The Fun Facts of Bport

 Bridgeport is one of the poorest cities, in one of the richest counties in the United States.

By looking at the city now, you probably wouldn’t guess that it used to be a booming industrial city with business and factories; not to mention it was once the major weaponry supplier for WWII. After times changed and modern technology became more abundant, Bridgeport, unfortunately, wasn’t exactly able to change with the times as well. As we drove through the city last Thursday for our “social justice tour” by Jamie’s supervisor, she told us about the history and socio-economic changes in the city that led to numerous factories being shut down from outsourcing and businesses moving to cheaper land and taxes, causing their buildings to become abandoned due to the vast amount of money it would cost just to demolish the property. Large areas of property that could be used as a city park or a new housing property, rather, lie unusable. These issues, among a history of many controversial issues that have continued even today, have created a city that is continually struggling to stay on the map. From past issues of redlining to current problems in the education system, it makes me angry that this is not only happening here, but in so many cities across this country.

By seeing Bridgeport with new eyes after learning more about the city’s history, it really made feel distraught with the conditions in which the city suffers. Especially with a palpable abundance of wealth in the neighboring city of Fairfield, I’m still shocked by the repulsion I felt seeing the blatantly drastic differences by simply crossing over a few blocks. Driving past million dollar homes, and seeing how much more restaurants and businesses create this bubble of a clean, higher class, and “safe” atmosphere, feels completely abnormal. This is going to be something that I’ll probably wrestle with this year, especially as a new resident in Bridgeport and working with people that have seen and felt the struggles every day.

So, speaking of work, last Wednesday and Thursday we also went to visit all of our job placement sites, got to meet everyone’s supervisors, and tour the various buildings. It was really nice to be able to see where everyone would be working, who they would be working with and get a sense of what their days would be like so that when we talked about our work later on we would be able to remember what they were referring to. It was both incredibly overwhelming as well as relieving to finally see the physical building where I would be and to meet my supervisor and the staff that I will be working with. Mostly because I had been anticipating for so long what things were going to be like and how far away my job really was that it took off some of the pressure. Because, hey, a new job, with a new organization that hadn’t had JVs in the past was very daunting to me. Everyone’s supervisors and coworkers that we met were incredibly welcoming and so knowledgeable about the city that again, I felt blessed knowing we have continued support for the work we’re doing.