Community Impact - Promoting Civic Vitality and Social Justice

The Foundation's investment in civic vitality and social justice includes grants to support nonprofit local news, state advocacy, direct services, and community organizing. The Foundation also strengthens civic vitality through the strategic initiatives to support formerly incarcerated residents and for the integration of recent immigrants. 

Work We Fund 

GNH VOTE 2018

A Community Foundation-led nonpartisan collaborative of more than 20 nonprofits and religious groups in Greater New Haven, GNH VOTE 2018 increased voter participation among populations that historically have had low voter turnouts.

Volunteers hosted candidate forums, knocked on doors, discussed important issues with residents and registered about 1,000 new voters in time for November’s mid-term elections. The Community Foundation provided funding and staff leadership for the group effort. 

New Haven Indpendent Founder and Editor Paul Bass behind the mike of WNHH radio

Informing the community

The Community Foundation is a founding investor of the Online Journalism Project (OJP), publisher of New Haven Independent, one of the country’s first nonprofit online hyperlocal news sites. Our funding continues to support the Independent, along with the other OJP online publications, the Valley Independent Sentinel, and the Branford Eagle. All three news sites have become primary sources of news for their respective communities during this era of declining coverage from commercial print newspapers.

Learn more about the rise of non-profit journalism in the age of new media.

Data research for community action

The Foundation is a core funder of The Greater New Haven Community Index, a comprehensive study of the well-being of the region. 

The Community Index uses scientific polling surveys and datasets from the U.S. Census and other government agencies to measure the well-being of neighborhoods and towns. The result is an invaluable resource for policy makers, community leaders, nonprofit executives, and anyone in the general public who wants to better understand the health and quality of life in Greater New Haven neighborhoods and towns. 

The Community Index is a produced by DataHaven, whose mission is to improve quality of life by collecting, interpreting and sharing public data for effective decision-making.

The Community Foundation also published The Community Progress Report (2016), which presents the data findings of The Community Index through the lens of The Foundation's eight issue areas. 

Community gardens enage, beautify and feed neighborhorhoods. Photo credit Ian Christmann.

Community Engagement

The Foundation has invested more than $2 million in New Haven Community Gardens and Community Greenspaces since the program’s inception in 1995.

The New Haven Land Trust now maintains 45 community gardens in New Haven that create opportunities for local students and residents to meet each other and learn about producing nutritious food.