NEW HAVEN — Veronica Douglas-Givan has two mantras she holds at the same time: one is "no excuses," and the other is "the struggle is real."

Douglas-Givan, the family advocate for New Haven Adult Education, said the adult education system will work with anyone so there is no excuse not to receive a high school diploma. The struggle is real, she said, because adult education acknowledges that people have struggles that keep them from achieving.

Several hundred people — all in red T-shirts — marched Thursday from New Haven Adult Education on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard to the New Haven Green to demonstrate how many people have benefited from their exposure to adult education services.

"This is a statewide movement," said Michelle Bonora, principal of New Haven Adult Education. Buses brought in representatives of adult education services from around the state, including Danbury, Stamford, Middletown and Manchester. "We know students are out there. We're breaking down the stigma around what we do and showing that we're regular people."

Bonora said that, although the fall semester has begun, anyone seeking to complete their education could walk through the door at any time and be enrolled in a class by the next day. That's what "no excuses" means, she said.

There are many reasons why a person may drop out, Douglas-Givan said, and none of them should be barriers to finishing an education. She said they welcome anyone, whether they be 17 or 70.

"Everyone's not dropping out because they're lazy," she said. In her job, for instance, she has worked with a man who dropped out of school because he was embarrassed by a stutter, and a pregnant woman left by an addict mother in a home with unpaid utilities. The challenge is engaging the entire family, she said.

"The entire family is important, because there are generational situations we need to first understand to find out what we can do to help," she said.

In the case of the pregnant woman, they found her mother a clinic to help with her addiction, and then later walked the younger woman through the process of enrolling her child in day care.

In the case of New Haven Public Schools and an ongoing controversy about how students are walking long distances through unsafe terrain to get to bus stops this year after a decision was made to eliminate stops, Douglas-Givan said one cannot "blame the victim." Getting children to school is difficult for many parents who may work multiple jobs or be mobility limited.

"We're seeing what we can do to help you, and that's what this campaign is about," she said.

Before the march kicked off, a group of elected officials put the event in economic terms. Mayor Toni Harp told the marchers that she knew they would "inspire so many people."

"We live in a knowledge-based economy. Knowledge is the currency in our society," she said. "You get it here."

State Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven, described adult education as "the best return on investment we could ever make" as a state legislator.