On June 6, 2018, CRIS Radio received a Needs and Opportunities grant of $5,000 from the Valley Community Foundation to support audio recordings of publications for 944 individuals who are blind or print challenged in the Valley Community Foundation’s catchment area – Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour, Shelton.
This grant award will help CRIS Radio continue its mission of providing audio access to print information for people who are blind or unable to read due to a medical condition or treatment, or other learning, physical, intellectual, or emotional disabilities.
“On behalf of CRIS Radio’s Board of Directors, listeners, and volunteers, we are very grateful to our funders for their generous and continuing support of CRIS Radio,” said Paul Young, chairman of CRIS Radio’s Board of Directors.
CRIS Radio (Connecticut Radio Information System) is a 39-year-old nonprofit and Connecticut’s only radio-reading service, broadcasting CRIS Radio broadcasts articles featured in more than 50 newspapers and magazines 24 hours a day, seven days a week, thanks to the talent and dedication its volunteers. CRIS Radio operates its broadcast center in Windsor, and five regional studios located in Danbury, Trumbull, Norwalk, Norwich, and West Haven.
In addition, CRIS custom records classroom materials for teachers to best meet the needs of their students with reading disabilities. The CRISKids Audio Library offers more than 900 classroom titles, including 17 award-winning children’s magazines.
Other CRIS programs include CRIS en Español and CRISAccess, featuring Spanish-language newspapers and magazines and audible tours for museums, respectively. CRIS Radio also streams audio versions of English and Spanish-language newspapers and magazines to each patient room at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, and audio versions of children’s magazines to each patient room at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. It also offers audio versions of World War I historical documents in collaboration with the Connecticut State Library and IDEAL Group.
CRIS recordings are available through specially tuned broadcast or Internet radios, online with a free CRIS Radio app downloaded onto smartphones or other mobile devices, computers connected to the Internet, toll-free through the CRIS Telephone Reader, or on demand at www.crisradio.org with a modest subscription of $30 annually for unlimited access.
For more information, please visit www.crisradio.org, email [email protected], or call (860) 527‑8000.
About the Valley Community Foundation
Founded in 2004, the mission of the Valley Community Foundation (VCF) is to connect private philanthropy to the long-term public good of the Greater Valley. VCF serves Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton, Connecticut. VCF partners with the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to make the Valley a better place to live and work, both now and in the future.
For more information, please visit www.valleyfoundation.org or call 203 – 751-9162.
