A committee from the BFC Board of Trustees meets every April to evaluate grant applications. Recommendations are then presented to the board and with a vote finalizing the decisions. Grants are made in late May or June.
Bishop’s Fund for Children - 2008 Grants
1. Bridgeport Area Youth Ministry, Inc. BAYM: Their mission is to enable inner-city youth to discover their talents and to exercise them in a real world business environment through technology, trade training and career development. Students learn to rebuild computers and are given one at graduation.
2. Family Service of Greater Waterbury: We support Chapman House, a safe home for abused and/or neglected children between the ages of 3 and 12 who have been removed from their homes by the Department of Children and Families.
3. The Day Camp at Rectory School, Pomfret: The camp setting strives to provide good role models, increase self-esteem and self-worth.
4. St. Luke’s Life Works, Stamford: They work with children and their families to break the cycle of homelessness by providing housing, quality daycare and camperships, while parents are helped with GED’s, new employment, life skills, parenting skills and volunteer or paid internships.
5. Christian Community Action, New Haven: This is an ecumenical social services organization that expresses faithful witness by providing emergency food, housing and support to those who are poor in New Haven. Funds were provided for a neighborhoos services advocate.
6. Interfaith Housing Association, Westport: The Bacharach Community is three small homes that shelter homeless mothers and their children who are victims of economic hardship, drug or alcohol abuse, domestic violence and/or mental illness. The program director works with the moms and children to formulate a Case Action Plan outlining short and ling-term goals
7. Christian Counseling Center of Greater Danbury, Inc.: Areas of focus are substance abuse (treatment and prevention), eating disorders, acting out behavior, trauma recovery work, identity and faith issues and strengthening family units. Their goal is “to empower each client to discover their own inner strengths, a deeper self-confidence and develop any skills they may need to have healthy interpersonal relationships.”
8. Madonna Place, Norwich: The program serves children who are in the custody of DCF, foster care, or living with a custodial parent/guardian, and provides a safe, nurturing and professionally supervised environment for parent visitations.
9. Educational Resources for Children, Inc., Enfield: Their mission is to “team with kids, communities, schools, and families to grow resilient kids” by providing quality, academic out-of-school-time programs to at-risk children and their families.
10. The Family Center of St. John’s, Bridgeport: Learn and Grow is a weekly program for pre-K or younger children from primarily low income Hispanic families in the Bridgeport area. A Saturday morning Computer Friends program runs during the school year offering grade appropriate computer training.
11. 4-H LIFT, Willimantic: (Learning, Interaction, Friends and Talents) is an after-school program with activities, snack and homework time, located in the Windham Middle School, Willimantic. (115 students enrolled) The Life Skills program serving the Junior Leaders and 8th graders is run out of St. Paul’s, Willimantic, Parish Hall, and has the support the Willimantic public school system, as well as volunteers from the parish of St. Paul’s.
12. L’Eglise de L’Epiphanie Summer Camp, Stamford: This is a 4 week summer day camp for approximately 30 children. Dance was added last year to teach the children the basics of Haitian and traditional dance.
13. St. Mark’s Toddler Playgroup, Mystic: A program/playgroup for 2 year olds, half of whom are identified as having special needs. ACCESS was started in response to a request from the State of CT for a location in which the State could deliver services to children in the Birth to Three Program. When the State stopped funding the program, St. Mark’s decided to continue the important work. Special needs include autism, cerebral palsy, language delays, Noonan syndrome, CRASH syndrome and others.
14. St. Andrew’s Youth Community Center, New Haven: This center is developing a “Your Place” which is starting with a 6 week summer program for grades 6-12. They are in the process of establishing a separate non-profit “Your Place”, offering children’s services year-round. The goal of Your Place is to help each student achieve their goals and thereby help them gain an understanding of goal setting, a sense of accomplishment, as well as increased self-worth.
15. Family Matters, Bridgeport: This is a pre-school program for 75 children of the working poor in Bridgeport, many of whom speak Spanish or Arabic as their first language. They offer free admission to families to provide their children with important readiness skills for entry into public school.
16. TEEG Thompson Ecumenical Empowerment Group, North Grosvenordale: (NE corner). This program provides parent/pre-school child playgroups, empowers families to build strong relationships and promotes family interdependence by connecting parents and children with resources that will benefit and support their family life. TEEG provides families with food, fuel and energy assistance, holiday meals and gifts.
17. Canton Connections, Collinsville: This after school mentoring program serves 200 students per year in grades 1-3 who are considered in need of emotional support, social skills training, and interaction with positive role models (teen mentors and adult volunteers).
18. St. Mark’s Day Care Center, Bridgeport: In partnership with the Bridgeport Schools, this full-time summer program serves 85 school age and pre-school children, and consists of reading, math and science through cooking, carpentry, gardening and animal care, and a full sports program including swimming, baseball and tennis. Parents are encouraged to join in on many activities.
19. Hands on Hartford (Center City Churches), Hartford: This after-school program serves approximately 250 students in two Hartford schools, 90% of which are from non-English-speaking homes.
20. St. Martin de Porres Academy – CT Urban Education Fund, New Haven: CUEF is the fundraising arm of The St. Martin de Porres Academy, a tuition free, private school for boys and girls in grades 5-8 from greater New Haven. Classes are Monday-Friday, 11 hours a day for 11 months of the year for 13 students, three meals a day, 90 minutes of reading/day, and mandatory parental commitment.
21. The Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport: Project Learn operates 5 centers in Bridgeport’s poorest neighborhoods, and provides after-school homework help, recreational activities and nutritious snacks to elementary school children. They engage teenagers, often graduates of the program, to mentor the children.
22. DOMUS, Stamford: The Lion’s Den Out-of-School-Time program operates in conjunction with Trailblazers Academy, a middle school DOMUS founded to teach and support youth which other Stamford-area schools have given up on. Entering students are often 3 or more grade levels behind in reading. 45-minute KidzLit sessions are offered (a nationally recognized literacy program specially designed for after-school programs.)
23. Winchester Youth Service Bureau, Winsted: The program is a therapeutic, recreational program which uses a behavioral modification system of rewards and consequences for 7 children, 1 day a week for 8 weeks, and there are 4 programs.
24. Naugatuck Valley Project, Waterbury: NVP’s Youth Empowerment program provides leadership training, integration into real live community action meetings with parents and public officials, and an opportunity to interact, strategize and plan with adult community leaders. The majority of participants are black or Hispanic from modest or low-income families. “Our experience is that these teens are bright, committed to church and community, and would like to be recognized for their innate leadership abilities.”
25. George Washington Carver Center, Norwalk: Their Youth Development program is a comprehensive academic program that prepares middle school children for the transition to high school with peer counseling, tutoring and curriculum choice assistance. The Carver Center in general reaches more than 3,500 individuals with before and after-school programs (k-college), a community basketball league, holiday parties, Thanksgiving food drive, Black History celebration and more.
26. Y-US, Inc. (Youth United for Survival), Hartford: The Better Horizons program provides long-term peer support each year for 30 Hartford youths ages 8-16, to break the cycle of abuse and help them develop into responsible and caring members of society. The majority of kids are from low-income, female-headed households and approximately 90% live in foster care. All have experienced some form of abuse or trauma. Participants attend two weekly 2 ½ hour support meetings, and two Saturday retreats per month for 5 hours each. Y-US annually serves over 300 youth ages 0-18.
27. Thames River Family Program, Norwich: Children and mothers who are homeless due to poverty, substandard housing, poor choices and abandonment come to TRFP to live for up to 2 years. Their Children’s Mental Health and Wellness program tries to help younger children deal with histories of abuse and neglect before their experiences manifest themselves in negative and inappropriate behaviors. This program parallels the one for their mothers.
28. Christ Church Cathedral Music School, Hartford: This music program is open to any child grades 4-12 in the greater Hartford area. Funds were granted to enable 3 at-risk children from the community to have private music instruction in addition to the standard Royal School of Music “Voices for Life” curriculum
29. The Bridge Family Center, Inc., West Hartford: This short-term assessment shelter (2 months to 1 year) helps girls overcome trauma in their lives through the healing power of healthy, trusting relationships, respecting their unique backgrounds, with full support, services and guidance provided around the clock. They strive to create a home-like environment so the girls feel welcome and safe during a difficult time in their lives, and work to prepare them for the next placement whether it is reunification with their family, a foster family or a group home.
30. Children’s Community School, Inc., Waterbury: CCS is a small private elementary school educating some of Waterbury’s neediest children for $250 per year (the real cost is $8,000). Their Mentoring Program for CCS graduates begins half way through their 5th grade year and continues with the same mentor through middle school.
31. Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS) (formerly Interfaith Refugee Ministry, IRM), New Haven: IRIS offers services to new immigrants in the areas of language, employment prospects, accessing information, and increased civic engagement and self-advocacy. The IRIS childcare program is a school readiness program for ages 0-5 which exposes children to classroom structure, socialization, and English language skills. During this time parents attend programs to help with their own acculturation.
32. Family & Children’s Agency, Inc., Norwalk. Girls Challenge is a youth development/mentoring program for 12 adolescent girls, who meet weekly, and have quarterly team building challenges during the school year. The program was created to affirm and encourage the development of each girl’s own internal resources rather than focus on “fixing” the deficits that have resulted in her “at risk” label.
33. Rhythms of Grace, Plainville/Torrington: Designed for children on the Autism Spectrum who have extraordinary challenges in communications skills, this program combines story telling, exploration centers and the sacrament of Holy Communion in a gentle, welcoming, safe, informal environment. Parents have an opportunity to network and receive support and spiritual nourishment without worrying about how their children are being perceived.
34. St. James’ Christian Academy, New Haven: They are offering an after-school enrichment program for 30 low-income urban children. Tae Boe, cooking, gardening, puppet theater, music and art improve students’ academic, social emotional, physical and spiritual lives.
