Impact FFC Hosts Impactful Conversation: Our Children Are Our Future

DARIEN, CT, October 24, 2024 – Impact Fairfield County (“Impact FFC”) held its first Impactful Conversation of the 2024-2025 grant year on the topic of “Our Children Are Our Future,” exploring how local nonprofits are educating, encouraging and supporting the next generation. The panel discussion at the Darien Library featured Impact FFC Grantees Boys & Girls Club of Stamford (“BGCS”), Catholic Academy of Bridgeport (“CAB”) and Stamford Public Education Foundation (“SPEF”).

Members of Impact FFC participated in a lively conversation with Craig Baker, CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Stamford, Angela Pohlen, Executive Director of Catholic Academy of Bridgeport and Malena Loucks, CEO of Stamford Public Education Foundation, moderated by Maryellen Frank, Co-Chair of Events for Impact FFC.

Some of the topics covered during the panel included how nonprofits are preparing children for the future, teaching coping skills, parent mentoring and workforce retention. At BCGS, programs are designed to offer students opportunities that will be valuable in the real world including swimming lessons, workforce training for lifeguards or restaurant employment as well as reading support for elementary-aged children to boost long term academic success. CAB discussed their focus on teachers and a merit-based pay system. Pohlen said this new system is “backed by research that says the number one factor in a student’s success is their teacher, and we want to do all that we can to provide the best educational experience for our students.” For SPEF, in addition to providing Kindergarten readiness programming to one quarter of new Stamford Public Schools (SPS) students each year, they have recently hired a new family engagement program manager dedicated to making sure that parents and caregivers have the support they need to aid in their children’s education.

All of the nonprofits on the panel also stressed that in addition to donations, volunteers are a much needed requirement to make their programs a success and provide another trusted adult to the children. SPEF is currently recruiting mentors and BCGS said they welcome volunteers for any time commitment. In addition to on site volunteering, the organizations shared their need for real world expertise from volunteers and the value of introductions to others in the community such as new friends, potential partnership or new funding resources. “This is our community and we’re all connected, whether we have children in the school system or not. This is our future,” said Frank.

An overarching theme of the conversation was how the Impact FFC grants have made a significant difference in the trajectory of the nonprofits’ growth in initiatives dedicated to supporting local youth:

• BGCS, one of Impact FFC’s newest grantees, spoke to the size of the $100,000 grant as transformative as the majority of their grants are in the range of $5,000 to $10,000. The Impact FFC grant will help integrate youth mental health support into their after-school services. “This grant allows us to train and retrain our workforce so that they are the professional youth development workers who are able to mitigate a lot of the chronic stress these kids are under in their daily lives,” said Baker.
• Pohlen spoke of CAB’s Happy Hollow Outdoor Learning Center, an initiative funded by a 2023 Impact FFC Grant and recently opened in time for this school year. “The children are playing so differently than they used to, strengthening their gross motor skills, using the theater space for imaginative play and so much more. Teachers want to use this space all day long. This new space is crucial for the long term development of our children, most of whom have limited access to safe outdoor spaces,” said Pohlen.
• Loucks discussed the ripple effect of their 2018 Impact FFC Grant, noting that as a result of the grant and the initiatives funded, that “SPEF has been able to raise $2million in additional funding to use for Stamford students in the years since our grant, allowing us to expand our programming and provide additional resources for our families.”

“Focusing on supporting the children in our area has been one of the top areas for funding by Impact FFC since our founding 10 years ago,” said Impact FFC Co-President, Annika Kennon. “We are excited to fund some of the wonderful opportunities and resources that these nonprofits are providing to students and families in Fairfield County.”

The 2024-2025 grant year has begun, celebrating Impact FFC’s 10th grant cycle, with nonprofit applications due by November 12th, 2024. The Fall Kickoff for members and those interested in learning more about Impact FFC will be held on November 7th, 2024 at The Darien Community Association.

About Impact FFC: Impact FFC is a collective giving organization whose mission is to empower women to engage in local philanthropy through deeper knowledge and active participation in grantmaking. It unites women by pooling membership funds to provide large, transformational grants to nonprofit organizations across Fairfield County. Since its founding in 2015, Impact FFC has provided over $2.1M million in grant funding.

For more information or to join Impact FFC, please visit impactffc.org.