NCC is the regional distribution site where cases are sorted to the scouts who sold them. NCC is also the place where K-12 teachers learn the latest classroom technology, chess champs battle for board game glory and community leaders gather for educational summits.
“NCC is a good neighbor,” said NCC President David L. Levinson. “The College is a leader in the academic, economic and cultural life of southwest Fairfield County. Reaching out to the community is a large part of our mission.”
Norwalk Community College is truly the community’s college. It’s a learning center for more than 11,000 students---and a resource center for the public and community. NCC is home to a handful of non-profit organizations which have satellite offices on campus. The college also opens its doors to community groups and local legislators for meetings, conferences, performances and special events.
For example, State Rep. Robert Duff (Norwalk) and U.S. Congressman Christopher Shays hold field office hours at NCC, where they talk to local constituents about issues and listen to their concerns. In 2003, NCC hosted a Congressional Hearing on Homeland Security.
When the American Heart Association launched its Heart Walk last fall, NCC hosted the organization’s Heart Captain Kick-Off. When the North American SWAT Training Association needed wide open spaces for deployment training, NCC offered its West Campus facilities.
The College also has played host to Literacy Volunteers of America’s annual Festival of Words and the American Lung Association’s Great American Smokeout. And every week, students from Briggs High School board a bus to NCC, where they take classes preparing them for college level work.
Other groups to hold programs and events at NCC include the Ox Ridge Hunt Club, the Norwalk Teachers Federation Union, Music Theater of Connecticut, the Norwalk Health Department, the Connecticut Junior Soccer Association, Habitat for Humanity, the Human Services Council and the Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce.
Some groups hold one-time events at the college, while others like the Girl Scouts of America, return annually like the swallows of Capistrano. Some organizations have even taken up permanent residence at NCC.
NCC is home base to the Fairfield County Women’s Center, a thriving partnership with the Junior League of Stamford-Norwalk. The center provides free programs and services addressing challenges facing women and free referrals to a host of legal, financial and social services in southwestern Fairfield County.
NCC also is home to a satellite office of Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now (NEON), a community action agency serving the greater Norwalk area.. In 2005, NCC and NEON jointly sponsored a summer enrichment program for preschool children using the resources of NCC’s Early Childhood Development Laboratory School.
Norwalk ACTS for Children is based at NCC, too. This nonprofit organization of concerned city leaders works to improve the lives and futures of Norwalk youth. The group first came together last March at the invitation of NCC President Levinson as a follow-up to a conference on the federal “No Child Left Behind” legislation sponsored by NCC Lifetime Learners Institute and the Norwalk NAACP.
Visit NCC’s West Campus and you’ll find the home of the United Nations International Visitors Committee of Fairfield County. This non-government organization (NGO) arranges for diplomats and visiting dignitaries to visit local organizations for meaningful cultural exchanges. The Visitors Committee has arranged for a delegation of educators from Georgia in the former Soviet Union to visit NCC on Jan. 26- 27 and tour J.M. Wright Technical School and Thomson Learning Corp, both in Stamford.
Also located on NCC’s West Campus is the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC), a nonprofit organization devoted to increasing the economic independence of women. The WBDC provides small business and professional development training, career assistance, networking and referral sources.
In addition, the Norwalk Housing Authority (NHA) has set up a work study program at NCC. The NHA provides programs for adults and children that instill pride in one’s heritage and teach methods for managing social problems from teen alienation and underachievement to violence and drug addiction.
For information, call Barbara Smith, NCC Events and Campus Relations
coordinator, at (203) 857-7286.