The Valley Community Foundation this month awarded $506,300 in one-year and multi-year grants to 11 nonprofits that provide services in the lower Naugatuck Valley.
A reception for the grant recipients was held Nov. 5 at the Center Stage Theatre at the former Lafayette School in Shelton.
Center Stage, a youth theater group, received a three-year grant totaling $120,000.
“Receiving this grant is a big vote of confidence from the Valley Community Foundation,” Center Stage owners Fran and Gary Scarpa said in a statement posted on the Center Stage website.
“We are grateful to the VCF for recognizing the importance of the arts and arts education in our community. With their help, we have been able to build a strong base for a long future, and to continue to be a vital arts organization in the lower Naugatuck Valley,” the Scarpas said.
The organizations receiving VCF grants provide services to Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton.
2012 was the second year of a unified grant-making program with The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
In addition to expanding the recipient list, The Valley Community Foundation this year awarded its largest, multi-year grant ever — $150,000 to support the Valley Independent Sentinel.
“The Board’s decision to fund the Online Journalism Project, which makes the Valley Sentinel possible, is a testament to the value of this online news source,” said Jamie Cohen, president of the Valley Community Foundation, in a prepared statement.
“In a very short period of time, the Valley Indy has both promoted the work of local nonprofits and informed our community about important issues and ways we all can work together to build a brighter future,” Cohen said.
A central element of the joint grant-making process between the Valley Community Foundation and The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven is the ability to effectively respond to requests in a way that neither organization could do alone. This year, the Rape Crisis Center of Milford and Visiting Nurse Services of Connecticut received a portion of their funding from both foundations, according to a VCF statement.
In addition, The Valley Community Foundation was able to provide grants to agencies that help children and families.
“VCF funded a Valley Family Resource Center which provides a streamlined system for early-care, education and health,” said Carla Sullivan, the VCF’s director of donor service and grantmaking. “We also continued our support of the Human Relations Club at Ansonia High School, which does important work with local teens to reduce prejudice, bullying and discrimination, in and beyond the Valley.”
In this second year of a unified grantmaking program with The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, more grants were awarded for general operating support than in the previous year.
“In our first years of competitive grantmaking, the Valley Community Foundation was able to only give one-year grants of up to $15,000 each,” Cohen said.
Click here to view a complete list of 2012 Valley grants.
About The Grants
The annual Responsive New Grants program is the largest grants process at the Valley Community Foundation and attracts annual applications from nonprofits serving the Valley cities and towns of Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton.
Grants through this process are generated from unrestricted and preference funds established by donors at both the Valley Community Foundation and The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, who wanted their gifts to be used in perpetuity to meet ever-changing community needs.
