Grants Awarded in 2022

• After School Arts Program (Washington): ASAP! & Children’s Community School Partnership Programming – $10,000 for continued academic-year programming at Waterbury’s Children’s Community School (including support for Metamorphosis Project, Writing, Character Design, Creative Movement, and Yoga). These programs also serve as professional development opportunities for the teachers.
• Arts & Culture Collaborative of the Waterbury Region (Waterbury) Fiscal Sponsor: Greater Waterbury Chamber of Commerce Foundation – Backbone Support to Serve the Arts Community – $10,000 to help the arts sector to readjust and recover from the impact of the Covid pandemic. Efforts this year will focus on making ACC membership whole again, while integrating a more focused approach to diversity, equity and inclusion. ACC will continue its pARTnership program and advance pillars of service to promote, connect, collaborate and advocate for the arts in this 16-town region.
• City of Waterbury (Office of the Mayor): Make Music Waterbury 2022 – $5,000 for Make Music Waterbury 2022, a part of the international Make Music Day movement, which brings free, community-wide, outdoor musical celebrations to hundreds of cities worldwide. Every year, the celebration is held on June 21 – the summer solstice – in more than 800 communities around the world.
• DOE.Live (Waterbury) (fiscal sponsor: Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury): DOE.Live Curators Camp – $13,500 to connect communities through the transforming power of live art, film & music. Year Two will implement a DOE.Live Curators Camp 2 track system, which will help build a supportive structure for youth to learn artistic (and “arts-adjacent”) professional skills in the entertainment industry (such as content creation, public relations, media training, event production, etc.)
• Landmark Community Theater (Thomaston): Reboot! Performing Arts Education for Children and Teens – $6,000 to reinstate a new, improved youth education program, including classes, a summer program, a preteen show, and a teen show. Prior to COVID, Landmark had over 125 students participating in its offerings.
• Mattatuck Museum (Waterbury) Bringing Art to Children’s Community School $15,000 to provide the Children’s Community School’s K-8 students with art education, teaching them various art-making methods and techniques while also giving them the opportunity to improve their literacy and motor skills. The Museum plans to continue offering Mattatuck Minis, Hand crafted Art Journaling, and Capturing Community, and Explorations in Graphic Design at Children’s Community School during the school year. 
• Northwest CT Arts Council (Torrington): Staff Support for Long Term Strategic Planning – $5,000 for operational funding that will support the creation of a long-term strategic plan (5 years), which will deeply re-examine the organization’s goals & priorities and develop metrics for documenting progress. A short-term strategic plan was assembled prior to the pandemic, but there is a need to factor the many changes (including DEI and gentrification) into a new plan for the future.
• RiseUP Group (fiscal sponsor for local effort): Waterbury Murals: SKB Memorial – $6,000 to work with the Samuel K Beamon Memorial Scholarship Committee and City of Waterbury to paint a community mural. The community will have opportunities to participate in the project on various community paint days.
• The Role Models (Waterbury): MLK Park Basketball Court Mural – $16,847 to repair court damages and create a large mural on the basketball court at MLK Park in Waterbury to help foster community pride and encourage more use of the park. A local Connecticut artist worked with students to design and paint the mural. Students also participated in park clean up efforts to prepare the site.
• Seven Angels Theatre (Waterbury): Seven Angels After School – $5,000 to bring after-school acting classes – and the fun, skills and growth in self-confidence that comes with them – to Waterbury Public School students who would not be able to afford them.
• Shakesperience (Waterbury): Waterbury Interactive: Our City, Our Neighborhoods (Year 9) – $13,000 for an inter-generational humanities program integrating local history, theatre, music, and art. Shakesperience and its partners engage community members in the creation of a theatrical production, to promote connection, community, and conversation.
• Waterbury Strong Community Collective (Fiscal Sponsor: Neighborhood Housing Services): Annual Juneteenth Celebration – $10,000 to support a festival that highlights various Black cultures in Waterbury. The celebration unites Black vendors, artists, musicians, speakers, and the community to celebrate the true day of Black freedom in the United States. It will also celebrate the beginning of the Waterbury Black Business Network.
• Waterbury Symphony Orchestra (Waterbury): Bravo Summer Program 2022 – $15,000 for an intensive music education program for underserved students, which uses music as a tool for personal development, community engagement, and social change. Program is held during the Summer Bridges Program at Children’s Community School.

• 50CAN/ConnCAN (Hartford): Elevating Parent Voices to Improve K-12 Student Funding Equity – $15,000 to advance a simplified funding formula by building awareness and support for closing the racial funding gap through parental and community engagement with those most impacted by the disparities in funding. Increased, more equitable funding would bring additional social workers into schools, provide access to better wrap-around services, and provide much needed academic support for at-risk students.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters (Hartford): Waterbury Community-Based Mentoring – $8,250 to provide one-to-one mentoring between at-risk children/youth, aged 6-18, and volunteer mentors. Pairs meet for 6-10 hours each month to participate in enriching activities and conversations aimed to improve social-emotional and academic outcomes for youth.
• Career Resources, Inc. (Bridgeport): STRIVE Waterbury Program – $7,500 to support workforce training for returning citizens and other justice-involved individuals in Greater Waterbury. The program will provide workforce readiness and soft skills training to assist in efforts to secure employment, build financial security, and successfully transition back to their communities.
• Center for Children’s Advocacy (Hartford): Waterbury Children & Youth Advocacy Project – $4,000 to promote equitable opportunity for low-income children and youth and BIPOC children and youth by reducing barriers to school attendance, school completion and employability. The project’s legal services will reduce barriers for youth reentering Waterbury from justice system facilities, undocumented children and youth, and low-income children and youth, while working with local and state-level systems to develop systemic reforms.
• Children’s Law Center of CT (Hartford): Legal Representation Program – $5,000 to provide high-quality legal counsel to indigent children whose parents are embroiled in high-conflict family court disputes regarding custody and visitation. CLC’s primary goal is to be the voice for children in court and to shield them from the trauma of litigation and high conflict.
• Community Culinary School of NW CT (New Milford): Job Training / Hunger Relief – $10,000 to continue to provide job training and hunger relief services for the community as the organization comes out of the pandemic and continues to resume normal operations.
• Community Partners in Action (Hartford): Waterbury Reentry Welcome Center – $12,716.50 to assist people returning to the community upon their release from prison. The Waterbury Reentry Welcome Center serves as a hub for coordinating referrals and services from many community partners in the Waterbury area.
• Connecticut Association of Human Services (Hartford): Returning Citizens Program in Greater Waterbury – $10,000 to provide valuable economic security programs to meet the needs of individuals reentering CT communities after incarceration, including individuals in recovery.
• Connecticut Institute for Refugees & Immigrants (Bridgeport): Waterbury Immigration Legal Services – $22,716.50 to provide family reunification, naturalization, adjustment of status, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals applications and renewals, visas for victims of domestic violence, asylum application/appeals, and removal defense for Waterbury area immigrants.
• Connecticut Junior Republic (Litchfield): Work-Based Summer Learning Program – $5,000 to support a summer education and “employment” program for 40 at-risk Waterbury teens who are enrolled in CJR’s school-based Teen Outreach Program during the school year.
• Girl Scouts of CT (Hartford): Building Girl Leaders in Waterbury – $3,000 to provide leadership training and enrichment for girls in Waterbury who may have limited opportunities for activities that support personal growth outside the traditional school day.
• Howard Whittemore Memorial Library (Naugatuck): Livros & Libros @ Whittemore – $2,000 to address the Whitttemore Library’s deficit of library materials in Portuguese and Spanish. During tours for recent immigrants, Whittemore has received many requests from adults for books in either Portuguese and Spanish or bilingual books in these languages, and children’s materials are similarly in demand.
• Junior Achievement of SW NE (Hartford): JA Project Tomorrows for Waterbury Students- $10,000 to support this program in Waterbury Public Schools. JA will train teachers and volunteers to deliver JA’s financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship programs to over 1,400 K-12 students in Waterbury.
• Literacy Volunteers of Greater Waterbury (Waterbury): Adult Literacy – $11,130 to offer Basic Literacy, English as a Second Language, and U.S Citizenship classes free of charge to adults in the greater Waterbury area. This is often the first step for residents to advance their economic security.
• Literacy Volunteers on the Green (New Milford): Literacy Programs for English Language Learners – $5,918 to support the adult immigrant seeking English language literacy. Acquiring effective communication skills in English is key to prepare for employment opportunities that build personal/family economic security.
• Local Initiatives Support Corp (Hartford): Building Family Income and Wealth through Financial Opportunity Centers (FOCs) – $15,000 to provide individuals with low-to-moderate incomes with three core integrated services: one-on-one employment coaching, financial coaching, and access to low-cost financial products that help build credit, savings, and assets. Funding will support continued operation of the FOC at Naugatuck Valley Community College.
• Madre Latina (Waterbury): The Latina Workforce Program – $8,000 to improve education and employment opportunities for the Latinx community, helping individuals to achieve self-reliance and independence. In 2022, after surveying the community, Madre Latina learned that residents need more than a job referral; they need a key person to help them to connect with resources and programs. This grant will help to hire a Career Development and Support Specialist for this purpose.
• MC² Technology (Hartford): Technology Educational Enrichment Program – $10,000 to provide an after-school program for at risk high school students in Waterbury. The program will provide a comprehensive approach with a focus on academics, financial education, entrepreneurial development, and performing arts.
• Naugatuck Youth Services (Naugatuck): Community Connect – $10,000 to develop a collaborative process between NYS and the Naugatuck school system that will allow for a new way for teachers, counselors, administrators, and the youth service staff to identify and refer students, share information, and inform current interventions to help ensure that all Naugatuck youth get the support they need.
• New Milford Social Services (New Milford): Financial Literacy Program – $2,000 to enhance the financial sustainability of local residents by offering an educational course encompassing topics to increase their knowledge and skills of money management. The program will be a 36-week virtual course taught in the early evening, after the general workday. It will be held twice a week and cover 9 topics of financial education.
• Regional Plan Association (Whitehall, NY): Desegregate CT: Training Pro-Homes Leaders in Greater Waterbury – $5,000 to expand RPA’s work around promoting Transit-Oriented Communities in the Greater Waterbury area as a way to create more affordable housing opportunities along the Waterbury Line of MetroNorth. RPA will focus on outreach, education, and leadership training in the Waterbury community.
• Riba Aspira Career Academy (Fiscal Sponsor: Hispanic Coalition of Greater Waterbury) – Program Delivery Support – $25,000 to support the majority of the cost associated with community-based ESL training programs. Part of this grant is also going to be used for three new Childcare Provider Trainings that are going to take place in-person this year. The program will support the development of jobs and career pathways with livable wages, as well as strengthening local childcare resources.  
• SEIU Education and Support Fund (Hadley, MA): Pilot Peer Mentorship Supports for Latina Family Child Care Educators in Waterbury – $15,000 to support Latina educators in Waterbury through peer mentorship, building connections and networks between family care educators in an isolated and marginalized – yet essential – workforce. SEIU ESF will train peer mentors to provide ongoing coaching to less experienced colleagues among the mainly Latina family care educators (FCCs) in Waterbury, strengthening peer networks across CT’s community of some 2,000 licensed and 1,000 unlicensed FCC educators.
• Statewide Legal Services of CT (Wethersfield): Stable Housing for Waterbury Area Families – $10,000 to collaborate with Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury (NHSW) to empower low-income individuals in the Greater Waterbury area to make sound decisions regarding their housing issues, so that they can stabilize their lives and avoid homelessness. This will be accomplished through educational workshops and expedited assistance from SLS.
• United Way of Western CT (New Milford): Cora’s Kids – UW Family Childcare Network – $5,000 to expand the Cora’s Kids program to increase the number of licensed, home-based Family Child Care providers in the Southern Litchfield County (Greater New Milford) area.
• Waterbury Youth Services (Waterbury): Linking Academics to Life (LAL) – $3,973 to offer a free, high impact, evidence-based, college, career, and life readiness after-school program for Waterbury high school youth. Components include tutoring, mentoring, homework assistance, field trips, guest speakers, incentives/stipends, caring adult interaction, and 4 skill building workshops (Journalism, Entrepreneurship, Studio Arts, and Senior Preparation).
• Westover School (Middlebury): Westover Summer Camp – $10,000 to provide 5 full scholarships for students from underserved communities (specifically Waterbury), allowing them access to a program that challenges young women to think independently, embrace diversity, and grow intellectually.

• Family Leadership Center (Waterbury): Parent Leadership Training Service Projects – $5,000 to support 15 service learning projects, which are part of the Organization’s Parent Leadership Training program. Participants in the program have developed projects focused on addressing needs in Waterbury, such as menstrual product distribution, support for non-English speaking parents, support groups with differently-abled children, youth leadership programs and environmental education.
• Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education (Waterbury); Fiscal Sponsor – Achieve Hartford!: Waterbury ARPA Advocacy: $12,500 to support community organizing and advocacy efforts around spending ARPA dollars in an equitable and impactful way in Waterbury.
• Urban Fresh (Waterbury): Community Garden – $7,099 to fund a community garden on Hill Street, which will produce local food, bring community together and employ youth workers in the summer. Funds would also allow for the purchase of special garden beds that would allow those with accessibility issues the chance to participate in the garden.
• Works of Faith (Waterbury); Fiscal Sponsor – Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury: Young Civic Learners Academy: $7,300 to support the Young Civic Learners Academy, which provides local youth with an interactive platform to learn about civic responsibilities such as advocacy, development of laws, voting rights, and decision making. The goals of the program are to increase knowledge about civic life in Waterbury and to encourage engagement amongst young people.

• Ann’s Place (Danbury): Health Equity Initiative: $5,000 to provide comprehensive cancer support services in a local community setting, free of charge for people of color, or who are financially unstable, or who identify as LGBTQ+.
• Bantam Lake Protective Association (Morris): Development of Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP): $6,000 to fund the development of a Bantam Lake Water Quality Monitoring QAPP and an initial round of sampling, which would help monitor and conserve water quality throughout the watershed.
• Center for Human Development (Springfield, MA for Waterbury, CT): CHD’S Waterbury Hospitality Center: $15,000 to support CHD in providing Narcan treatment for those with substance use disorder, as well as accompanying supportive services such as case management, referrals to local job search agencies, access to internet and mail facilities, showers, laundry, and community building opportunities.
• Chrysalis Center, Inc. (Hartford): Community Housing Supportive Program): $4,000 to support the Community Supportive Housing program, which provides affordable supportive housing and case management services to people who are homeless or in high-risk.
• Connecticut Foodshare (Wallingford): Equitable Hunger Solutions: $7,500 to enable access to healthy and nutritious food to CT’s most vulnerable populations.
• CT Partnership for Children (Naugatuck): Parent Tool Box-Building Healthy Environments for Families through Case Management – $14,000 to promote equitable opportunities for low income families through case management, parent workshops, and social opportunities for families with young children. CPC will offer a series of Parent Toolboxes that cover areas such as Healthy and Safe Pregnancies: Developmental Awareness for Young Children, What’s for Dinner: Cooking on a Dime, and Feeding your Infant: A Family Choice.
• Darcey School (Cheshire): Circle of Security Parenting (COSP): $10,000 to support a relationship-based intervention designed to enhance attachment security between parents, teachers, caregivers, and children. The program is an effective way to build healthy attachments and enhance self-regulation thereby increasing school readiness and optimal learning.
• Foodcorps (Portland, OR for Naugatuck, CT): Foodcorps Connecticut $10,000 to implement year-round tailored, multi-component intervention designed to get kids eating healthy food and transform school food environments by putting evidence-based programming and practices into place.
• Food Rescue US (Stamford): Food Rescue US – Northwest CT – $15,000 to support the coordination of daily food rescues and the addition of a part-time Operational Site Coordinator to help manage the growth of the Northwest CT site.
• Greater Waterbury Health Improvement Partnership (GWHP) – Fiscal sponsor: Staywell Health, Inc. (Waterbury): Improving Maternal Health for Women of Color through Care Coordination – $30,000 to continue the Improving Maternal Health Disparities work in Waterbury and create a larger strategy called the Waterbury Baby Bundle. At the same time, facilitate care coordination in the health system and the build-out of a larger, more culturally responsive community network that can better serve the entire population in need.
• Greater Waterbury Interfaith Ministries (Waterbury): Feeding Programs: $12,000 to provide nearly 425,000 meals annually to those in need.
• Madre Latina (Waterbury): Health on Wheels – $12,000 to coordinate health education and cultural awareness activities in a supportive and encouraging environment for Latino families in the Greater Waterbury area.  Madre Latina plans to have at least 100-150 participants through workshops etc.
• Naugatuck YMCA (Naugatuck): Housing Safe Access Control $10,000 to provide an update to the elevator software and a new access control to the main entrance. The system will allow the YMCA to provide keys with limits including area access, timing of facility access, and disabling key access.
• Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education (RACCE) (Waterbury): Youth-Led Air Monitoring and Participatory Action Research Project – $15,000 to enable youth leaders and Waterbury families disproportionately impacted by air pollution and a lack of access to clean and affordable transportation options to develop and deploy local and personal air monitoring plans to strengthen their knowledge of air pollutants and solutions that address local air quality in the South End, Downtown and North End of Waterbury.
• The Salvation Army (Waterbury): Family Emergency Shelter: $13,836 to support the 9-room, 30-bed Family Emergency Shelter, where families can work with a housing specialist to secure safe, affordable, and stable housing and receive supportive services.
• St. Vincent DePaul Mission of Waterbury (Waterbury): Relocation of the Food Pantry: $23,000 to relocate the food pantry from within the soup kitchen facility to a standalone building.
• The University of Connecticut Foundation (Storrs): Addressing Food Insecurity for First Generation UConn Waterbury Students: $15,000 to address food insecurity by providing basic human needs to promote safety, wellness, along with academic progress, retention, and ultimately graduation for UConn-Waterbury students.
• Waterbury Bridge to Success Community Partnership (Waterbury): Walk with the Docs – a Day 43 & Girl Trek (Helping Hands in the Community) Collaboration: $7,500 to engage in the proposed “Walk with a Doc” component, a model based on sustainability and simplicity, where a doctor gives a brief presentation on a health topic. and then leads participants on a walk at their own pace.
• Waterbury Mutual Aid Company (Waterbury): $12,000 to support a community garden located at Long Hill Bible Church, right next to Davis Gardens (mostly subsidized) and a short distance from Berkeley Heights (WHA), two housing developments with primarily low-income, BIPOC residents. There are no known spaces or support for families at either housing complex to grow their own food.
• Woman’s Choice Charitable Association (Waterbury): Community Doula Program – $20,000 to provide free and low-cost pregnancy/postpartum support services to Black women in Waterbury, to help combat disparities in Black maternal & infant care.

• Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc. (Southington): Partnership to Expand Access to Care and Support: $7,500 to fund support groups and education programs in Waterbury that are intended to increase rates of service access by those in underrepresented communities.
• Brass City Harvest (Waterbury): Brass City Cooks Senior Nutrition and Cooking Classes: $10,455 to continue to offer Senior Nutrition and Healthy Cooking Classes in-person and virtually to seniors in Woodbury, Middlebury, Cheshire and Waterbury.
• Charles Rietdyke Senior Center (Wolcott): Staying Active through Exercise: $16,000 to continue to offer approximately 450 older adults a well-balanced and challenging fitness program to help enable them to live independently and be able to perform daily living activities for as long as possible.
• Goshen Community Care and Hospice (Goshen): Senior Socials and Luncheons: $7,000 to continue providing 10 monthly luncheons to approximately 50 older adults of Goshen’s senior population, and include an informational educational segment of interest to the group as well as guest speakers when available.
• Grace Baptist Church (Waterbury): Senior Center Support: $18,000 to fund the purchase of food for the organization’s food pantry which serves 150 older adults each weekend, including deliveries to homebound residents.
• Hidden Acres Therapeutic Riding Center (Naugatuck): Equine-Assisted Wellness Programs: $8,000 to support programs for older adults, which aim to improve mental agility, alertness and mood through equine-assisted therapeutic activities designed to help older adults thrive as they engage in healthy and safe sensory enriched activities.
• Literacy Volunteers (Waterbury): Adult Literacy (Ages 60 and older): $11,130 to improve all lives through literacy by cultivating educational opportunities for adults.
• Monitor My Health (Wolcott): Monitor my Health: Preventing Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: $10,000 to support 20 seniors at increased risk of Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease with a 23-session disease prevention program, including nutritional counseling with a dietician.
• Naugatuck YMCA (Naugatuck): Senior Exercise and Well-being: $25,000 to continue to provide evidence-based exercise classes, active older adult classes, and social interaction for seniors in the community to encourage healthy living and prevent social isolation.
• New Opportunities, Inc. (Waterbury): Chef-on-Site: $6,500 to provide nutritious, affordable meals, as well as opportunities for socialization and engagement to older adults in Southbury and Woodbury Senior Centers.
• Osher Lifelong Institute (Waterbury): The Greening of Waterbury-From Planting to Harvest: $5,000 to support the increasing need to feed food-insecure residents of the Greater Waterbury area. It is coordinated and maintained by older adult volunteers from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UConn Waterbury.
• Pilobolus (Washington): Connecting with Balance: $4,995 to return to in-person classes combining the many benefits of live interactions with the increased access and flexibility virtual options provide, in three local CT communities with two 8-week sessions of in-person instruction.
• Seven Angels Theater (Waterbury): Seven Angels and the Seniors: $3,375 to provide approximately 72 older adults (BRASS Members) the chance for artistic expression while they continue to meet cognitive challenges and have fun in a social endeavor.
• Southington-Cheshire Community YMCA (Cheshire): A Matter of Balance (MOB): $3,000 to offer the Matter of Balance (MOB) program to approximately 20 participants recruited from the Cheshire YMCA, Cheshire Senior Center, and local senior living communities.
• St. Margaret Willow Plaza (Waterbury): St. Margaret Willow Plaza Hispanic Senior Program: $2,000 to provide resources and activities that help the Hispanic older adults in the community to maintain a good quality of lifestyle.
• Town of Litchfield, Social Services (Litchfield): Linking Up Litchfield: $2,900 to fund the collecting and gathering of community data specific to older adults programming and resources as part of community conversation and strategic planning process.
• Town of Roxbury (Roxbury): Resource Booklet: $1,000 to create a resource booklet for the Town’s older adult population. Project stems from a community conversation focused on older adult resources.
• TheaterWorks (New Milford): Senior Night: $1,652 to host “Senior Nights”, which allows local older adults to attend dress rehearsals of productions free of charge.
• UR Community Cares (Manchester): Assistance for Older/Disabled Adults: $4,000 to connect older adults to resources and volunteers using the organization’s online platform.
• Western CT Area Agency on Aging (Waterbury): Expanding Evidence-based Health Programs in Waterbury Year 6: $37,500 to expand Live Well with Diabetes workshops in Waterbury, in both English and Spanish, using a diverse cadre of both volunteers and professionals whom we have trained as Leaders for the three programs, which are offered at no cost to approximately 130 participants.
• Yoga4Change (Hamden): Yoga 4 Healthy Aging: $5,900 to continue supporting weekly classes on Yoga4Change’s evidence-based chair yoga program, provided in partnership with agencies currently serving seniors in Waterbury and Wolcott.

• Hidden Acres Therapeutic Riding Center (Naugatuck): LGBTQ+ Therapeutic Wellness – $3,400 to celebrate the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community within the 21-town region served by CCF. In small groups, the participants will come together to inspire and support each other through proven equine-assisted activities that build connections, self-confidence, and self-awareness.
• Merryall Center (New Milford): Program: Merryall Pride 2022 – $3,000 to present weekly concerts at the Merryall Center this Spring, featuring performers representing the rich diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.

• Hidden Acres Therapeutic Riding Center (Naugatuck): Wellness Programs: Equine-Assisted Therapeutic Services – $20,000 to nurture the mind, body, and spirit through the benefits of therapeutic riding, equine assisted activities, and nature to improve the physical and mental health of sick and infirm residents.
• Human Resource Development Agency (Naugatuck): Medical Transportation / Socialization – $28,908 to serve Naugatuck residents in need of transportation to medical appointments during the afternoon hours, the same time HRD’s other bus is being used.
• Naugatuck Ambulance (Naugatuck): Program: Communication Upgrade – $60,000 to provide a much-needed radio upgrade for Naugatuck EMS.
• Naugatuck YMCA (Naugatuck): Livestrong – $5,000 to support Livestrong, a free evidenced-based program that helps adult cancer survivors reclaim their health and well-being following a cancer diagnosis. The goal is to offset program costs and continue offering the program at no cost to participants.

• Give Local Greater Waterbury & Litchfield Hills (Waterbury): Give Local 2023 – $16,500 for a 36-hour online giving event that encourages community giving to local nonprofits. SCTF support will benefit Southbury nonprofits. Specifically, funding will address three key areas: Bonus Funds, Prizes for Southbury Organizations, and Marketing.
• PHS Gradnite, Inc: Program (Southbury): PHS Gradnite – $5,000 to provide an all-night celebration that is a fitting capstone to their high school years and keeps seniors safe in a controlled environment free of alcohol and drugs.
• Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition (Woodbury): Eradication of Water Chestnut in Lake Stibbs, Southbury, CT Phase 2 – $2,095 to eradicate the highly invasive water-chestnut infestation from the 5-acre Lake Stibbs in Southbury. This work will improve water quality in Lake Stibbs and help prevent further spread of the highly invasive water-chestnut plant downstream to the Pomperaug River and out to Lake Zoar and the Housatonic River.
• Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury (Waterbury): Safer Communities Southbury – $5,000 to provide free comprehensive services for individuals who have experienced or are experiencing domestic violence and/or sexual violence who live in Southbury and surrounding towns. Services will be provided by trained and certified staff from the SH Southbury satellite office.
• SMART, Inc. (Southbury): SMART, Inc. – $13,000 to support activities in S.M.A.R.T., Inc’s key areas of focus (Local Prevention Council, Parent University and Community/School based initiatives and resources). SMART will continue to focus on prevention topics as well as on health, wellness, and positive decision-making topics. SMART anticipates delivering parent and student workshops and campaigns.
• Southbury Affordable Housing Alliance (Southbury): Land Survey and Legal Subdivision Document – $10,000 to facilitate the creation of affordable housing projects in Southbury. The project comprises the necessary predevelopment costs: surveying the parcel of land to be purchased, attorney fees for subdivision application, and the affordable housing consultant’s fee.
• Southbury Junior Women’s Club (Southbury): Operation Backpack – $2,500 to provide school supplies for the children of needy Southbury families who apply for assistance through Southbury Social Services.
• Sustainable Southbury (Southbury): Food Scrap Recycle Pilot – $2,490 to create a multi-faceted food scrap recycling program to reduce food waste and help promote equity in the community. This pilot will help move the Town to incorporate food scrap recycling into its infrastructure.
• United Church of Christ (Southbury): Elephant in the Room Play Series – $5,000 to invite the New Hampshire Theatry Project (NHTP) to present three plays during the months of October, December and January 2023 at the sanctuary at UCC Southbury. The plays will facilitate community discussions on difficult but important issues. 
• Whiskers Pet Rescue (Woodbury): Senior to Senior Cat Foster Program – $3,500 to match senior citizens within the community with senior cats and provide vet care and food/litter support (especially people with limited income).

• Greater Waterbury Health Partnership (Waterbury): Strategic Planning with Racial Equity and DEI Integration – $20,000 to fund a new strategic plan with a focus on racial equity. The organization aims to develop an actionable plan that will help prepare them for the next 3-5 years. The planning process will help to development internal objectives to strengthen and guide the new team, build trust amongst staff and community partners and forge a deeper understanding of our chosen programs and priorities.
• Greenwoods Counseling Referrals, Inc. (Litchfield): Strategic Planning for 2023-2026 – $6,100 to support a three-month strategic planning process that will update the organization Mission Statement, articulate a Vision Statement and a Values Statement and adopt a set of short- and long-term goals that will advance the organization’s vision over the next 3 years.
• Malta House of Care – Waterbury (Waterbury): EPIC Community Connect: $10,000 to fund the purchase of the electronic health record system, EPIC, which will allow for more streamlined care and easy to share information with other entities on the EPIC system like St. Mary’s and Waterbury Hospital in the future.
• Naugatuck YMCA (Naugatuck): Technology Upgrade – $9,000 to purchase a new cloud-based server and 10 laptops that would replace outdated desktop computers.
• Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Waterbury (Waterbury): NHSW Re-brand: $16,200 to fund the first re-brand of NHSW in 40 years with the goal of increasing visibility and engagement.
• Rivera Memorial Foundation (Waterbury): Strategic Planning: $6,000 to develop and implement a strategic plan for the organization.
• Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury (Waterbury): Stabilize IT Network – $6,000 to fund the re-wiring in the office in order to support the organization’s Wi-Fi connection.
• Warren Land Trust (Warren): Warren Land Trust Strategic Planning Initiative – $1,350 to fund work with a consultant to develop a new strategic plan that is actionable plan and focuses on organizational capacity, outcomes/goals and diversity and inclusion.
• Waterbury Symphony Orchestra (Waterbury): Strategic Plan – $15,000 to fund the development of the organization’s first strategic plan in over ten years. The new plan will aim to refine Mission and Vision, review relevant feedback and data, reflect on past performance and develop new goals and strategies.
• Western CT Area Agency on Aging (Waterbury): Updated Servers: Up to $15,000 to purchase three updates servers for the organization.

• Center for Empowerment and Education (Danbury): Support for Women/Children Victims of Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault: $9,194 to support services for victims of domestic violence, including emergency shelter, counseling, crisis intervention, victim advocacy services, hotline services, safety planning and criminal justice/civil legal services in New Milford, Bridgewater, Washington and Roxbury.
• CNV Help, Inc (Waterbury): Women’s Training & Curriculum: $1,160 to fund new curriculum (Helping Women Recover and Seeking Safety) for the organization’s intensive outpatient program for women. Curriculum is evidence-based and funding includes training for staff.
• Love 146 (New Haven): CT Survivor Care Program: $11,500 to provide long-term Services, rapid responses, one-time interventions that provide children with information, safety planning, and referral services related to human trafficking.
• Madre Latina (Waterbury): Changemakers Youth Program: $8,000 to continue support of a Latino youth leadership and empowerment program, that provides positive health messages, promotes the development of self-esteem, advocacy and leadership skills in Latinas ages 9 to 14.
• Safe Haven (Waterbury): Safer Communities Greater Waterbury: $10,000 to support the provision of domestic violence, crisis intervention, and long-term services for victims and survivors in 10 towns in the Foundation’s region.
• Save Girls on FYER (Waterbury): SGOF Leadership Academy & Liberation Program – $8,564 to provide a safe environment for powerful enrichment and development programs that shape the lives of girls of color and to continue to provide training in youth advocacy and cover topics that provide character-building skills.
• Vincent DePaul Mission of Waterbury (Waterbury): Women’s Day Program: $10,000 to support extended shelter stays for single women between October 2022 – April 2023, rather than having women seek shelter with partners who are physically or sexually abusive.
• Waterbury Youth Services (Waterbury): Child Advocacy Center Bridge Program: $10,000 to support the Child Advocacy Center, an evidence-based trauma treatment mental health intervention for child victims ages 7-17.
• Women’s Choice Charitable Association (Waterbury): Community Doula Program – $10,000 to provide free and low-cost pregnancy support services, especially for Black mothers who live in Waterbury. 

The Women’s Giving Circle’s 2022 grant recipients include $21,000 awards to the following organizations:

• Madre Latina in Waterbury was awarded a $5,000 grant for its Young Representatives of Waterbury program focused on Latina high school students in the city. In addition to teaching leadership and civic engagement skills, Madre Latina will tap into its large network of partners to share and discuss mental health resources, mentor partnering and mindfulness training to decrease anxiety and depression while improving self-esteem.
• Women’s Choice Charitable Association in Waterbury received a $5,000 grant to support its Community Doula Project. It will provide free doula services to women of color birthing in Waterbury who face financial challenges. This program works alongside prenatal care provided by local hospitals and obstetrician offices.
• Greenwoods Counseling Referrals in Litchfield was awarded a $5,000 grant to support its financial aid program to help women pay for mental health care if they are underinsured or uninsured. The program helps ensure access to the care women need to build resilience, self-efficacy and wellness.
• Hidden Acres Therapeutic Riding Center in Naugatuck received a $5,000 grant for its Equine-Assisted Trauma Survivors program that will provide services to women and children who are survivors of domestic violence and trauma. The life skills learned will help participants manage symptoms of PTSD, depression, anxiety and social isolation.
• CNV Help, Inc. in Waterbury and Connecticut Renaissance in Shelton were each awarded $500 grants to support general operating expenses.