Community Organizations
Below are the First County Bank Foundation 2018 Standard Grant recipients:
| Organization Name | Program Description |
| A Better Chance in Darien | A Better Chance in Darien provides academic and boarding scholarships to eight young women of color who show academic promise. Not only does it provide life-changing opportunities for these women, but it also enhances the lives of so many in its community who come in contact with the ABC scholars. |
| A.B.C., Inc of New Canaan | Grant would target specifically the feeding and housing of eight teen age students. Our financial needs annually are driven by the same items that any household would experience. Food (10%), utilities (7%), insurance (12%), household maintenance (11%), resident director/cook (21%) are the key expenses that this grant would defray. |
| Abilis, Inc. | Little Hill Shower modification. |
| ARI of Connecticut, Inc. | Individualized Home Supports Program (Formerly Supported Living Services Program) and other residential programs for people with intellectual disabilities who reside in their own apartments or with roommates. |
| Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens | Plant Life Cycle program, which serves approximately 1,500 second graders Stamford public school students. |
| Boys & Girls Club of Stamford | To provide support for summer camp 2018. |
| Bridgeport Rescue Mission | To provide essential services and life-changing recovery programs to homeless and economically disadvantaged individuals so they can become self-sufficient, contributing members of our community. |
| Building One Community | Work Preparation and Placement Programs, which teach the skills that low-income clients need to earn a living wage and become self-sufficient. |
| Carver Foundation of Norwalk | Youth Development Program provides students with a variety of learning opportunities that compliment and enrich, but do not duplicate, school day instruction. Carver provides free transportation. |
| Catholic Charities of Fairfield County | This grant is specifically to fund New Covenant Center to provide basic living items and services, combined with longer-term solutions that focus on self-sufficiency to those in need. The main goal is to feed the hungry and to do so in a compassionate and respectful manner. |
| Center for Sexual Assault Crisis Counseling & Education | To support all areas of our work including counseling, advocacy and education programs to create a safety net for Lower Fairfield County. |
| Child Guidance Center of Mid-Fairfield County | Comprehensive behavior health services to children and families in their Outpatient Children’s Clinic (OPCC) which offers individual, family, and group therapies and evidence-based interventions to children and adolescents. |
| Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut, Inc. | To provide early identification of mental health issues and timely treatment which can prevent years of unnecessary suffering, reduce the occurrence of associated problems, and equip children and families with the tools they need to manage life’s challenges. |
| Children's Learning Centers of Fairfield County | To provide early education to very low income children in Stamford and the surrounding communities to increase literacy skills that are necessary for school readiness and later academic success. |
| Community Fund of Darien-United Way | General support |
| Courage to Speak Foundation, Inc. | Courage to Speak-Courageous Parenting 101 "Parenting Through the Opioid Crisis and Beyond" Double Dose of Prevention: to help fund the Spanish translation of presentation handouts for parents. |
| Domestic Violence Crisis Center | Support for the Center for Economic Empowerment, or SustainAbilityCT (iACT) project, a program that facilitates the transition from crisis to safety by focusing on economic solutions that drive employment, education, and stable housing. |
| Domus Kids, Inc. | Lion's Den-provides Trailblazers Academy students the opportunity to participate in pro-social activities that are not available during school hours and teaches them skills they need to develop into self-confident, independent, and resilient adults and stay safe during after-school hours. |
| Elayne and James Schoke Jewish Family Services of Fairfield County | To strengthen the financial security and independence of their clients in need by establishing the first-ever, SJFS First County Transportation Emergency Assistance Program. |
| ElderHouse, Inc. | To enable older adults to continue living at home and remain as independent as possible while helping caregivers reduce stress and become more effective in their caregiving roles. |
| Exchange Club Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse of Southern CT, Inc., The | HELP for Kids program helps individuals create a building platform for self-sufficiency, advancement and a thriving future without abuse; to ensure a family’s basic needs for food, shelter, clothing, and medical care are met and parents have learned positive parenting skills. |
| Fairfield County Hospice House | General support |
| Fairfield County's Community Foundation | The Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNE) resource hub to support and strengthen Fairfield County nonprofits through developing leaders, building organizational capacity, improving operations, and fostering an environment of collaboration. |
| Fairfield Museum and History Center | To provide professional development initiatives, combining Inquiry with History to empower teachers to successfully incorporate local history and primary sources into their curriculum. |
| Fairfield Theatre Company | For the FTC Music Education Program's three major initiatives: The Saturday Kids Music Program, the Summer Cabaret Workshop and the FTC After-School Lesson Program which fills a need in the local community for effective and low cost music and theatre education. |
| Family & Children's Agency, Inc. | To promote healthy child development and strengthen families through home visiting programs that address the needs of parents and children simultaneously. |
| Ferguson Library | To bring mini MakerSpaces to the Library’s three branches: The Harry Bennett, the Weed Memorial, Hollander, and the South End branches which currently do not have MakerSpace equipment to conduct MakerSpace programs. |
| Food Bank | General support |
| Friends of the Fairfield Public Library | Program support for JOBS series: 1on1 Career Counseling, Job Search Boot Camp, Career Search Strategies and Preparing for Job Interviews and Business Series: Business Mentoring by SCORE counselors, Creating a Business Plan, Modern Networking. |
| Future 5 | To help motivated low-income Stamford high school students connect to their full potential, leading to independence and productive citizenship; to connect students to the people, resources and experiences essential to making the transition to post-secondary education and careers. |
| Getabout, Inc. | Getabout operates six, wheel chair accessible vans to allow people who do not drive to lead normal lives and to have full access to the community. |
| Hill House, Inc. | General support |
| Homes with Hope, Inc. | Bacharach Community, an emergency shelter for homeless mothers and their children. |
| Housing Development Fund | First Time Homebuyer Program (FTHB) program to offer homeownership counseling and down payment assistance to low- and moderate- income households. |
| Human Services Council, Inc. | Norwalk Mentor Program |
| Inspirica | General support for low income housing units |
| Inspirica, Inc. | 72 Franklin Street affordable housing |
| JCC of Stamford | For Day Camps Inclusion program, Hand in Hand, to provide children grades Pre-K – 8 the opportunity to participate in a typical summer camp environment in a supportive setting by providing therapeutic social skills led by professionals and activities to reinforce what was learned to encourage social engagement with others. |
| Jewish Family Services of Greenwich | Supermarketing for Seniors |
| Jewish War Veterans Scholarship- COTY | To fund 2018 Scholarships |
| Keystone House, Inc. | Keystone House’s “Home Sweet Home” program to assist adults with a serious mental illness or a co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorder with the necessary financial supports needed for their own apartment or a Keystone residence. |
| Kids in Crisis, Inc. | Safe Haven for Kids is the only shelter in the state serving young children birth to six years old, both boys and girls (thus able to keep together opposite gender sibling groups and teen mothers/their babies), with an on-site health center, and providing families direct access to respite care. It is also the only shelter serving children from Fairfield County. |
| Laurel House, Inc. | For the new Tele-Education Support (TEdS) program that provides on-campus support to students via electronic media and periodic in-person meetings. TEdS helps people with social and emotional issues take advantage of skill, career, academic, and interpersonal development opportunities in mainstream college and vocational training environments. |
| Liberation Programs, Inc. | To serve pregnant and parenting women struggling with the disease of addiction. It is one of a few Connecticut programs addressing the needs of mothers and the only program which allows mothers to bring up to two children, under the age of 10, into the program with them. |
| Meals on Wheels of New Canaan | To supply one New Canaan resident with a hot and cold meal five days/week, 52 weeks/year. |
| Mill River Park Collaborative | Support the environmental education program and family day for fourth graders at Stamford Public Schools. Lessons include plant identification, soil characterization and water flow and filtration. |
| New Canaan Community Foundation | General support |
| New Canaan Mounted Troop, Inc. | Super Troopers program to provide equine assisted therapeutic activities for children and adults with intellectual, emotional, developmental, cognitive, and physical disabilities within the local community |
| New Neighborhoods, Inc. | Support for the Tenant Advocate Program (TAP) for residents at The Atlantic and Belltown apartments in Stamford. |
| Norwalk Community College Foundation | ESL Bridge to Credit Program |
| Norwalk Senior Center | For Meals on Wheels, Norwalk's home-delivered meals program for all Norwalk residents of any age who are not meeting their nutritional needs because of difficulty shopping or preparing their own meals due to long or short-term illness, injury, disability or general frailty. |
| Open Doors | Open Doors seeks funding for basic needs, (sheltering, food program, case management services) and job training which help individuals and families identify their own strengths and find a path to a home and sustained success. |
| Operation Hope of Fairfield, Inc. | Operation Hope serves those who are hungry, homeless and at risk of homelessness in our community. Moving from a homeless shelter or on the streets into a stable, safe and affordable home. |
| Pacific House | To support the Permanent Supported Housing Program for housing targeted to the "chronic" homeless and the long term shelter client who has been unsuccessful transitioning from the shelter. |
| Person-to-Person, Inc. | For the Scholarship Program, providing first generation students, from low-income families, a path out of poverty into professional careers; changing the trajectory of the entire family. |
| Pilot House Special Needs | To address unemployment for adults with disabilities by attending a day training program. |
| Positive Directions, The Center for Prevention and Counseling | To provide medication evaluation and management for individuals, families and adolescents from qualified, low income or financially indigent families. |
| River House Adult Day Center | For the Caregiver Information Center to allow the Social Service Coordinator to best provide information, resources, education and support to caregivers and family members who are caring for their loved ones. This service is available to families already enrolled at River House, as well as to the entire community, all free of charge. |
| Saint Catherine Center for Special Needs | To support all eligible students to participate in both aspects of the Vocational Training Program and Financial Literacy program. |
| Saint Joseph Parenting Center | The SJPC Dads are the Difference (DAD) Program in Spanish which uses curriculum from the National Fatherhood Initiative for 12 weekly group sessions teaching those enrolled new fathering techniques. |
| Silver Source, Inc. | Ride To Wellness- Medical Transportation Program expansion, to purchase a wheel chair accessible van for older people who require wheel chair accessible transportation. |
| SoundWaters, Inc. | Explorers SoundWaters Explorers will engage more than 2,300 Stamford and Norwalk elementary public school students who will get their hands and feet wet discovering and learning about Long Island Sound. |
| Stamford Center for the Arts | To sponsor Circus Arts Camp and to offer one-time support to the Triple Threat Performance Intensive program. |
| Stamford Emergency Medical Services, Inc. | Stryker Power Pro Stretcher |
| Stamford Hospital | Healing Reimagined - the Campaign for Stamford Hospital |
| Stamford Museum & Nature Center | The Campaign for Future Generations |
| Stamford Public Education Foundation (SPEF) | To support the delivery of age-appropriate mentoring services to 900 students in Stamford Public Schools in grades 3—12 (predominantly low income), during the school year. |
| Stamford Senior Center, Inc. | The Senior Hispanic Program to provide vital services to the elderly Latino community including Health & Wellness screenings, lectures, English as a Second Language classes, exercise classes, socialization, nutrition and Citizenship Preparation classes, serving over 80 seniors a year ranging in age from early 60's to mid 90's. |
| STAR, Inc., Lighting the Way | To offer early intervention services for over 200 infants and toddlers with special needs from birth to three years of age and their families each year using an interdisciplinary approach in the delivery of services |
| Starfish Connection, Inc. | To help fund After-School Enrichment programs. |
| Staying Put in New Canaan, Inc. | To underwrite annual dues of $400 for 10 scholarship members so they can enjoy the full benefits accorded to all Staying Put members. |
| The Andrew Shaw Memorial Trust | For the STEM Summer Camp one-week intensive program serving 30 boys and girls in grades 1-5 to include 15 at-risk students from South Norwalk and Stamford (50% of students enrolled); to receive free best-in-class STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curriculum. |
| The Salvation Army of Stamford | For the Stamford Community Centerto support its “Back to School Backpack” program which culminates in a fun-filled day during which backpacks full of school supplies are distributed to Stamford children prior to the start of the school year. |
| Tiny Miracles Foundation | For the Financial Assistance Program (FAP) which provides emergency funding for critical needs for economically distressed families with a premature baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This funding ensures that the preemie will be going into a safe and secure home. |
| United Way of Coastal CT- Norwalk | General support |
| United Way of Coastal CT- Westport | General support |
| United Way of Greenwich, CT | General support |
| United Way of Western CT- Stamford | General support |
| Waveny Lifecare Network, Inc. | PointClickCare system training |
| Westport Library Association | For the After School and Summer Learning a year-round program divided in two parts: Summer Learning Clubs and After School Learning Clubs/Homework Help to help underserved elementary students in need of academic assistance and enrichment. |
| Women's Business Development Council, Inc. | To provide for effective Entrepreneurial Training and Financial Education programs for women in Fairfield County who are looking for alternative pathways out of poverty and economic instability. |
| Women's Mentoring Network, Inc. | For the E to the 4th POWER Program which empowers women and their families by providing one-on-one in-office services focused on Workforce Development/Job Search Strategies, Financial Literacy and Life Skills Workshops where professionals from companies in the community volunteer to help their clients with job search skills and how to improve finances. |
| WorkPlace, Inc. | Dress for Success |
| YMCA of Greenwich | Early Learning Center Snack Program |
