The Whitney Water Center is celebrating 25 years of environmental education this year. Those 25 years would not have been possible without the support of teachers. In recognition of your support, the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority is offering five $500 mini-grants to help support science teaching in our region.

This program is designed to provide mini-grants to teachers who have participated in Whitney Water Center programs:

• School programs at the Whitney Water Center
• Programs at your school 
• Project WATER, and/or
• Water Science Loan Boxes. 

The purpose of these small grants ($500 each) is to enable you to try out creative teaching techniques and buy enriching teaching materials not provided for in your school’s budget. The project must have a focus on environmental education, particularly about water. All grant recipients are expected to report on the expenditure of grant funds and results of the supported project within one year of the award.

To Apply

Click on the following link to obtain an application form:
Application Form

Eligibility

Teachers in the school districts and leaders of organized groups within the Regional Water Authority’s district are eligible to apply. You must have taken part in at least one of the Whitney Water Center’s educational offerings in the last 25 years.

Grant Amounts

There will be five $500 grants.

Timeline

• Application deadline: March 31, 2016
• Grants announced: April 4, 2015
• Grants payable to schools: Earth Week, April 18-22, 2016
• Project evaluation and reports due: April 2017

Mini Grants Criteria

A committee consisting of Regional Water Authority employees and others will review applications. The committee members will not know the identity of the teacher and school. Applications will be judged on the following criteria:

• Impact: Potential to improve student achievement; potential to enhance instructional skills
• Innovation: Creativity of project; innovative approach; academic objective with curriculum context
• Planning: Clear plan for project implementation
• Existing resources: Project cannot be achieved with existing school budget

Excluded Projects

Mini-grant applications will not be considered for:

• Renovation of facilities;
• Religious activities or teachings;
• Equipment that is not an integral part of the project;
• Non-academic projects;
• Trips out of this region; or
• Tuition for special classes

Grantees must provide a written report to the Regional Water Authority at the conclusion of their project. This report must include a financial statement and narrative describing the project and how it benefited students and the teacher.

Contact Information:

Kate Powell: kpowell@rwater.com
Lisa DiFrancesco: ldifrancesco@rwater.com

For the past two decades, John Padilla’s career has centered on helping people rise out of poverty by connecting them to jobs.  His success has earned him the reputation among government and nonprofit leaders around the state and country as a go-to expert on what works and what doesn’t when it comes to employment services and workforce development. 

"No matter where you go in life, you have to get involved and give back.  That’s our personal tax for being on the planet."

Read more here.

Photo courtesy of FISH of Greater New Haven Inc.

Volunteers for FISH of Greater New Haven Inc. deliver free bags of food to more than 1,100 homebound individuals in New Haven and surrounding areas every month. This includes 350 families, 75% of which include elderly and children.

“We deliver to people who are homebound or going through some type of hardship,” says FISH Executive Director Joy Johannes. “For instance, they’ve had a surgery and it’s difficult to get to the grocery story, they have a child who’s going through a major medical treatment, they’re elderly, they’re handicapped.”

Read more here. 

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the region’s permanent endowment and largest grantmaker to area nonprofits, invites local nonprofits to participate in The Great Give® 2016.

Participating nonprofits can earn special prizes in addition to the donations given online by individuals. The Great Give® 2016 is the seventh major community-wide giving event on giveGreater.org®, taking place for 36 hours starting 8:00 am on May 3rd and ending 8:00 pm on May 4th. More than $170,000 in matching dollars and prizes will be provided by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the Valley Community Foundation, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Liberty Bank Foundation and other generous community sponsors.

Nonprofit organizations serving the region and that are interested in participating must register by April 1, 2016 at www.thegreatgive.org or by calling 203-777-2386; eligibility requirements apply.

Businesses interested in supporting the nonprofit community through prize sponsorship are asked to contact Sharon Cappetta, Director of Development, at 203-777-7071.

Thanks to the generosity of three generations of donors, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven awarded over $30 million in grants and distributions in 2015 from charitable assets 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 The Great Give®, 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 and Woodbridge. For more information, visit www.cfgnh.org or follow The Foundation on Facebook and Twitter.

Mrs. Joseph Sheffield, in the picture, was the first President of the all women Board of Managers of the Home For the Friendless, now known as Mary Wade Home. The Home began in 1866, following the Civil War, when a group of ladies representing the Churches of New Haven, were inspired to begin a program to aid women and children. A parcel of property was acquired at 118 Clinton Avenue at the corner of Pine Street in Fair Haven in September, and the Home opened in December. Mrs. Sheffield served as President from 1866 to 1868.

Maria St. John was born on May 22, 1801 and in 1822 married Joseph Earl Sheffield. Mr. Sheffield wrote of his wife of many years, "Blest with a most devoted wife, with whom I have lived happily for over fifty seven years, mother of nine children to whom she as devoted constant care, love and affection." Mr. Sheffield was one of Yale's greatest benefactors and continued to support the school throughout his life. Their home on Hillhouse Avenue is now one of the buildings of the Yale Sheffield Scientific School.

Testimonial to her in the 1889 Report of the Home for the Friendless, "Great loss in the death of Mrs. Sheffield, first President, one of the founders, and one who always retained a deep interest in the work, and who was ever ready to help by her generous pecuniary aid." Mrs. Sheffield died on April 21, 1889 and is buried in the Grove Street Cemetery.

David V. Hunter

I think it's quite common for many folks to assume that it's the Exec or CEO at a nonprofit who calls the shots. But what happens when the board, a nonprofit's legal owner, calls the shots?

In the case of the Clearwater, Pete Seeger's nonprofit environmental organization, the CEO stepped down citing his own disagreement with the direction the board had decided to take. The board decided that renovating their ship, the source of mission, was more critical than spending money on their annual music festival. While both "vehicles" serve as a source of mission, the ship is critical to mission and must be maintained. The CEO, as the following USA Today article describes, had a different take on what should be a priority. Kudos to the board though for a) making a decision and b) accepting the consequences. On the other hand, once the board set the path around the sloop, isn't the how this would be paid for the job of the CEO? Might deciding that the concert is a no-go be micromanaging and in-turn, usurping the authority of the CEO?
Decision to cancel annual Croton Point fest, focus on repairs to flagship sloop, caused division in Hudson River group

The director of the Hudson River environmental group Clearwater has resigned in the midst of an internal rift over last week's decision to cancel the group's long-running annual music festival at Croton Point Park.

Peter Gross of South Salem, who served as Clearwater's executive director since 2014, said in a statement released by the group Wednesday that he was stepping down over "significant differences between his and the organization's vision to the path to building a stronger future for Clearwater, and dealing with the organization's longstanding financial and structural challenges."

The announcement comes a week after the board of directors of the Beacon-based environmental group voted to cancel the 2016 Great Hudson River Revival so it could devote limited financial resources to restoring it's flagship, the sloop Clearwater.

The boat, a replica of the sloops that sailed the Hudson River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, is undergoing $850,000 in needed renovations.

In an announcement last week, the Clearwater board said that, due to cash shortages, it had to choose between the sloop and the annual festival, which has been held since 1979. It has been held at the Westchester County-owned Croton park every year since 1999.

The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, flagship of the environmental group by the same name, is undergoing $850,000 in repairs. The cost led to the cancellation of the group's annual music festival and has now prompted the resignation of its executive director. (Photo: File photo/The Poughkeepsie Journal)

The sloop was launched in 1969 by legendary folk singer Pete Seeger, who founded the group on a mission to raise awareness of the plight of the Hudson River, which had been plagued by decades of pollution from waterfront manufacturing plants.

But Anne Osborn, president of the Clearwater board of directors, said Wednesday that there was still disagreement within the group after the decision was made to focus on repairs to the sloop. Gross and others, she said, felt Clearwater could repair the boat, yet still host the festival.

“I think it’s what it says: Significant differences between his and the organization’s vision of the path to a stronger future," Osborn said. "One vision, his vision, is we can have a festival and use that income stream. The other was it is way too risky. Focus on floating the boat. So we did.”

Related: Pete Seeger, activist & folk singer, dies at 94

Osborn said about 75 percent of the repairs to the flagship sloop are being reimbursed by the state. But she said it was uncertain if the reimbursements would come in time to stage the two-day summer festival.

The group says the event has averaged about $162,000 a year in net income over the past six years, but only $31,000 last year.
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Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival, held annually at Croton Point Park, was canceled this year amid a budget crunch at the environmental group Clearwater. The group's executive director has now resigned in an internal rift over the cancellation of the festival. (Photo: File photo by Peter Carr/The Journal News)

Clearwater officials said they plan to move forward with the 2017 festival, and that a series of local music shows will replace the larger event throughout the year. Those events will help raise money for the group. For instance, a show in Ulster County last weekend raised $12,000, Osborn said.

“I think it’s hard to be an effective leader when your troops are marching in the other direction," she said. "(Gross) would’ve loved in his heart of hearts to have put the festival on. He would’ve liked to have done both, and perhaps the income stream from early tickets sales would’ve been really helpful in getting the boat restored. But the folks who do the festival felt differently.”

Greeetings to All,

Long journeys - long stories briefly describes the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven. In light of this description, the Society is celebrating its 40th Anniversary of its birth in 1976. This Society has accumulated vast amounts of photos, oral histories, books, films, and other vintage pieces of information relating to the Jewish heritage, culture, education, and Jewish values of in New Haven for the past 40 years.

There has been many a program relating to their heritage. Come March 27th, Joshua Sandman, PhD will be speaking at Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel at 10:00am. He will be speaking on Israel and the Middle East Direction.

Then the Society has been extremely active in the "Ethnic New Haven Historic Neighborhood Tours" Project . Where the first Historic Neighborhood Tour will include Dixwell Ave, Wooster Square Area, and Downtown New Haven. And on March13 the group will kick-off this Neighborhood Tours Project at 2:00pm with the "Ethic History of New Haven: Pre 1630 through 2010 and Beyond"  exhibit at the Ethnic Heritage Center at 270 Fitch Street on the SCSU Campus. The exhibit is wonderful!!! - it is a must see.

We must bestow many, many kudos to this Society for their untiring work in keeping their heritage alive for many generations to come and in co-joining with other groups as well.

If you need more information concerning the Society and their work, the telephone is 203.392.6125, website www.jhsgnh.org, or email jhsgnh@yahoo.com. 

Thank you,

Patricia Illingworth

Grove Street Cemetery

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is now accepting applications for two funding opportunities under the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program. These are competitive grant opportunities for organizations that prepare permanent residents for naturalization and promote civic integration through increased knowledge of English, U.S. history and civics. The two programs will provide up to $10 million in grants for citizenship preparation programs in communities across the country. Applications are due by April 22.

More information: http://www.grants.gov/

All Our Kin has two fellowship opportunities available for the coming year, the Early Childhood Policy Fellowship and the Research and Evaluation Fellowship! Both positions are one- to two-year full-time paid fellowships based in New Haven, CT. Ideal candidates are college seniors and recent graduates with a passion for nonprofit work and a strong academic background. Click here for more information and application instructions: http://www.allourkin.org/job-opportunities

Refugees come from the most war-torn places on earth, having left everything they have ever known - homes, friends, family, country, culture, and professions.

If a family is fortunate enough be selected to enter the U.S. and pass the security and background checks, it is up to resettlement agencies like IRIS to help them find a home and start on their difficult path toward building a new life. 

Read The Community Foundation Issue Brief to learn the facts about the worst refugee crisis since World War II, how the U.S. screens refugees entering the country, and how you can help agencies like IRIS.

New Haven, Conn. - February 29, 2016 - On Global Rare Disease Day Monday, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. completed its HereinNewHaven charitable giving initiative with its last award given to Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS).  Launched with the support of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the initiative made $1,000 awards to 30 local non-profit organizations dedicated to strengthening the greater New Haven community. The initiative coincided with Alexion’s move to its new global headquarters at 100 College Street. 

Congratulations to the grant recipients:

Week I: Columbus House, Arte Inc, Abilities Without Boundaries, Boy Scouts of America, Christian Community Action
Week II: CT Food Bank, Music Haven, Clifford Beers Clinic, Solar Youth
Week III: AIDS Project New Haven, New Reach, ConnCAT, Fair Haven Community Health Center, Girl Scouts of Connecticut
Week IV: JUNTA for Progressive Action, Community Soup Kitchen, Neighborhood Music School, Chapel Haven, New Haven Reads
Week V: New Haven Farms, Liberty Community Services, Shubert Theatre (CAPA), Project Access-New Haven, Boys & Girls Club of New Haven
Week VI: New Haven Land Trust, Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, Arts Council of Greater New Haven, Easter Seals Goodwill Industries, Youth Continuum

February 29: Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS)

Read more about the initiative at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

All are invited to Family Centered Services Annual Spring Cocktail Party & Auction 

Thursday, May 5, 2016

 Amarante's Sea Cliff

Doors Open: 5:30 pm

Tickets: $75 per person

Tables of 10: $600

Tables of 8: $480

Featuring Keynote address by Dr. Frederick "Jerry" Streets founding member of the Harvard Refugee Program.   

To purchase tickets or to find out about sponsorship opportunities  contact:  Susan D'Orvilliers, Development Officer at 203-624-2600 ext.118

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the region's largest grantmaker and permanent charitable endowment, is seeking a qualified candidate for a mid-level communications officer position in the Development, Stewardship, Donor Services and Communications (DSDSC) Department. This position is responsible for executing elements of the marketing/communications plan, assuring efficient and effective communications processes and products and supporting the communications of The Foundation’s mission. The Community Foundation’s mission is to create positive and sustainable change in Greater New Haven by increasing the amount of and enhancing the impact of community philanthropy. The deadline to apply is March 11, 2016. Please visit www.cfgnh.org/employment for details.

"Individually excellent but better together".  If there was ever a ringing endorsement for consolidation, this is the statement regarding the bringing together of 17 high schools and four special-education Roman Catholic schools in Philadelphia. Four years ago the schools, all independently run and operated were faced with the possibility of closing as their primary sponsor, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese positioned that there just wasn't enough money.  But alumni and others got together, formed an oversight support corporation, raised money and has kept these institutions going with a clear mission that a religious-based education was important in the formation of youth.  

Whatever your faith beliefs, the consolidation brought about by this group of individuals gives strength to the idea that nonprofits, particularly in the same sub-sector (doing similar kinds of work) may well do better together.  There can indeed be economies gained from joining together.  

For the referencing article, see the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Regarding the Governor’s Budget Proposals Related to Human Services and Aging HB 5044, An Act Making Adjustments to State Expenditures for the Fiscal Year June 30, 2017

I am unable to testify before the Appropriations Committee today, but am concerned enough to submit this written testimony to Senator Bye, Representative Walker and members of the Appropriations Committee.  I am David V. Hunter, the Chief Executive Officer of The Mary Wade Home, a nonprofit senior care community located in New Haven.  We were founded, and continue serving the community, in our same location 150 years ago, and have developed into a continuum of long term care services, that includes a Skilled Nursing Center, Residential Care Home, Adult Day Center, Home Care, Community Navigator, Outpatient Rehabilitation Center, Primary Care and a transportation program serving the senior population in the Greater New Haven Region who need transportation to and from medical visits and for social needs.

1.)    I strongly urge members of the Appropriations Committee to support the Governor’s proposal to maintain the current levels of Medicaid funding for long term services, supports and care for older adults. As Connecticut continues its path and aggressive goals to transition the Medicaid program with the rebalancing of the long term services and supports system so that more people can receive long term services in community based settings, it is essential for funding strategies to maintain this strategy.

2.)    It is vital for the Legislature to back the Governor’s plan to support Connecticut’s rebalancing policy for long term services and supports. This is an important initiative that is allowing older adults to maintain independence in their homes and is saving enormous State expenditures. The latest annual report of the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders indicated that in state fiscal year 2014, $87,662,725 in net savings were generated as a result of the reduction in nursing home bed utilization as a result of the Connecticut Home Care Program. It is crucial for the Legislature to continue supporting this important program.

3.)    In referring to these important strategies, I am equally concerned with the proposed line item cuts to the Statewide Respite Program and Fall Prevention funding, and the threat to other funding within the Department of Aging that is related to proposed consolidation of agency operating funds that would be subjected to the across-the board 5.75% cut. It is important for the members of the Appropriations Committee to look at the whole picture regarding the cuts to this important initiative including the negative outcomes that will result.

4.)    Today in our State, nursing homes are providing a high level of medical and nursing services to the frailest seniors who suffer with severe or end-stage dementia, complicated by other significant diagnosis such as congestive heart disease, cancer and severe diabetes. Costs of providing care escalates each year. At Mary Wade, although we added 34 new skilled nursing beds, we still have a large waiting list.  Since 2009, Mary Wade, along with Connecticut nursing homes have received two increases, in 2012 the net increase was 1.25% and in 2013 the net increase was .17%. Mary Wade loses more than $30,000 per year for each Medicaid recipient that is provided care. Connecticut nursing homes are laden with myriad requirements to ensure proper care is provided on a 24 hours, 7 day basis. 70% of residents living in nursing homes count on Medicaid to pay for their care, but the average daily Medicaid rate that is paid to a nursing home is substantially lower than the cost of providing care. As a reminder, Connecticut nursing homes pay to the State a bed tax rate of $21 per bed per day. This tax payment goes toward funding of the entire Medicaid system of long term services and support, not just nursing home care, and is paid regardless of a viable payment source from the resident. This is a substantial cost burden on nursing home providers.

We all realize members of the Committee are grappling with the state’s financial crisis and appreciate the budget position, but you must also appreciate that quality aging services and supports, for a growing senior population, cannot be sustained without adequate rates of reimbursement.  The demands for services in Connecticut by an aging population requires you to be forward thinking in your leadership of our future.

I make myself available to any members of the Appropriations Committee to discuss my statement further, and invite all of your to visit our Mary Wade Campus as we celebrate our 150^th year of serving the Greater New Haven Community.

Good Day To All,

With regards to February honoring Black History Month, Grove St would like to honor Sylvia Ardyn Boone for her studies with regards to Art History Studies of the Sierra Leone.

From her brief summary of her life, "In 1970, Boone was already a noted scholar and lecturer. Befriended by W.E.B.DuBois, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou and Kwarme Nkrumah when she studies in Ghana in the 1960's...At Yale, Boone used those personal relationships to present Shirley Graham DuBois, John Henrik Clarke, Maya Angelou and Gwendolyn Brooks at 1970's "Chubb Conference on the Black Woman."...Once admitted into the Art History at Yale, she earned her distinction for her dissertation, "Sowo Art in Sierra Leone: The Mind and Power of Woman on the Plane of the Aesthetic Discipline", which won the department's Blanshard Prize at her 1979 graduation."

Boone became one of the first African Americans to earn a Ph.D. specifically in the History of Art.

Grove Street Cemetery celebrates this so noted African American Scholar - Sylvia Ardyn Boone.

Thank You!!!

Patricia Illingworth

A Snowy Good Morning!!!!

A snowy morning this snowy morning....but just a short February Greeting to all and to wish everyone an early Happy Valentines Day. Spring is just around the corner, as a reminder.

I hope to see old friends and make new friends in this coming season which I expect to be another wonderful year.

So until we meet again.......Happy Valentines Day!!!!!

All the best,

Patricia Illingworth