GREENWICH, CT – Impact Fairfield County (Impact FFC), the area’s premiere women’s collective giving circle, awarded two $100,000 Core Mission Grants to Hall Neighborhood House (Bridgeport) and INTEMPO (Stamford).
Impact FFC also awarded three $16,000 unrestricted general operating grants to Catholic Charities of Fairfield County (Bridgeport), Person-to-Person (Darien), and Women’s Mentoring Network (Stamford).
The winners of the $100,000 Core Mission Grants were selected by a vote of Impact FFC’s 248-women membership at their Annual Meeting. The vote followed a rigorous, months-long application process which narrowed down an initial pool of 71 nonprofit applicants to the five finalist organizations which presented at the Annual Meeting. Members selected both the finalists and the winners based on criteria including the organization’s demonstrated impact, the population served, and how transformational and sustainable the project is. Members had incredibly challenging decisions to make this year, as Impact FFC saw so many compelling applications and conducted virtual site visits with 12 amazing organizations. Said member Mary Tobin, who served as a Grant Review Committee Chair, “I’m so appreciative of the opportunity to learn about the amazing organizations in Fairfield County through serving on the Grant selection committee. Coming from the foundation world, I was not sure how the donor circle process would play out, and looking back, I’m really proud of Impact’s thoughtful engagement with members and non-profit leaders!”
This is the first year Impact FFC awarded $100,000 Core Mission Grants, allowing Impact FFC to fund a broader range of nonprofit needs. Previously, Impact FFC’s $100,000 Grants were intended to fund a new project or program or a significant expansion; the new Core Mission Grants expanded eligibility to initiatives that strengthen existing programs and/or improve organizational capacity to advance the nonprofit’s core mission.
Impact FFC’s 2021 Grant winners are:
Hall Neighborhood House, which provides comprehensive services that educate, enrich, and empower residents of all ages on the East Side of Bridgeport and surrounding community. Hall Neighborhood House will use the Grant to fund an on-site dental clinic, completing the second phase of a four-pronged approach to addressing the physical and mental health needs of residents of the East Side Neighborhood. “We are so grateful to be the recipient of such an incredible honor,” said Robert Dzurenda, Executive Director of Hall Neighborhood House, “This important partnership with Impact FFC will allow us to open a dental clinic for our neighbors. And as we know, access to dental health is so important to childhood development, education and a life full of dignity.”
INTEMPO, which provides high-quality instrumental and choral music education to low-income children predominately from immigrant or first-generation backgrounds and from communities underrepresented in the arts. INTEMPO will use the Grant to engage 225 English Language Learners at three Stamford Public Schools through a music curriculum that will help them learn English and acclimate to their new school environment. “We are honored to receive this impactful investment,” said Angelica Durrell, Founder and Executive Director of INTEMPO. “This is a transformative gift that will scale our reach to 225 additional newly-arrived English Language Learning students through an innovative choral and instrumental music curriculum. Together with Impact Fairfield County’s investors, we will keep working tirelessly to break down educational barriers and accelerate the learning recovery for underserved children in Fairfield County.”
2021 was a record year for Impact FFC, with its greatest number of nonprofit applicants, members, and funds to be distributed since inception. In its sixth year of investing to transform the lives of Fairfield County’s neediest, Impact FFC has surpassed $1.25 million in total grant funding. “This diverse and passionate group of women came together today to make a transformational impact on our local community that will benefit and change the lives of so many. In this unprecedented time, we saw more requests than ever before as nonprofits adapted to COVID situations. We are so proud of the work we are doing, and so look forward to the work we will continue to do to make Fairfield County a stronger community with less disparity for all,” said Katharine Lumby, Co-President of Impact FFC.
About Impact FFC: Impact FFC is a collective giving circle whose mission is to empower women to engage in local philanthropy through deeper knowledge and active participation in grantmaking. It unites women by pooling membership funds to provide large, transformational grants to nonprofit organizations across Fairfield County. Since its inception in 2016, Impact FFC has provided over $1.25 million in grant funding to local nonprofits.
