Community Foundation makes $80k Investment to Develop Leadership & Improve New Haven Neighborhoods
Community Foundation for Greater New Haven makes $80,000 investment to develop community leadership, improve environmental health and landscape of New Haven’s neighborhoods
Funding for 107 community gardens and community greenspace projects made possible by donors like John Laslett (d. 1971) and a committee of representatives from local nonprofits, the City of New Haven, and New Haven neighborhoods
New Haven, CT (May 14, 2010) – The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven is encouraging community leadership and improving environmental quality and aesthetic appeal in New Haven through an $80,000 grant to support 48 community garden and 59 community greenspace projects. The projects will be located throughout New Haven’s neighborhoods at elderly housing facilities, schools, nonprofits, parks, public housing facilities, streetscapes and vacant lots. Funding was made possible by donors to The Community Foundation, such as John Laslett who established a fund by bequest nearly forty years ago with the intention that grants would be distributed in perpetuity for broad charitable purposes. Funding will be disbursed equally between the New Haven Land Trust and
Urban Resources Initiative, the two organizations that coordinate community garden and community greenspace projects and provide training and materials.
The Community Foundation has supported community gardens and community greenspaces for nearly two decades as part of a comprehensive urban strategy that seeks to build community and identify and develop community leadership. Other benefits to New Haven residents and visitors include increased access to healthy food, healthier living conditions and environments and increased aesthetic appeal of community spaces.
The Community Foundation has supported community gardens and community greenspaces for nearly two decades as part of a comprehensive urban strategy that builds community by identifying and developing local leadership. A study commissioned by The Foundation in 2005 found that the Community Greenspace and Community Garden program promotes civic engagement and increases social capital. National research has yielded similar conclusions. In commenting about his own study, Dr. Felton Earls of
Harvard School of Public Health stated "cities that sow community gardens may reap a harvest of not only kale and tomatoes, but safer neighborhoods and healthier children.”
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“One of the most obvious benefits to New Haven is how these projects transform the landscape of neighborhoods. How their presence halts perceived neglect, a contributing factor to anti-social behavior and crime. Public gardens and community spaces offer a way for neighborhood residents to get to know one another, to be accountable to what’s going on outside their front door and to see themselves as the agents of the change they want in their neighborhood,” says Lee Cruz, Director of Community Outreach at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
The Community Foundation is the largest financial supporter of Community Gardens and Community Greenspaces in New Haven and has invested more than $2 million since the projects began. The
City of New Haven has also provided financial support for the projects.
The New Haven Neighborhood Advisory Committee, a subcommittee of The Community Foundation’s Board of Directors, has the responsibility of assessing applications for funding community gardens and community greenspace projects and for making grant recommendations. The Advisory Committee is chaired by James Cohen (Board member, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven) and is composed of representatives from the
City of New Haven, the
United Way of Greater New Haven and local nonprofit organizations.
Since 1928, donors to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven have built the community's endowment consisting of over 700 funds and distributing more than $14 million in grants in 2009. The Community Foundation helps donors achieve their charitable goals and funds programs and projects that seek to improve the quality of life for Greater New Haven residents. For more information about The Community Foundation visit www.cfgnh.org.
2010 New Haven Land Trust for Community Gardens Grants
2010 New Haven Land Trust for Community Greenspace Projects
1From article in The New York Times, January 6, 2004 edition, referring to study Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy. Science, 277:918-924 Sampson R, Raudenbush SW, and Earls F. (1997).