Editor's note: Retiring from the U.S. Coast Guard often does not mean retiring from service and leadership. In light of New London's recent designation as a Coast Guard City, The Day interviewed several people who served in the Coast Guard and live in the area, and through their jobs or volunteer work are contributing to the local community.

Readers are invited to tell The Day about other retired Coast Guard men and women who make southeastern Connecticut a better place to live. Go to: www.theday.com/submitcoastguardprofile

New London — Chris Soto's connection to the city started when he was a cadet at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

More specifically, it started when, as a cadet, he began going to a downtown New London barber known by the name of Willow.

"Good haircuts were important to me so I didn't go to the on-campus barber shop," Soto, 34, said recently from the offices of Higher Edge, an education nonprofit that he founded in New London. "I went downtown, met another Puerto Rican barber, and we connected. From there I met other people in community."

He graduated in 2003. When he left New London, already "it was a positive place for me." After five years in the Coast Guard with assignments in Miami and New York, Soto got out and "really started reconnecting with New London" through a position as the assistant director of diversity at the academy, working on student retention and outreach.

After earning a master's degree in public affairs at Brown University, he returned to New London and founded Higher Edge in 2011. The organization helps low-income and first-generation pre-college students navigate getting into and through college.

"The work that we do resonates because this work was not being done in eastern Connecticut," Soto said, noting that in Massachusetts and Rhode Island this work has been going on "for decades" and Connecticut "is just catching up."

Higher Edge has seen more than 100 students through its access and success programs, which help with the college application process and then mentor and advise students in college to ensure that they graduate.

To demonstrate the organization's success, Soto offered the story of Katherine Burgos, who graduated from New London High School in 2012.

Burgos came to New London from the Dominican Republic as a junior, not knowing much English. She was connected with Higher Edge through a community partner. Burgos' grades "were off the charts," Soto said, but she was academically tracked as an English Language Learner. Higher Edge advocated to get her into regular track English, which enabled her to get into a four-year college.

She's currently a biology major at Eastern Connecticut State University and wants to be a doctor, Soto said.

"The reason her family brought her here as a junior is because they knew that they wanted a better life for her. ... Katherine is example of why people are relocating to New London to better themselves," Soto said.

Soto lives in New London and is a member of the state's Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission and vice chair of the board of directors of the academy's alumni association.

j.bergman@theday.com

Twitter: @JuliaSBergman