New Haven Independent

One hundred fifty women and a few men gathered at the Lawn Club Tuesday to celebrated the 2008 grant recipients supported by Fund for Women and Girls. It was the largest gathering to date for an awards ceremony. And the fund was dispersing the biggest total to date — $61,000 to 15 groups, ranging from a wilderness trip for young women in Solar Youth, to a video project for a rape crisis center, to a support group for mothers and their daughters who’ve been in foster care.

Another group that received funding is The Color of Words, which teaches New Haven teens to take charge of their lives through the power of words and art. Eight young women will participate in a digital media project through a grant from the fund.

Valerie Rodriguez, 16 (on the right in photo above with Cynthia Green), explained what the group means to her: “It means for me to tell my story to people who really don’t [usually] listen, and don’t know me as well. So I let them find out who I really am.” She said it had changed her life, because she had earlier considered a career in medicine, but now she wants to be a director, and help others learn to communicate their true selves.

Click here for a release with all the grants listed.

Nancy Alexander (pictured), who chairs the fund’s advisory committee, said she believes that all the awards will help not just the girls and women who are directly served to increase their confidence and power, but will ripple out to benefit the entire community.

As an example she said that a $5,000 grant to Christian Community Action will train formerly homeless women how to become public advocates for social change. “They’re teaching them how to talk to legislators, how to write effective letters to the editor. It’s going to benefit them because they’ll become stronger and more confident. But you have to imagine what the effect on the entire community is going to be.” Click here to hear more.

Alexander said “collaboration” was a key concept this year. The fund worked with the United Way of Greater New Haven and also the Junior League. The latter group, represented by (left to right, current president Nicole Pollard, Kristin Parenteau and president-elect Dana Schaffer) researched a number of projects they considered funding. Parenteau was on that committee. They settled on the Student Parenting and Family Services project at Wilbur Cross High School, which works with teen moms and their families. “They do a lot of intervention, mentally, emotionally, socially, but it’s really just keeping these young girls in school, and looking beyond high school to college.” Click here for more. The Junior League funded this project to the tune of $,3000.

Alexander announced that the fund needs to expand the number of people who review the grant proposals, since many more proposals are submitted than can be funded. She described the fund, founded in 1995, as a “teenager.”“Wait ‘til we grow up!” The fund, which is just one of the many directed funds housed at the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, now has an endowment of $1.3 million.

Mary Jane Burt (pictured), who served for seven years as the fund’s liaison to the Community Foundation and is retiring this year, was honored for her service.