REACH, or Resilience, Empathy, Acceptance, Cooperation, and Hope, is a local nonprofit organization with a mission to connect kids and build relationships that change their lives. Co-Founder Lindsey Carley said that REACH provides “consistent, safe, predictable environments where [kids] can experience unconditional love, support, and hope for the future.” Carley explained that REACH was founded on the belief that it only takes one caring adult to change the trajectory of at-risk youths’ lives.

REACH was founded in 2010 and received its 501(c)(3) in 2012. Carley shared that she and Adam Carley got the idea while they were pumpkin picking at Castle Hill Farm. She said that she looked around and realized “not everyone gets to do that.” The “that” she was referring to was experiences like pumpkin picking, exploring the outdoors, and other similar activities, due to financial barriers.

“We’ve been growing ever since,” Carley said.

The bulk of what REACH did at first was a mentorship program in Newtown High School. It partnered high school students with at-risk youth and the mentors would meet with their mentees twice a week.

“Their mentors would become everything to them. The relationships that they built, the connections that they had — even just a conversation. And that program exploded. Everybody wanted to be a part of it,” Carley said. “At the time, you know, 2012 was a very difficult time in Newtown in general, and there was a big need.”

REACH offers mentorship and tutoring programs for at-risk youth, coupled with dinner. Carley said that she discovered food is a big need for these students as all of the students that are served by REACH are at or below the poverty level. REACH also offers weekend outdoor expeditions for its participants. REACH has partnered with several other organizations for events like pumpkin picking, rope climbing, and boating.

As an added incentive, REACH offers a six-week summer camp completely free of charge for participants who keep their grades up and consistently participate in REACH programming throughout the school year.

“It’s kind of like the reward hanging over their heads and they wanted to be a part of it,” Carley said. “Tubing and field trips and just being on the lake! Just coming back here and having air conditioning and being able to have a meal. We offer breakfast, and then we did a full lunch, and then we would send them home with the leftovers for dinner.”

On top of the weekend expeditions and summer camp, the REACH office at 25 Church Hill Road has several rooms for children to hang out and explore in. REACH has an arts and crafts room, several video game consoles, and often has volunteers coming to teach about different subjects, giving kids an opportunity to step out of their comfort zone and try something new.

Carley said she is excited to be back in Newtown. “This space allows us to provide academic support, mentoring, leadership development, small group work with our kiddos, and it really has that like, I don’t know, cozy feel. Like it’s their home away from home … we really love it.”

REACH serves 150 children a year. In the next three years, it hopes to expand that impact to 250 children. The program currently serves children from second to eighth grade and operates in Bethel, Brookfield, Newtown, Danbury, and Monroe. This year, REACH hopes to help 50 more students, which means in fiscal year 2026-2027, Carley hopes to serve 200 children. Right now, there is a waitlist. Carley noted that while many people want to join REACH, it is a referral process.

“You need to be referred, either by a school guidance counselor or an outside counselor, a doctor. There has to be proof of a need. We [partner] with the school systems and with outside doctors and referrals to make sure that we’re meeting the needs of the kids that need it the most,” Carley explained.

Carley encourages parents to reach out to school guidance counselors if they believe their children need support in some way. Jeff Tolson, a guidance counselor at Newtown High School, is part of REACH’s team. The guidance counselors are an integral part of REACH’s programming as not only do they hand-pick mentors, but mentors are matched to mentees based on personality and interests.

“The nice thing is that a lot of our mentees become mentors. It comes full circle. We’re very lucky to have a large pool of volunteers … It’s just amazing. And we didn’t realize on the other end — we knew how much it means to the kids — we didn’t realize how much it would mean to the mentors. I think it’s such a powerful piece to the program that we didn’t expect,” Carley said.

Carley noted that she felt like she and her co-founder, Adam, had “a good idea,” and one that “fills in spaces no one else does.” She believes that “a child’s opportunity shouldn’t be determined by how much money their parents make.

“It’s not fair to them. And it’s exactly why we exist,” Carley said.

REACHtoberfest

REACH’s mission is only made possible by fundraising. The biggest fall fundraiser, REACHtoberfest, is returning this year after a six year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The beer and wine tasting event is scheduled for October 10, 6-9 pm, at Castle Hill Farm, 1 Sugar Lane. Tickets are $75 and all proceeds go back into REACH’s programming. Ticket sales also include dinner from Vazzy’s Pizza Truck. Carley said that there will be live music, a silent auction, a raffle, and more.

Carley also shared that a car show will take place sometime in September and a trivia night is to come in January. For more information about these events or REACH’s programming, go to reachwesternct.org.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.