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November 6, 2020 Women Who Mean Business

Harris dedicates her business, nonprofit to helping young people

Kim C. Harris in front of the Harris and Tucker School building.
By Patricia Villers

Advocating for the neighborhood she loves is at the core of Kim C. Harris’ life’s work.

Harris is a second-generation owner and director of Harris and Tucker School in Newhallville, the New Haven neighborhood where she was born and raised.

In 1970 Harris’ late mother, Patricia A. Harris, and her late aunt, Margaret Tucker, founded the preschool. Patricia died in 2005; Margaret passed away last year.

Now Harris and her cousin, Karen Tucker, are continuing their mothers’ calling.

According to Harris, in 1968 Margaret decided it was time for a career change. She and Patricia knew they wanted to start their own business and work with either senior citizens or children, Harris said.

They chose children, and Harris and Tucker School was born. The first location was in Harris’ home church, Mount Zion Seventh-Day Adventist Church at 46 Marlboro St., not far from its current location.

“We’re a Christian-based school,” Harris said. “We teach morals and respect.”

Harris and Tucker is the only nationally-accredited, family-owned and operated preschool in Newhallville, situated in both the town of Hamden and city of New Haven. Harris said technology has positively changed how she and her staff approach teaching. She joked that children today are “born with technology” and know how to use it.

“We have to prepare our children for school; we have to fight hard so they don’t miss a step,” she said, adding that more is expected of children when they enter kindergarten than in the past.

Harris said she loves the multigenerational partnership program the school offers through the Agency on Aging. The school also offers internship programs for local college students.

“We try to help them start their own business,” she said.

Harris also holds a television production certificate from Los Angeles City College and she has launched Kids TV Academy, a program that teaches students from six to 17 years of age the basics of working in front of and behind the camera.

A planned celebration to mark the school’s 50th anniversary this year has been put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Harris said.

Aiding those in need

In addition to her dedication to the school and its students, Harris works tirelessly to improve the community and wants to see it thrive. She is in her fourth year as chair of the Newhallville Community Management Team and sits on the New Haven Early Childcare Council.

Harris sees economic development as the key to helping her neighbors stop the cycle of poverty, and lead better lives.

There are 7,620 people who live in Newhallville, she said, and there are 20 businesses within approximately one-square mile. Her dream is to see the streets lined with shops and family-owned businesses like in days gone by.

As founder of the nonprofit Inspired Communities Inc., Harris is partnering with Newhallville United to help with food disparities in the neighborhood and other underserved areas in Greater New Haven.

“Since March (and the outbreak of the COVID pandemic) five of six food pantries in the area closed down,” she said.

Inspired Communities Inc. teamed with several other agencies to serve 200,000 meals so far to those in need.

“We have a [food] delivery service for seniors who live in senior housing,” she said.

One of Harris’ projects is the creation of what she called an “information station” that would offer residents basic living information and help local businesses to boost the economy. Her entrepreneurial and community works have gained her recognition of late.

She was named “New Havener of the Year” in 2019 by the New Haven Independent and received United Way’s “Game Changer” award this year.

Caroline Smith, founder and co-director of Collab, a community-centered organization that supports entrepreneurs, says Harris is a “tireless advocate for New Haven, especially her neighborhood of Newhallville.”

“What's special and memorable about Kim, though, is the way she consistently shows up — with deep, impenetrable kindness, curiosity, and love,” Smith said.

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