Community Foundation awards grants

NEW HAVEN - The Community Fund for Women & Girls, a component fund of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, announced that it has awarded $76,954 in grants this year to 16 agencies that offer programs and services to improve the quality of life for women and girls in the region.

“The grants process was highly competitive again this year as both the number of applications for funding and the total amount of dollars requested exceeded the number of requests we received last year,” Helene Robbins, chairwoman of the Community Fund for Women & Girls’ Advisory Committee, said in a statement. “One of the greatest pleasures for us was to be able to award the Fund’s first advocacy grant, which was done in collaboration with the Fund for Women and Girls at the Fairfield County Community Foundation. The grant provided general operating support for the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, which informs the Connecticut legislature about matters affecting women.”

The Community Fund for Women & Girls is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2010, the statement said.
"The mission of the fund is to promote social and economic advancement for women and girls through strategic philanthropy, grants, advocacy and collaboration. Grants are primarily distributed for projects that address the core issues of economic security, health, violence and political participation as they affect women and girls in Greater New Haven," the statement said.
Over the past 15 years, the fund has made 146 grants totaling more than $437,000, the statement said.
"The Fund launched a Giving Women Campaign in 2009 to increase the size of the endowment to $2 million. With a goal of inspiring and encouraging women’s philanthropy, donors who pledge $10,000 or more are able to create a permanent fund, whose grant distributions will be used to support the activities of the Community Fund for Women & Girls in perpetuity," the statement said.
Just under $400,000 has been committed and 12 funds have been created toward reaching the $2 million goal.
For more information on how to support the Giving Women Campaign, call Sharon Cappetta at 203-777-7071. To make a donation online, visit www.fundforwomenandgirls.org or make check payable to: The Community Fund for Women & Girls c/o The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, 70 Audubon Street, New Haven, 06510.
Visit the Community Fund for Women & Girls’ page on Facebook.com.

Since 1928, donors to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven have built the community's endowment currently valued at more than $280 million. In 2009, The Foundation’s Board of Directors distributed more than $14 million in grants from over 700 different named charitable funds supporting a wide range of programs and projects.

Editor's note: The information in this poast was wholly provided by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven