Community Fund for Women and Girls Reports on Status of Girls; Awards $135,000 for Gender-Specific Work

[The Community Foundation for GNH]

Citing Experience and Recent Data, Panel of Young Women Recommend Investing in Girls of Color at 21st Annual Meeting of Community Fund for Women & Girls

New Haven, CT (July 6, 2016) –The Community Fund for Women & Girls, Greater New Haven’s permanent charitable endowment dedicated solely to advancing women and girls, convened stakeholders to hear the status of girls in Connecticut and the region on June 29 at its Annual Meeting. The event featured Dr. Andrea Bastiani Archibald, Chief Girl Expert at Girl Scouts USA, who presented data from the soon-to-be updated report The State of Girls: Unfinished Business produced by Girl Scouts USA. Dr. Bastiani Archibald was joined by a panel of five girls from the Greater New Haven community who shared their thoughts, particularly about study data demonstrating disparities experienced by girls of color. The panelists recommended investments in girls’ emotional and mental health to increase confidence levels and leadership by girls.

“With 21% of girls living in poverty and 42% of girls living in low-income families nationally according to the data presented by Dr. Bastiani Archibald, it is imperative we continue to support girls and invest in them,” says Susan Garcia Nofi, the Community Fund for Women & Girls Advisory Board Chair. “A good portion of the more than $135,000 awarded from the Fund this year, over 40%, is specifically targeted at girls in our region. Each of the nine partner organizations receiving grants was selected for the gender-specific work they do in the areas of health, leadership, legal rights, STEM and more.”

Connecticut ranks 6th among the best states for a girl to live, and 4th among states for girls succeeding in education according to the data that was presented and that will be included in the 2017 The State of Girls: Unfinished Business report. Each state was ranked based on a girls’ well-being index which considered physical health and safety, economic well-being, education, emotional health and extracurricular activities. For Connecticut, a sample size of 293,252 girls, between the ages of 5-17 was surveyed.

2016 Grant Recipients in Alphabetical Order:

All Our Kin (year two of three-year commitment) $50,000 to support All Our Kin’s Business Entrepreneurship program.

Bridges…A Community Support System (www.bridgesmilford.org) $6,600 to build the capacity of the Young Parent Program, supporting case management and educational services for pregnant and parenting teens/young adults in Milford and West Haven.

Christian Community Action (www.ccahelping.org) $6,000 to provide advocacy training and mentoring for young women poised to take on leadership of the renowned Mothers for Justice program.

Connecticut Women’s Consortium (www.womensconsortium.org) $15,647 to train nonprofit program providers to implement the Girls Circle program throughout Greater New Haven. Girls Circle is a gender-specific, evidence-based support program for girls.

Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (www.cwealf.org) $15,000 to support the Bilingual Community Advocacy program in Greater New Haven, providing legal information, referrals and legal representation and educational programming for underserved Latinas.

Engineering and Science University Magnet School (ESUMS) (www.esumsnh.net) $10,000 to support the STEM Saturdays program for 4th and 5th grade girls in New Haven.

Girl Scouts of Connecticut (www.gsofct.org) $10,000 to support the second year of the New Haven pilot of a staff-led community outreach and troop program, in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven, to serve girls in 2nd through 4th grades.

Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership(LEAP) (www.leapforkids.org) $10,000 to support the continuation of LEAP’s Learning to Code computer and Making a Splash swimming programs for adolescent girls.

Literacy Volunteers of Southern Connecticut (www.lvsct.org) $5,000 to support the adult women’s ESL program and advanced literacy programs with outreach to low income women in the workplace.

New Reach (www.newreach.org) $7,500 to provide Gender Responsive Trauma Informed Care training to staff at New Reach’s shelter programs.

The Community Fund for Women & Girls is a component fund at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and the second oldest women’s endowment in the state of Connecticut. It has awarded $1 Million to more than 200 programs since its establishment. Individuals interested in growing the endowment with a gift or to learn more about the work of the Fund are encouraged to visit www.fundforwomenandgirls.org.

Thanks to the generosity of three generations of donors, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven awarded over $24 million in grants and distributions in 2015 from an endowment of more than $500 million and composed of hundreds of individually named funds. In addition to its grantmaking, The Community Foundation helps build a stronger community by taking measures to improve student achievement, create healthy families in New Haven and a more welcoming community, promote local philanthropy through www.giveGreater.org® and encourage better understanding of the region. The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s 20 town service area includes: Ansonia, Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, Derby, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Oxford, Seymour, Shelton, Wallingford, West Haven, Woodbridge.

For more information about The Community Foundation visit www.cfgnh.org, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.org/cfgnh or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cfgnh.

Media Contact: Tricia Caldwell Community Foundation for Greater New Haven 203-777-7090 [e-mail]