Following is the text of a Dec. 12 press release from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven announcing its latest round of grants.
The Community Foundation distributes over $1.2 million to area nonprofits
Highest number of multiyear grants awarded in Foundation’s history
New Haven —” The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven distributed $1,206,625 at its October Board of Director’s meeting. Thirty-four nonprofit organizations received support for programs addressing health and basic needs, affordable housing issues and more.
The Foundation awarded twenty new multi-year grants, 6 new one-year and 8 renewal grants. Multiyear grants demonstrate a commitment by The Foundation and confidence in an organization’s ability to achieve outcomes, measures and benchmarks cited in the grant application process. A strong advantage to multiyear grants over renewals is that dollars are allocated by The Foundation for subsequent years provided that pre-determined benchmarks are reached by a nonprofit at the end of each grant year.
“The single round of new competitive grantmaking in 2005 gave us an opportunity to support the strongest programs that had the greatest potential for maximum impact in the community,” says Will Ginsberg, president and CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. “It also deepened our dialog with the nonprofit community, with whom we have had several subsequent conversations about how to connect donors with the good work they do.”
EDUCATION
Connecticut Children’s Museum
$30,000
To support the Creating Readers program, a multi-faceted and inclusive literacy experience for 5,000 inner-city preschool to 3rd grade children and their families to experience and read books. Funds will be used to purchase 5,775 books and other program expenses. Multiyear grant total: $85,000.
Good Shepherd Day Care Center
$50,000
To support pre-development costs to build a new and larger day care center that will more adequately meet the needs of 92 young children and that will enhance the early learning environment.
New Haven School Readiness Council
$68,525
To support a new parent engagement component of the ABC’s of School Readiness that will reach 420 families. The ABC’s initiative is a program using 26 important concepts related to children’s development, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet. Components include a community engagement campaign and a media campaign. Multiyear grant total: $217,175.
Read to Grow
$20,000
To support Books for Babies, Books for Babies Follow-up Program and Pediatric Waiting Room Programs reaching 1,240 families. Multiyear grant total: $50,666.
West Haven Child Development Center
$44,600
To expand their pediatric nurse practitioner to a full time position to more effectively serve 130 children and their families. Multiyear grant total: $133,800.
YOUTH
Boys & Girls Club of Lower Naugatuck Valley
$50,000
To support construction costs of a new 36,000 sq. ft. Boys and Girls Club on Clifton Avenue in Ansonia that will provide quality out of school experiences to 350 children per day, primarily from Ansonia. Multiyear grant total: $150,000.
City Wide Youth Coalition
$29,000
To increase visibility in the community to more effectively advocate on behalf of youth, and 30 New Haven youth-serving agencies that serve them. Funds will be used to pay a portion of fees and operating expenses.
Pequenas Ligas Hispanas de New Haven
$20,000
To continue to provide a comprehensive, year-round, athletic volleyball instructional program for 100 girls, primarily Latina, ages 2 – 19.
Regional Youth/Adult Substance Abuse Program, Inc.
$30,000
To develop and train the future non-profit leaders and enhance the presence of Public Allies by placing 6 to 8 of the 23 CT Allies in the Greater New Haven area. Funds will be used to support administrative costs, trainings, supplies, and travel. Multiyear grant total: $90,000.
Youth Continuum, Inc.
$25,000
To support the Youth Enterprise Project (YEP), a major component of the ongoing Education, Training and Enrichment Center (ETEC) program that prepares at-risk youth for successful independence through educational and vocational training, entrepreneurial ventures, community service projects, and art and cultural opportunities. The YEP will serve approximately 50 at-risk youth per year. Multiyear grant total: $75,000.
Youth Rights Media
$28,000
To support staff that are necessary to enhance and expand the organization’s ability to provide leadership opportunities for 45 young people who have been impacted by the criminal justice system.
HEALTH
Area Congregations Together, Inc.
$50,000
To help pay for the cost of constructing a new facility called the Spooner House that will shelter 200 individuals annually.
Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen
$20,000
To continue to support the provision of 30,000 free, nutritious meals to the homeless, unemployed, and working poor as well as 6,000 bags of groceries to families on an emergency basis.
FISH of Greater New Haven
$12,500
To continue direct homebound distribution of food to those who are ill, aged, disabled (temporarily or long term), with a projected outcome of serving 25 to 30 families a day, for a total of approximately 18,000 individuals.
Griffin Health Services Corporation o/b/o Valley Parish Nurses
$30,000
To assist with replacement of the Mobile Community Health Resource Center Outreach Van. Community Foundation funds will be used specifically to support the purchase and installation of the satellite communication system and the necessary plumbing hardware needed to perform proper health screenings. It is estimated that there will be 8,000 contacts yearly.
Leeway, Inc.
$50,000
To implement a new program for people living with HIV/AIDS called the Connecticut Community AIDS Care Program (CCACP) that will serve as the first pilot program of its kind in the state. Support is for a Nurse Practitioner to provide intensive clinical case management to up to 100 discharged residents. Multiyear grant total: $100,000.
New Haven Family Alliance
$70,000
To support the Male Involvement Network, a program dedicated to reconnecting non-custodial, low-income men and fathers to their children. The goal of the program is to serve 45 additional men by providing comprehensive case management. Funds will be used to support hiring an outreach worker and a part-time data collections specialist. Multiyear grant total: $180,000.
The Community Action Agency of Greater New Haven (Community Fuel Bank)
$30,000
To continue to help the Fuel Bank meet the anticipated $150,000 needed to serve 800 households in the targeted communities.
VNA Services Inc
$45,000
To continue to help 100 – 200 residents of Hamden, age 60 and over, remain at home as long as possible and to enhance the individual’s independent functioning and quality of life.
Yale School of Nursing
$15,000
To support a program with the goal of helping 270 New Haven youth manage obesity and prevent Type II Diabetes (T2DM).
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
CitySeed, Inc.
$30,000
To support the creation and marketing of a good nutrition awareness program in conjunction with becoming an EBT (electronic benefit transfer) agent (authorized to accept food stamps); and to launch and staff the New Haven Food Policy Council, with the mission of strengthening the local food system. Multiyear grant total: $70,000
Housatonic Valley Association
$35,000
To support Stream Teams and to build public awareness and citizen action opportunities to conserve open space along the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers and Estuary. Multiyear grant total: $70,000.
Madison Land Conservation Trust, Inc.
$10,000
To help support a $500,000 fundraising campaign to acquire the Neck River Uplands properties, preserving Madison’s watershed and future water supply. Multiyear grant total: $30,000.
New Haven Folk, Inc.
$15,000
To support the Sustainability Project which will transition the New Haven Folk Alliance from an all-volunteer organization to a staffed organization with a broad volunteer pool and diverse funding base. New Haven Folk, Inc. will produce folk music concerts and events that reach 3,000 to 5,000 people annually. Multiyear grant total: $35,000.
New Haven Preservation Trust
$25,000
To increase the organization’s capacity to sustain its efforts to protect New Haven’s architectural heritage. Multiyear grant total: $50,000.
Orchestra New England
$39,000
To continue tosupport the Family Concert Series. Three student educational concerts will be presented in the school systems in the New Haven area reaching an audience of 1,600 to 1,800.
Seymour Land Conservation Trust, Inc.
$30,000
To help build additional storage space and to purchase equipment to maintain trails and parks preserving natural habitats for the enjoyment of Valley residents, providing special accommodations for handicapped and mentally challenged individuals. Multiyear grant total: $60,000.
Valley United Way
$40,000
To support the planning and implementation of the annual community fund raising campaign. Multiyear grant total: $80,000.
Valley United Way
$100,000
To continue support for the Valley Needs and Opportunities Project (VNOP) and the Valley Council of Health and Human Service Organizations (VCHHS). The goal of both projects has been to implement the recommendations of the Mt. Auburn Report.
REGIONAL & COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
1000 Friends of Connecticut
$30,000
To assist in the start-up of “the only grassroots organization in the state solely devoted to promoting smart growth and preventing destructive sprawl” created from a merger and transition from All Aboard! and the CenterEdge Project. Multiyear grant total: $120,000.
Corporation for Supportive Housing
$60,000
To provide 1000 supportive housing units throughout the state over the next four years. Multiyear grant total: $180,000.
Foundation for Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce
$25,000
To continue support for the promotion and adoption of policies for the economic development of the region recommended by the 1999 Gallis report commissioned by the Connecticut Institute for the 21st Century.
Housing Operations Management Enterprises, Inc.
$20,000
To support the development of 119 affordable housing units in New Haven and the Naugatuck Valley. Multiyear grant total: $40,000.
New Life Corporation
$30,000
To provide workforce and asset-building services to 75 – 100 Latinos in the Hill and Fair Haven neighborhoods of New Haven. Multiyear grant total: $90,000.
Since 1928, donors to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven have built the community’s endowment currently valued at approximately $230 million. In 2004, The Foundation Board of Directors distributed over $11 million from over 575 different named endowments supporting grants in the areas of health, education and youth, community and economic development, arts and culture, and other vital areas. For more information about The Community Foundation visit www.cfgnh.org.
- 30 –