Hall Neighborhood House Cuts Ribbon on New Dental Clinic:

BRIDGEPORT, CT, July 29, 2022 – Hall Neighborhood House (Hall) cut the ribbon on a new dental clinic serving residents of the East Side neighborhood of Bridgeport. The new dental clinic was funded through a $100,000 grant from Impact Fairfield County (Impact FFC).

Hall, which provides comprehensive services that educate, enrich, and empower residents of all ages on the East Side of Bridgeport and the surrounding community, was the recipient of a $100,000 Impact Grant from Impact Fairfield County in 2021. Impact FFC is a collective giving organization which unites women in local philanthropy by pooling individual contributions to create large, transformational grants to nonprofits. Hall’s proposal to open an on-site dental clinic to complement its existing medical clinic was selected from a pool of 71 nonprofit applicants as one of two Impact Grant winners last year. Friday’s ribbon cutting was the first step in opening the dental clinic; it is expected to become fully operational in mid-September.

Attendees at the ribbon-cutting ceremony included Joe Ganim, Mayor of Bridgeport; Robert Dzurenda, Executive Director of Hall; Dr. Peter Ferrara, Hall Board member and dental consultant; Karen Daley, CEO of Optimus Healthcare; Katharine Lumby, Co-President of Impact Fairfield County; Gretchen James of Southwestern CT Agency on Aging; and representatives of the architecture and equipment supply companies designing and outfitting the clinic, among many others from Hall, Impact FFC, and the Bridgeport community.

Said Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, "This is about dental care, yes, but what it’s really about is service to a community…one that's underserved, more challenged than others. Having people come together, step up and collaborate...people like Impact...it's huge."

"It is thrilling to be here this morning to see this project come to life and open its doors. We at Impact are so proud to be a part of this, and congratulate Hall on this momentous day in East Bridgeport," said Katharine Lumby, Co-President of Impact Fairfield County. "Since Impact FFC's founding seven years ago, we have given over $700,000 to causes right here in Bridgeport and a total of $1.6 million to causes throughout Fairfield County."

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