First Years First Early Childhood Development Funding
Paces Nearly $200,000 in Community Foundation Grants
Health and Human Services, Arts Programs Also Receive Major Support
New Britain, Conn., September 15, 2015 – Major grants to local programs supporting early childhood development – including $38,000 to the Consolidated School District of New Britain’s three Family Resource Centers and $30,000 to the Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington – top a list of nearly $200,000 in grant awards recently approved by the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain.
The early childhood development funding is part of the Community Foundation’s signature First Years First initiative, which since 2006 has devoted nearly $1.5 million to advancing early childhood programming in the Foundation’s service area. Including $88,000 in First Years First grants, the Foundation’s most recent round of grant awards totaled $188,102. Other areas supported include arts, culture and heritage; education; and health and human services.
First Years First Grants
• Consolidated School District of New Britain Family Resource Center, $38,000. For Year Two funding to maintain three part-time parent educators in the Parents as Teachers program who provide case management assistance to 15 high-risk families.
• Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington, $30,000. To support staffing, infrastructure and expenses associated with implementing the Community Plan for Southington’s Young Children.
• Plainville Family Resource Center, $10,000. A bridge grant in anticipation of full funding from the Plainville School District to maintain year-round staffing and programming.
• Tunxis Community College, Early Childhood Professional Educators’ Consortium, $10,000. Funding to continue providing high-quality professional development workshops to early childhood educators.
Arts, Culture & Heritage
• Southington Public Schools, $18,202. Funding to support a second-year partnership between the Southington Public Schools, Southington Education Foundation and New Britain Museum of American Art that offers instruction and enrichment in the arts to Southington 3rd grade students.
• Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, $10,000. Funding to hire a part-time Operations Manager.
Education
• Consolidated School District of New Britain, $15,000. Funding to hire a Family Intervention Specialist to support expansion of the District’s Chronic Absence Initiative into the middle schools.
Health and Human Services
• Community Mental Health Affiliates, $20,000. To support case management services for New Britain’s Transitional Winter Shelter for area homeless.
• Coram Deo Recovery, $15,000. Funding to hire a part-time Development Director to continue the agency’s growth.
• Friendship Service Center, $15,000. To assist the Center as it accommodating a growing number of individuals requiring emergency assistance and homelessness prevention.
• Greater New Britain Teen Pregnancy Prevention/Pathways Senderos, $2,000. To support a new program aimed at providing guidance and support to students and their parents/guardians with a goal of increasing college matriculation and academic success.
Additional Grants
• Mayor’s Trophy Charitable Fund. A total of $3,500 in donor-advised grants to programs and causes including the Foundation for Special Care (36th Annual Children’s Charities Tennis Classic); Friends of New Britain High School Football; Grace Economic Development Corporation (GEDC Block Party); New Britain-Berlin YMCA’s Endless Summer Program; KinderVision Foundation (3rd Annual Greatest Save Celebrity Benefit); Prudence Crandall Center, Domestic and Teen Dating Violence Education and Outreach Program.
• Karen A. Ellsworth Fund. A $400 donor-advised grant to Our Companions Domestic Animal Sanctuary for operating support.
• Conry Asset Management Fund. A $1,000 donor-advised grant to Greater New Britain Teen Pregnancy to support the Backpack Project.
Established in 1941, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain is “Where Good Begins” in Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington. The Foundation works to inspire philanthropy, manage permanent charitable assets effectively, and partner to address key community issues through strategic leadership. For more information, visit www.cfgnb.org