Neighbor News
VCF Awards Nearly $400,000 in Grants to Valley Programs
Grants will support a community theatrical space, vision screening for students, restoring a historical site and ensure access to legal aid.
The Valley Community Foundation (VCF) is pleased to announce it has awarded $395,186 in single- and multi-year grants to eleven nonprofits providing services to Valley residents. Grants were awarded through VCF’s responsive grantmaking cycle, which is done with its partner in philanthropy, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (TCF).
“These wonderful programs are addressing critical focus areas in the Valley,” says Sharon Closius, President & CEO of the Valley Community Foundation. “Our fundholders want to make a difference here in the Valley and we are proud to be able to connect their passion with the needs of the community.”
As an added benefit of the collaborative grant process between VCF and TCF, three of the grants awarded were done jointly in the areas of health to BHcare, Healthy Eyes Alliance and Rape Crisis Center of Milford. BHcare received funding to provide coordinated services to survivors of family violence. Healthy Eyes Alliance received funding for its Healthy Eyes for Connecticut Kids Project which provides free vision screening, referral and follow up services for preschool children in New Haven and in the Valley, and the Rape Crisis Center of Milford, Inc. received support for educational programming to end sexual assault and for comprehensive and culturally competent sexual assault victim services.
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The following funds at VCF partnered with the Foundation to increase the dollars available for grant projects through the Responsive grants process: Ancient Order of Hibernians, Cohen Community Fund, Salvatore and Linda Tiano Coppola Family Fund, Lawrence J. DeTullio, Jr. Fund, The Future Fund, Mario Garofalo Family Fund, The Mary Fund, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Ansonia Fund, Paul & Gloria Konwerski Family Fund, Herb Rollinson Fund, Dorothy E. and Kenneth E. Schaible Community Fund, Shelton Congregational Church Fund, Torbi-Saldamarco Family Fund, Mary Vartelas Stamos Fund, Sally & Dominick Thomas Fund, John Tyma Fund, Valley Community Fund, Angelina M. and Valentina V. Vitali Fund, Warichar Family Fund, Selma L. and Harold B. Yudkin Fund.
In addition, funding was provided by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven through its Gates Fund and other preference funds.
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2015 Responsive Grant Recipients
Ansonia School Readiness to support the implementation of the Ansonia and Derby Early Childhood Councils’ community plans. The Valley United Way is serving as the fiscal sponsor; $40,000
BHcare to support the design and implementation of a Family Justice Center, a co-location of a multi-disciplinary team of professionals who provide coordinated services to survivors of family violence; $20,000
Center Stage Theatre Inc. to support theatrical lighting upgrades and improvements in the theatre space; $18,000
Derby Historical Society to support the restoration of the exterior of the General David Humphreys House; $50,000
Healthy Eyes Alliance to support the Healthy Eyes for Connecticut Kids Project which provides free vision screening, referral and follow up services for preschool children in New Haven and in the Valley; $48,186
Housatonic Council, Boy Scouts of America to provide general operating support for scouting programs for Valley youth; $30,000
Junior Achievement of Western Connecticut, Inc. to provide general operating support for programming to give young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices; $55,000
New Haven Legal Assistance Association Inc. to support a school-based legal aid clinic at Head Start in the Valley; $16,000
Online Journalism Project Inc. to provide general operating support for the Valley Independent Sentinel; $80,000
Rape Crisis Center of Milford, Inc. to provide general operating support for educational programming to end sexual assault, and for comprehensive and culturally competent sexual assault victim services $16,000
Visiting Nurse Services of CT to support a pilot program in partnership with Griffin Hospital to provide a pre-discharge visit for specifically diagnosed patients from the Valley to enhance transitional care (acute to home-based healthcare) and to achieve improved measurable health outcomes; $22,000
About the Valley Community Foundation:
Established in 2004, the Valley Community Foundation distributes hundreds of thousands of grant dollars each year to support the local nonprofit sector and the people it serves. In addition to grantmaking, VCF works in strong partnership with The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (TCF), to promote philanthropy in Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton and receives funding from The Gates Fund and other preference funds at TCF. To learn how your gifts of cash, life insurance, appreciated stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets can help to support the quality of life in the Valley, please visit the website at www.valleyfoundation.org or contact VCF President, Sharon Closius, at sclosius@valleyfoundation.org or 203-751-9162.
