Grants Help Groups That Help Those In Need

BRIDGEPORT/STAMFORD, CT — Impact Fairfield County, a local women’s collective giving circle, awarded two $100,000 grants to Bridgeport nonprofits New Reach and nOURish BRIDGEPORT and $20,000 grants to other area organizations, including two in Stamford.

In addition, these two organizations each won an additional $1,000 general operating grant.
Impact FFC also awarded three $20,000 unrestricted general operating grants to Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County in Stamford, Future 5 in Stamford and Wakeman Boys & Girls Club in Bridgeport.

All of the awarded organizations work to help those in need and underserved populations.

The winners of the $100,000 Grants were selected by a vote of Impact FFC’s 262-women membership at their annual meeting in Darien May 4. The vote followed a rigorous application process which narrowed down an initial pool of 59 nonprofit applicants to five finalist organizations which presented at the meeting.

After a comprehensive review of the applications and conducting site visits with 15 organizations, members selected the five finalists and, ultimately, the two winners, based on criteria including the organization’s demonstrated impact, the population served and the long-term sustainability of the project.

Impact FFC’s 2022 Grant winners are:
• New Reach, a leader in providing homelessness prevention, emergency shelter, and housing solutions. New Reach will use the Grant to expand its Stable Families program, which collaborates with social workers, landlords and lawyers to keep families from becoming homeless.

The grant will enable them to serve 50 additional families, most of whom are women of color with children.

Kellyann Day, CEO of New Reach, said “housing is such a crucial issue” as “without it, it’s really difficult to do anything else.” Thanking Impact FFC, she said, “your support is just amazing, and it’s going to impact so many moms (and) kids and keep them in their housing so that they can be stabilized and do all [the] great things that we know that they are capable of doing.”

• nOURish BRIDGEPORT addresses food insecurity and the inaccessibility of nutritious produce in Bridgeport by providing groceries, formula, diapers, and hot meals to Bridgeport residents. nOURish BRIDGEPORT will use the grant to support development of a nonprofit indoor hydroponic farm, growing produce to be sold at cost to food pantries and to supply Bridgeport farmers markets.

The Rev. Sara D. Smith, president and CEO of nOURish BRIDGEPORT, said "this grant is like throwing a big stone of hope into a pond of food insecurity," speaking about the ripple effect that the investment will have in terms of the health and advancement of the Bridgeport community. “Thank you, [women of Impact FFC], for helping us nourish Bridgeport.”

Kadisha Coates, an Impact FFC member, said “Impact Fairfield County is making a lasting imprint on the city of Bridgeport, where I live. It is incredibly satisfying to know that Impact FFC meets the true needs of people in my community and many others.”

2022 was a record year for Impact FFC, with its greatest number of members and funds to be distributed since inception.

In its seventh year of investing to transform the lives of Fairfield County’s neediest, Impact FFC has reached $1.6 million in total grant funding.

“You could feel the power of the collective giving model come to life in the room this morning. All five organizations brought our members to tears with inspiring stories of how they are changing lives in our community. We are so proud to award $262,000 this year and to continue to make transformational change in the future. All Fairfield County women are welcome – join us for 2023,” said Steviann Martines, co-president of Impact FFC.

For more information or to join Impact FFC, email membership@impactffc.org

For information on Impact Fairfield County, visit its website.
For information on New Reach in Bridgeport, visit its website.
For information on nOURish Bridgeport, visit its website.
For information on Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County in Stamford, visit its website.
For information on Future 5 in Stamford, visit its website.
For information on Wakeman Boys & Girls Clubs in Bridgeport, visit its website.