“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” - Greek Proverb

The City of New Haven--in partnership with the Urban Resources Initiative--is offering FREE TREES to New Haven residents this spring.  This is a great opportunity for residents to give a gift to future generations and be part of something larger than themselves.

Trees beautify the city, improve the air, reduce flooding, help wildlife, and increase property values.  Adopting a tree also supports the local workforce.  The program provides training and job experience to members of the New Haven community who are underemployed (high school students and formerly incarcerated adults). 

To make a request, New Haven residents (renters or owners) can call URI at 203-432-6189, email uri@yale.edu, or fill out our online form (http://uri.yale.edu/get-involved/request-free-tree).  Each tree and location is reviewed by a certified arborist before planting.

Michael Moody - NonProfit Quarterly - Friday Jan 26.

Having survived yet another frenzied December giving season, we usually find ourselves in the new year reflecting on that end-of-year charitable scramble and what it means for the bigger picture. Unfortunately, these reflections can slide toward the negative. Both our holiday gift exchanges and our year-end giving can feel very transactional. And while these gifts are vital for nonprofit sustainability, are they good for philanthropy writ large and long-term?

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2018/01/25/relationship-nonprofits-can-better-engage-next-gen-donors ;

The Beth-El Center homeless shelter and soup kitchen in Milford has been awarded a $2,500 grant from the Norma F. Pfriem Foundation.  The grant is for the specific benefit of the children living at the Center and will be used to purchase age appropriate birthday and holiday gifts for them.

Funds from the grant will be used to purchase toys, clothing, educational devices as well as wrapping paper and cards for birthday or any holiday occasions.

According to Attorney Matthew B. Woods, Norma F. Pfriem Foundation Trustee, "We are pleased to provide Beth-El Center with this funding to support and bring some happiness to the children living at the shelter."

Through its shelter, soup kitchen and case management, the Beth-El Center cares for and responds to the needs of the hungry and homeless in the greater Milford community.

For more information on the Beth-El Center's programs, visit www.bethelmilford.org.

The Beth-El Center, Inc. is a non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate homelessness and hunger in the greater Milford community in conjunction with

community partners and public and private organizations.

Position:  Executive Director

Required skills and experience:

• Fiscal management in a nonprofit Human Services agency and knowledge of issues of hunger and homelessness
• Knowledge and experience in fundraising and grant writing
• Familiarity with support and resource partners in the greater Milford community
• Knowledge and experience with State of CT agency funding and contract compliance
• Ability to recruit, assess and develop employees with a commitment to the agency mission

If you meet the selection criteria, please send your resume and cover letter to:  Toni Dolan

at:  tdolan@bethelmilford.org no later than February 15, 2018.

Lots of different job openings at Common Ground http://commongroundct.org/get-involved/join-our-staff/

This show is an organic conversation between individuals interested in peace and wholeness within themselves and our community at-large. Contributors will examine the knowing of Truth, encountering new information, the risk of absolutes and conditions within human.kind.both that help get us beyond conflict.
Finite experiences will be shared. Journey stories. Inquiries. Sources. Exploration of “being” in the world. Balance. Connection.

Five diverse individuals came together literally meeting for the first time to risk conversation that would be public about being in the world today. They conversed for 90 minutes and have agreed to come together again. This group has committed to meeting and conversing more. 

Other groups of five are welcome to do the same on Sunday afternoons at WPAA-TV. If interested in being involved in these conversations contact susan.adele@wpaa.tv   We will gladly host the introductions and capture of conversation of others that are interested. 

This show was inspired by Nelson Ford whose art is central to the production.

The series has a YouTube Channel.

When you join GNH Community you automatically have a blog page on the site. You can use this blog to post job openings, share information about something you need or let the community know about something you have to offer. You may also use the blog to share your thoughts and opinions, perhaps even something you wrote for another occasion that you would like to share with a broader audience.

Your GNH Community blog page may also be used to promote your organization's blog or website. postings. Just click on BLOGS in the ribbon above, then click add, post your blog entry title and a teaser  paragraph with a link back to the complete post on your blog or website. \

Blog post are shared every Wednesday via social media with people connected to GNH Community via social media. 

GNH Community if a free service to the local nonprofit community provided by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

P.S.: Don't forget to use tags to facilitates the finding of your post via the GNH Community search function 

The voices of people starting over after coming home from prison are raised up on Criminal Justice Insider, a new radio show sponsored by The Community Foundation and Family Reentry. The show explores the lives of people affected by incarceration, both ex-offenders and their family. Guests will be invited to talk about the challenges of living outside of prison and offer perspectives on what makes the difference between going back in or staying out for good.

Criminal Justice Insider airs on the first and third Fridays of every month on WNHH radio and livestreamed from The New Haven Independent Facebook page. A written article will accompany each episode.

Find past shows here.

The voices of people starting over after coming home from prison are raised on “Criminal Justice Insider,” a new radio show sponsored by The Community Foundation on the New Haven Independent’s WNHH radio station, which airs the first Friday of every month.

The show aligns with The Foundation’s leadership strategy on incarceration and reentry, and is just one of several ways we are working with local media outlets to inform the community. 

Our long-standing support of nonprofit journalism is continuing with new general operating grants from The Community Foundation and our affiliate, the Valley Community Foundation to fund the work of the New Haven Independent and Valley Independent Sentinel. 

A new grant was also awarded to Connecticut Health Investigative Team (C-HIT) to support reporting on in-depth stories including disparities and access to health care. Continue reading.

 The Greater New Haven Green Fund is an environmental foundation that carries out grantmaking in four municipalities of the Greater New Haven area. Since its inception the Green Fund has contributed more than $250,000 towards organizations and projects working to enhance environmental quality and environmental justice.

We are currently seeking proposals for funding of environmentally beneficial projects serving the towns of New Haven, East Haven, Hamden, and Woodbridge. Grants up to $10,000 will be made in a competitive application process. Proposals are due January 12.

Please see www.gnhgreenfund.org for more information.

Grant Processes Open

New Haven, CT (December 5, 2017) - The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the region’s permanent endowment and largest grantmaker to local nonprofits, announces two grant opportunities with application deadlines in January.

The Community Fund for Women & Girls is accepting applications for the 2018 grants cycle through Thursday, January 18, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. Grants are awarded to gender-specific initiatives that are intentional, equitable and well-informed.  All interested applicants are required to contact The Community Foundation before applying.Learn more here.

The Quinnipiac River Fund, a component fund at The Community Foundation, is accepting applications through Monday, January 22, 2018. The Fund makes grants for projects designed to benefit the environmental quality of the Quinnipiac River, the New Haven Harbor, and surrounding watersheds. Approximately $100,000 in grants is awarded each spring from the Fund.Learn more here.

You can Help Hurricane Maria Survivors in New Haven. Please Spread the Word...

U.S. Citizens whose lives have been severely disrupted by Hurricane Maria, who have lost their homes, their jobs, and in some cases their loved ones, are arriving in New Haven every day. These fellow U.S. citizens come here because of a family or a historic connection to our city. Like most disaster victims they arrive with few resources.

JUNTA for Progressive Action is acting as the Central Resource Center for Victims of Hurricane Maria who have evacuated to New Haven. Volunteer help is needed!

HOW YOU Can Help:

Option 1: If you are bilingual (English/Spanish), feel comfortable speaking on the phone JUNTA needs your help. Basic computer skills are helpful but not required for this volunteer opportunity. If you want to volunteers click on this link to share information about your availability.*

Option 2: If you are not bilingual, you can help by sharing this information with people you know who might be able to assist. Anyone you know who is able to help is more likely to help if they are asked to do so by someone they know.

Option 3: Of course, anyone who wants to help by donating funds is welcome to make a tax deductible donation to JUNTA. To donate: online click here. If you prefer to send a check in the mail: JUNTA for Progressive Action 169 Grand Avenue, New Haven, CT 06513

Option 4: Donate winter: coats, sweaters, scarfs, hats and gloves, as well as winter-appropriate shoes for children, women and men. Also needed new bedding: specifically blankets, comforters and pillows.

* Thank you to the City of New Haven for creating this volunteer matching page to help Junta and the people who want to volunteer.

JUNTA for Progressive Action is New Haven's oldest Spanish speaking social service agency. JUNTA provides numerous services to disaster victims, including registering for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance and accessing resources to meet critical needs including SNAP, food, medical care, insurance, emergency transportation, clothing, furniture, energy assistance, English classes, computer classes, diapers, legal services, children’s after school program, cell phones, assistance for the elderly, and translation. 

Our screens and feeds are filled with news and images of black Americans dying or being brutalized. A brief and yet still-too-long list: Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Eric Garner, Renisha McBride. The image of a white police officer straddling a black teenager on a lawn in McKinney, Tex., had barely faded before we were forced to grapple with the racially motivated shooting in Charleston, S.C...

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/magazine/racisms-psychological-toll.html?_r=2

FISH of Greater New Haven strengthened the safety net for local veterans this past year through a new partnership with the West Haven VA. FISH, which delivers fresh food to the homebound, now also provides food to veterans who recently moved into supportive housing.

The new service targeting formerly homeless veterans is the latest example of how community partnerships enable this small nonprofit to have a big impact.

“We helped 1,100 people last year with one full-time staff-member,” says Executive Director Jilan Crowley. “The magic of how FISH works is through all of our volunteers and partner agencies.” Continue reading . . .

Over four decades, Chapel Haven has gained an international reputation for running innovative programs that teach adults with developmental and social disabilities how to live independent lives. Now the pioneering school is building on that success with an expansion of its campus in New Haven’s Westville neighborhood. 

“It is amazing how the community embraces our adults,” says Chapel Haven Vice President Julia Isenberg. “When our adults go to the store, they get hugs across the counter. It’s a really beautiful relationship.” Continue reading.

Generic unconscious bias training and its umbrella intervention, diversity training, have been around for decades, but they have still failed to close the leadership gender gap. In their article Why Diversity Programs Fail, Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev argue that this is because too much diversity training is mandatory, prompting resentment and defensiveness from managers. “Trainers tell us that people often respond to compulsory courses with anger and resistance—and many participants actually report more animosity toward other groups afterward,” they write...

http://www.leadingwomen.biz/blog/why-unconscious-bias-training-doesnt-close-the-gender-gap-gender-dynamics

By  JIM SCHAFFER 

At a time when mental health funding continues to fall short of meeting the need, Bridges remains more committed than ever to treating people, regardless of their income levels, who suffer from opioid addiction, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or other mental health disorders. 

“We look forward to further expansion of our healthcare system as we respond to increasing difficulties on the behavioral health horizon, including the opioid epidemic and rising suicide rates,” says Bridges President & CEO Barbara DiMauro. “While the continuing budget crisis in the state has been of great concern to us, our goal, as always, is to remain a premier provider of healthcare services over the next six decades, and beyond.” Continue reading . . .

If not for the ChildSight® program, thousands of school-aged children would struggle to see the words on the blackboard or in their books. The national program, working in 32 New Haven public schools, performs vision tests and delivers free prescription eyewear to children in need. Continue reading.