Elinor Bliss Dayton (d. 1990) is funding neighborhood activities today

Small Grants Support Civic, Youth Leadership and Healthy Activities in New Haven and Lower Naugatuck Valley Neighborhoods

New Haven, CT – The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and its affiliate The Valley Community Foundation have awarded $175,000 in grants to grassroots organizations as part of a small grants program that has spanned nearly two decades. The New Haven and Valley Neighborhood Small Grants Program benefits neighborhoods within New Haven and Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Shelton and Seymour, CT. New Haven neighborhoods received $75,000 solely from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to support civic activity, provide training workshops and networking opportunities, and address issues unique to specific neighborhoods.  Sixty-one groups in the Lower Naugatuck Valley received $75,000 from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and $25,000 from the Valley Community Foundation. Grants distributed in the Valley fell mainly within four categories: youth projects around enrichment and leadership activities; community projects focusing on health and safety; projects involving arts and culture; and projects aimed at beautification and protecting the environment. 

The New Haven and Valley Neighborhood Small Grants Programs are supported through unrestricted funds at The Foundation. Unrestricted funds are established by donors such as Elinor Bliss Dayton as a permanent way to financially support a wide range of charitable activities that benefit the entire community. Elinor died in 1990 at the age of 97 and established an unrestricted fund by bequest, in memory of her husband, Dr. Arthur B. Dayton.

Funding for the Neighborhood Small Grants Programs ranges from $100 to $3,000 per individual project. The goals of the Program are to:

• Identify and support grassroots leadership with funding resources;
• Provide technical assistance to groups as they prepare their applications and, for those awarded a small grant, further assistance as they implement their projects; 
• Enhance civic leaders’ leadership and organizational skills, as well as give them an opportunity to network and collaborate. 

A complete list of 2009 grant recipients is available here.

Neighborhood Small Grants are awarded through a committee process. The New Haven Neighborhood Small Grants Advisory Committee comprises six community representatives and three Community Foundation board members, including Bishop Theodore Brooks (Chair), Annie Garcia Kaplan and James Cohen. Community representatives are affiliated with the City of New Haven‘s Parks and Police departments and the Livable City Initiative, the United Way of Greater New Haven, and the New Haven Family Alliance. The Valley Neighborhood Small Grants Advisory Committee comprises community representatives and members of the Boards of The Community Foundation and Valley Community Foundation, Jamie Cohen (Chair) and Ernestine Luise, respectively.

Since 1928, donors to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven have built the community's endowment valued at approximately $240 million. In 2008, The Foundation distributed approximately $14 million in grants from more than 700 different charitable funds supporting a wide range of programs and projects. To learn how to support the good works in your community forever, contact Angela Powers at (203) 777-7068 for a quick and easy guide on how to make a bequest. Or mail your gift to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, 70 Audubon Street, New Haven, CT 06510. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. For more information about The Community Foundation visit www.cfgnh.org.