Connecticut Community Foundation has released its 2017 annual report, which highlights the impact of the Foundation’s donors and community partners in improving the quality of life in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills—particularly in response to challenges. The Foundation awarded $5 million in grants and college scholarships in 2017 to local nonprofit organizations and students, respectively.
The report, When Communities Faced Challenges…You Built Bridges, features the successes made possible by the Foundation’s donors through grants to:
- Naugatuck Valley Community College – for a new student food pantry, for financial assistance for students pursuing advanced manufacturing certificates, and for on-campus job training for students.
- Waterbury Public Schools – for their after-school robotics program involving four Waterbury middle schools that promotes interest in careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
- New Opportunities, Inc. – for a range of programs and services that promote independence and well-being for older people in Greater Waterbury, including increased access to healthy meals.
- Mental Health Connecticut – for art therapy for people challenged by mental illnesses.
Another story describes how local donors mobilized in response to the plight of Puerto Ricans affected by hurricanes Irma and Maria in the fall of 2017, aiding efforts to supply water, food, housing and medicine, both to people on the island and to those who have relocated to Greater Waterbury.
Connecticut Community Foundation was formed 95 years ago by a small group of local residents who joined their financial resources to create an endowment that would benefit communities in the region forever. Since then, more than 500 individuals, businesses and organizations have created charitable funds at the Foundation. Stewarded thoughtfully over the years, the investment proceeds have been turned into grants to nonprofit organizations serving communities in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills.
In 2017, the Foundation’s investments realized a 16.48 percent net investment return—exceeding the benchmark—and its net assets grew to nearly $106 million.
New funds established by donors in 2017 included the Sarah Gager Family Scholarship Fund, the Women’s Giving Circle and the Ingrid Martland Fund for Silas Bronson Library.
Julie Loughran, president and CEO of Connecticut Community Foundation, said, “The transformative power of philanthropy is on full display in our 2017 annual report. We are profoundly grateful to the many donors whose charitable visions have included making lives better in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills, and we celebrate the superb local nonprofit organizations whose work helps make those charitable visions come true.”
