Most of the live performances of music and poetry were by teenagers and young adults. Many vendors were teenager-led as well. In the future, Delgado aims to expand these ideas by starting a nonprofit organization, which will ​“empower hope-driven change by supporting young people and education, community leaders, and organizations that work with them,” she said.

One of the vendors on Saturday was A Touch From Heaven, run by high school students Jaylyn Mohebzada and Alana Parker-Jackson (pictured above). It was their first time selling handmade jewelry and crochet pieces at a festival.

“It took about four weeks to make everything here,” Mohebzada said, but she has been making jewelry since she was a child. Mohebzada and Parker-Jackson were there to get exposure and grow their business, with the goal of collaborating with and raising money for local organizations. ​“I’m especially passionate about Alzheimer’s and medical awareness,” said Mohebzada. The duo also plan to partner with Eli’s Garden of Healing, which was also present at the event.

Eli’s Garden of Healing is a Hamden nonprofit founded shortly after the murder of Elijah Gomez, a Hamden High School freshman, in 2022. The organization was founded by Elijah’s aunt and uncle, Crystal Cathcart and Kyle Zukauskas. They aim to ​“help reduce the impact of violence in the community,” which to them has three parts: ​“art, wellness, nature,” Zukauskas said. The organization’s programming includes healing hikes at local parks, community art events and forums, as well as Eli’s Cleats, a program that raises money for sports equipment in schools. This program started in Hamden High School and has since expanded to Eli Whitney Technical High School and a school in New London. The goal is to help keep kids successful in school and off the streets.

Another booth at the event was Ms President US, a leadership program focused on empowering young girls and teaching public speaking. The program started in 2016 in Ridgefield, and now has five chapters in Connecticut and one in New York City. For two years, Hamden has had a chapter at the Miller Library. In the program, high school-aged girls who have demonstrated leadership can serve as mentors to other girls. On Saturday, the booth for Hamden’s chapter was being run by two mentors of the program, students Nana Winston and Gopika Sheth, who had completed the program when they were younger. They aim to teach young girls that their voices matter, and that despite the ​“male-dominated government we can have positions in government,” Winston said. That despite being young, they can have a meaningful impact on the world around them. That youth initiatives are important. That young people deserve a voice.

“The goal is to empower the youth to lead,” said Delgado.