2019 Responsive Grant Awards: The Community Foundation Awards Nearly $3 million to Local Nonprofits

New Haven, Conn. (November 4, 2019) – The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven has announced its Responsive Grant awards for 2019, totaling $2,938,243, to nonprofit organizations working throughout Greater New Haven.

The grants will support 43 local programs and organizations, including many that align with the goals and objectives of The Foundation's work to promote a future of opportunity for Greater New Haven residents. Grants fall within eight issue areas: arts & culture, basic needs, children & youth, civic vitality & social justice, economic success, education, environment & animals, and health & wellness. Grant awards were selected from a pool of 54 applications seeking a total of nearly $6.29 million.

This grant cycle also includes a timely grant to the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven whose after-school operations were at risk of discontinuance. Fortunately, the organization was able to continue its programming in part because of a general operating support grant from The Community Foundation.

"Our responsive grantmaking process addresses the immediate needs identified within in our local nonprofit sector," says Christina Ciociola, senior vice president of Grantmaking & Strategy at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. "State funding cuts continue to be a concern for many nonprofits, especially to nonprofit healthcare & mental health providers and youth-serving programs. Additionally, basic needs organizations will certainly face an increase in demand for their services."

Ciociola adds that many organizations are considering how they can work more efficiently by coming together to work in new ways via partnerships, collaborations, mergers, or shared services. One such merger was recently announced between New Haven Farms and New Haven Land Trust.

"Collectively, New Haven Land Trust and New Haven Farms have programs that impact the health of thousands of families in our region. A merge between the two organizations is in alignment and holds the promise of strengthening the capacity of both organizations to fulfill their missions," says William W. Ginsberg, president, and CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

The Community Foundation has a 25-year investment in New Haven Land Trust's Community Gardens and its newer emphasis on employing and training young people in their Growing Entrepreneurs Program.

The Responsive Grant cycle is open to nonprofits serving Greater New Haven and is made possible with unrestricted and preference funds established by donors at The Foundation. These types of funds provide broad flexible resources for our local community. To learn more on how to create a charitable fund, visit www.cfgnh.org/startmyfund.

2019 Responsive Grant Recipients

Animal Haven
$42,000 to increase and develop fundraising strategies to support safe refuge for adoptable cats and dogs.

Artspace
$45,000 to provide general operating support to catalyze artistic activities, connect contemporary artists, audiences, and resources to enrich art experiences and activate art spaces.

Boys & Girls Club of New Haven
$125,000 to provide general operating support for after-school and summer programming for New Haven youth.

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Hartford
$40,000 to support youth programming at Centro San Jose.

Center for Children's Advocacy
$40,000 to support the Racial and Ethnic Disparities Reduction Project which reforms policies and practices in education, law enforcement, juvenile justice, and criminal justice systems to reduce the overrepresentation of Black and Latino youth in Greater New Haven in the justice system.

Children's Center of Hamden
$46,000 to support Attachment, Regulation, and Competency Training for staff in order to increase better outcomes for children, youth, young adults, and their families who are victims of trauma.

Citywide Youth Coalition
$60,000 to provide general operating support to train youth to participate in the civic engagement process and be their own agents and leaders of change.

Columbus House
$30,000 to support consultant costs to conduct a national search for a new CEO.

Community Action Agency of New Haven
$105,000 to provide general operating support for social services, collaborations, advocacy, and knowledge generation for those in poverty in the Greater New Haven area.

Connecticut Food Bank
$40,000 to support the Mobile Pantry program, which removes transportation barriers that make it difficult for food-insecure households in Greater New Haven to obtain the adequate nutrition they need.

Connecticut Fund for the Environment
$30,000 to support the construction of a segment of the Mill River Trail in Fair Haven.

Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund
$40,000 to support the Legal Education Program, which addresses the lack of legal representation and information for low-income individuals in Greater New Haven.

The Connection
$20,000 to provide basic needs and resources for individuals with psychiatric and/or substance use disorders who are homeless or at risk for homelessness.

Cornell Scott Hill Health Corporation
$146,243 to support the Grant Street Partnership (GSP) facility, which provides treatment and shelter for individuals suffering from a substance abuse disorder while simultaneously experiencing homelessness.

Creative Arts Workshop
$70,000 to provide general operating support for educational programming in the visual arts as well as art exhibitions.

Diaper Bank of Connecticut
$90,000 to provide general operating support to ensure that all families living in poverty have an adequate supply of diapers, raise community awareness and advocate for policy reform.

Emerge Connecticut
$130,000 to provide general operating support to assist formerly incarcerated persons to return to their families as responsible members, and to their communities as law-abiding, contributing citizens.

Fellowship Place
$180,000 to provide general operating support to help adults with mental illness lead independent, meaningful and healthy lives through a full range of therapeutic support and rehabilitation services.

FISH of Greater New Haven
$60,000 to provide general operating support to provide emergency food assistance by delivering bags of groceries directly to homebound individuals.

Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council
$60,000 to support the provision of business development services, including one-on-one consulting, technical assistance, and training to business enterprises owned by persons of color in Greater New Haven.

Hamden Land Conservation Trust
$15,000 to provide support towards the purchase of 42-acres contiguous to Brooksvale Park and to secure a secondary easement to the property for public access and programming.

International Festival of Arts & Ideas
$120,000 to provide general operating support for an international festival in New Haven, attracting and engaging a broad and diverse audience, celebrating and building community, and advancing economic development.

Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven
$45,000.00 to support the enhancement of safety and security at the Jewish Community Center.

Liberty Community Services
$80,000 to provide general operating to secure and maintain housing for individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and are living with HIV/AIDS, mental illness, and addiction.

Long Wharf Theatre
$165,000 to provide general operating support for producing plays and for artistic educational programming for students of all ages.

Music Haven
$60,000 to provide general operating support for music performance and music education for children and youth, their families, and professional musicians in New Haven.

Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven
$85,000 to provide general operating support for the revitalization of New Haven's disadvantaged neighborhoods through affordable homeownership development, homeownership counseling, and education and community engagement.

New Haven Farms
$65,000 to provide general operating support for health and community development through urban agriculture.

New Haven Legal Assistance Association
$90,000 to provide general operating support for legal services to individuals and groups unable to obtain legal services because of limited income, age, disability, discrimination, and other barriers.

New Haven Pride Center
$20,000 to support arts, culture, and humanities programming for the LGBTQ+ community and to build understanding in the broader community.

New Reach
$100,000 to provide general operating support for shelter, housing, stabilization, and furniture services for women and children confronted with homelessness, HIV/AIDS, and behavioral health issues.

Read to Grow
$20,000 to support consultant costs to help with the leadership transitions of the Board Chair and the Executive Director.

Read to Grow
$30,000 to support literacy programs including Books for Babies, Books for Kids, and Early Steps to School Success in New Haven.

Solar Youth
$105,000 to provide general operating support for opportunities youth programming that incorporates environmental exploration, leadership development, and community service.

Squash Haven
$54,000 to provide general operating support for academic support and enrichment, squash instruction, service, and college placement and support for New Haven students.

St. Martin de Porres Academy
$75,000 to provide general operating support for a middle school that provides a tuition-free, extended day education for underserved girls and boys from low-income families in the New Haven area.

Student Parenting and Family Services
$36,000 to provide general operating support for childcare, parenting education, and support services to teenage parents attending public school in New Haven.

United Way of Greater New Haven
$24,000 to support consultant costs for strategic planning.

United Way of Greater New Haven
$100,000 to support the Greater New Haven Coordinated Access Network, which addresses homelessness by investing in shelter diversion for families and individuals.

Urban Resources Initiative
$60,000 to provide general operating support for the fostering of environmental stewardship and human development by promoting citizen participation and community action through education, institutional cooperation, and professional guidance.

VETTS
$35,000 to support costs associated with a merger with New Haven Family Alliance.

Women's Health Research at Yale
$90,000 to provide general operating support for medical research that remedies the health disparities experienced by women, and by uncovering gender differences in health outcomes that benefit both women and men.

Youth Continuum
$65,000 to support the launch of Y2Y New Haven, a youth-to-youth model for a young adult homeless shelter, in partnership with Y2Y Network in Boston and Dwight Hall at Yale.

About The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

Thanks to the generosity of three generations of donors, The Community Foundation awarded $34 million in grants and distributions in 2018 from charitable assets of more than $600 million composed of hundreds of individually named funds. In addition to its grantmaking, The Community Foundation helps build a stronger community by taking measures to improve student achievement, create healthy families in New Haven, promote local philanthropy through www.giveGreater.org^® and The Great Give^®, and encourage a better understanding of the region. The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven's 20-town service area includes Ansonia, Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, Derby, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Oxford, Seymour, Shelton, Wallingford, West Haven and Woodbridge. For more information about The Community Foundation, visit www.cfgnh.org, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.org/cfgnh, or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cfgnh.