The Community Foundation Continues Support for Immigrant Families and Children

[The Community Foundation for GNH]

In light of the June 23rd decision of the US Supreme Court regarding immigration and Monday's rally in Hartford by members of the Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven reaffirmed today its commitment to the work in support of immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, in Greater New Haven.

Immigrant integration is a major strategic priority of The Foundation. Through community partnerships, grantmaking and public education, The Foundation is ensuring that the community as a whole is more informed about the economic and cultural value of immigrants in our region and the unique barriers that undocumented immigrants face. It strives to create a more welcoming community in which immigrants are fully integrated members who are achieving greater civic and economic participation and success.

In addition, The Foundation is the convener of the statewide Immigration Strategic Funders Collaborative, a consortium of funders, service providers and advocacy organizations throughout Connecticut.

“Because we believe the current and future prosperity of our region is tightly linked to the success of immigrants, including those who may be undocumented, The Foundation will continue its work to support the families and individuals in our community and in Connecticut who would have benefited from the President’s executive actions,” says William W. Ginsberg, President & CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. “The need for immigrant families and children to have access to critical services continues and our work in support for them will continue, too."

The Immigrant Strategic Funders Collaborative of Connecticut was formed in 2015 in response to the Obama Administration’s 2014 immigration executive actions to enhance statewide efforts and local work to help Connecticut’s immigrant families. Its work is funded through the institutional grantmaking processes of the following: The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Fairfield County's Community Foundation, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Hispanic Federation, Perrin Family Foundation, and the Progreso Latino Fund (a committee-advised fund at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven). For more information about The Collaborative, visitwww.cfgnh.org/ISFCCT.org.

The Supreme Court ruling creates uncertainty for many immigrant families with strong ties to the region, says Sister Mary Ellen Burns, the executive director of  Apostle Immigrant Services, a service provider in the Collaborative. A couple, who visited her office last week, has lived in New Haven for more than a decade and would have qualified for protection under President Obama’s executive orders from 2014, Burns said.

“Their children are excellent students; one has a scholarship at a private college. They have a long history of employment. They are involved in their community and their church. And, by the way, they have learned English,” said Burns. “There was no way and there was never a way for them to have legal status. They didn’t cut in front of a line. There was no line. And it’s people like this who are reviving the business district in Fair Haven. They are keeping housing prices up. They pay taxes. This is just one story. I have dozens.”

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, 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, visit www.cfgnh.org or follow The Foundation on Facebook (www.facebook.org/cfgnh) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/cfgnh). 

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