NHDSG Grantees
2009 Grantees: Cohort Six
The Boys & Girls Club of New Haven and Easter Seals Goodwill Industries were jointly awarded a grant for $75,000 per year over two years to collaborate on a program that will provide in-depth services and supports in the areas of basic skills, job readiness, financial education, and credit repair, all of which are intended to help strengthen the family’s financial self-sufficiency.
In addition to the collaborative grant, 12 other grants were awarded as follows:
- Arte Inc. ($10,000) to support an after-school arts program in Fairhaven neighborhood schools.
- Center for Children’s Advocacy ($10,500) to support the Homeless Youth Advocacy Project to provide legal services and care to youth at risk of becoming homeless.
- Clifford W. Beers Child Guidance Clinic ($25,000) to develop and implement a “Happy Parent” Hour support group for parents of children who have behavioral health issues.
- Connecticut Invention Convention, Inc. ($10,000) to develop and enhance the critical-thinking skills and problem-solving techniques of students, kindergarten through eighth grade, through invention-based activities that promote careers in engineering and sciences.
- The Consultation Center ($25,000) to serve 20 high-school students and their grandparents to promote college enrollment among children raised by relatives.
- The Diaper Bank ($25,000) to support the expansion of the existing Diaper Distribution Network in New Haven with the implementation of a data-gathering and dissemination system.
- Easter Seals Goodwill Industries ($25,000) to support monthly “family night out” activities to increase parent-child involvement and improve social family relationships.
- Empower New Haven ($25,000) to support a case management position for the Elm City YouthBuild program’s supportive housing component.
- Junior Achievement ($15,000) to teach financial education to 1,000 New Haven students in grades kindergarten through eight.
- New Haven Ecology Project ($25,000) to connect more than 60 young people with paid employment that develops leadership, basic employment skills, and training.
- Soul Friends, Inc. ($10,000) to support an animal-assisted, group psychotherapy program for children living through loss, grief, illness, trauma, and transition.
- Southern Connecticut State University Foundation ($25,000) to support the Education Mentoring Program that provides mentors to 35 fifth-grade African American and Hispanic male students at Beecher School.
2008 Grantees: Cohort Five
Habitat for Humanity and Youth Continuum were jointly awarded a grant for $75,000 to collaborate on a program that will train 30 young people in basic carpentry skills while building a home through Habitat for Humanity in New Haven.
In addition to the collaborative grant, 11 other grants were awarded as follows:
- Achievement First Amistad Academy’s Saturday Tutoring Program ($25,000) will support extracurricular math and reading. Tutoring will be offered on Saturday morning for Amistad Academy’s middle and high school students
- Boys & Girls Club’s Operation Connect ($25,000) will support technology education and application training programs for club members and their parents
- Christian Community Action’s Promoting Education Preparation ($20,000) will support the transitional housing program with a series of educational programs
- Collective Consciousness Theatre’s in- and after-school programs ($7,500) will provide workshops on violence prevention, bullying, civil rights, and justice to youth, as well as create opportunities for artistic expression
- Hill Health Center’s Growing through Sewing Program ($15,000) will provide vocational training to enhance the employability of women of color in recovery
- Hospital of St. Raphael’s Parenting Supportive Service Program ($25,000) will provide services to the parents of children with mental health issues being served at St. Raphael’s Day Hospital
- Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services ($25,000) will provide employment case management, cultural orientation, and job skills to immigrants
- New Haven Home Recovery’s Furniture Co-Op ($25,000) will provide furniture to formerly homeless and low-income families
- New Haven Reads Community Bank ($15,000) will provide academic support and materials to children
- Pequeñas Ligas Hispanas de New Haven’s Jovenes Polifaceticos ($7,500) will support athletic instruction, varied arts opportunities, and leadership development to youth
- Yale University’s Integrated Treatment for Domestic Violence program ($25,000) will provide treatment to families affected by domestic violence
2007 Grantees: Cohort Four
Two organizations working together, ‘r Kids, Inc., and New Life Corporation received a $50,000 collaboration grant to jointly support the Family $ents/Community Counts program. The shared funding will be directed to staffing, curriculum, and materials for a maximum of 25 mothers who have been reunified with children in the child welfare system. In addition, the families will receive training in life skills and financial literacy, as well as stipends for successful completion of the program.
In addition to the collaborative grant, 12 other grants were awarded as follows:
- AIDS Project New Haven ($10,000) for Enhance Caring Cuisine, a program that provides free nutritional services and daily home-delivered meals and groceries for families infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS;
- All Our Kin, Inc., ($20,000) to provide support and materials to unlicensed child care providers, helping 20 participants to meet health and safety standards and complete state licensing requirements;
- Community Mediation, Inc., ($20,000) to provide school-based peer mediation training and workshops to reduce youth violence;
- Concepts for Adaptive Learning, Inc., ($12,600) to provide computer technology and training for low-income parents of elementary school children;
- Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Inc., ($20,000) to provide training in predatory lending and legal rights advocacy to families most at risk of being targeted by unscrupulous lenders;
- Covenant to Care for Children, Inc., ($20,000) to support the Mom, Mentor and Me (M3) program to address the critical needs of children with incarcerated mothers via a faith-based, best practices mentoring model that includes a family service component;
- FISH of Greater New Haven, Inc., ($10,000) to maintain food supplies and provide free food deliveries to the elderly, disabled, and to needy families;
- Mutual Housing Association of South Central Connecticut ($17,000) to support a resident service coordinator position to assist residents, neighborhood groups, and partner agencies in designing in-house programs for youth and families and build referral relationships with outside agencies as part of a new family learning center;
- Neighborhood Music School ($20,000) to provide opportunities for poor and at-risk children and families to participate in high quality music, dance, and drama education;
- Planned Parenthood of Connecticut, Inc., ($15,000) to support a Summer Series on Sexuality designed to help reduce teen pregnancy among New Haven teens;
- Solar Youth, Inc., ($20,000) to support Citycology, a summer youth employment program that trains and hires New Haven teens to deliver hands-on lessons about watersheds, the Long Island Sound, and the environment in general;
- Youth Rights Media, Inc., ($20,000) to train 20 youths to become community organizers through the 2007 Summer Institute, an intensive youth development program.
2006 Grantees: Cohort Three
A $50,000 collaboration grant went to Christian Community Action (CCA) and the Clifford Beers Child Guidance Clinic to develop a resource center for families.
In addition to the collaborative grant, 13 other grants were awarded as follows:
- Dwight Hall at Yale ($7,500) for services to school-age children provided by Yale students
- Girl Scouts, CT Trails Council ($15,000) to support and increase the number of college-bound Hispanic girls
- ALSO-Cornerstone ($7,500) to provide life skills for youth
- Empower New Haven ($20,000) to provide financial literacy training and to support an Individual Development Account program for Spanish speaking adults
- Best Buddies Connecticut ($6,600) to promote positive peer relationships between high school students
- Fair Haven Health Center ($18,000) to provide a home visitation program for new mothers
- The Consultation Center ($20,000) to provide support for grandparents and kinship caregivers
- Casa Otonal ($20,000) to provide bilingual case management
- The New Haven Diaper Bank ($10,000) to provide diapers to low-income families
- Community Action Agency ($20,000) to provide Individual Development Accounts and training in financial literacy
- The Children’s Community Programs of Connecticut ($20,000) to provide job and college readiness skills training for 20 youth in therapeutic and foster homes
- Center for Children’s Advocacy ($12,000) to develop advocacy skills for youth in child welfare or juvenile justice placements
- Workforce Alliance ($20,000) to operate an employment and work readiness program for youth
2005 Grantees: Cohort Two
- Amistad Academy ($20,000) to provide mentoring and support services to students entering high school.
- City Wide Youth Coalition ($3,117) to provide youth camp licensing workshops and CPR training.
- Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis ($20,000) to provide parenting education, housing, and case management to families in which there is a parent affected by mental illness.
- Episcopal Social Service, Inc./Interfaith Refugee Ministry ($20,000) to implement a health and wellness program for refugee families.
- Greater Dwight Development Corporation ($20,000) to support training for greater Dwight neighborhood residents and parents to prepare for employment through the Montessori on Edgewood Program.
- Jewish Family Services ($7,400) to provide respite care to children with identified needs, such as behavioral issues.
- New Haven Ballet ($7,190) to provide scholarships for New Haven public school students, ages 7 to 11.
- New Haven Ecology Program ($7,500) to support the Youth Employment Program, a year-long training that provides youth with technical skills.
- New Haven Family Alliance ($17,000) to implement “Closing the Circle,” an innovative family approach to increasing family self sufficiency.
- New Haven Public Schools ($17,000) for stipends and additional supports to a core of 20 students enrolled in the Vocational Work Experience Program.
- Pequeñas Ligas Hispanas de New Haven ($7,435) to engage Hispanic families and their children in a rich blend of athletic, academic, and arts programs.
- STRIVE ($20,000) to enhance post-job placement supports for single heads of households.
- SHOUT ($6,000) to improve access to dental care for low-income families who are at risk of developing oral disease.
- Yale University Child Study Center ($20,000) to implement the “Minding the Baby” program.
- Youth Continuum ($20,000) to support the Career Exploration and Coach program, providing vocational and career guidance as well as job coaching to disadvantaged youth.
2004 Grantees: Cohort One
- All Our Kin ($20,000) to offer mentoring, support and materials design to unlicensed child-care providers.
- Arts & Ideas of New Haven ($7,500) to initiate and orchestrate a citywide celebration in the international spirit of carnival.
- Community Mediation ($11,055) to support the emotional development of at-risk children.
- Concepts for Adaptive Learning ($12,560) to provide technology and training for financially challenged parents of elementary school children.
- Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven ($12,000) to provide funding for counseling and advocacy at an emergency shelter for battered women and children.
- Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen ($10,000) to provide hot evening meals and bag lunches for school-age children.
- Hispanos Unidos, Inc. ($6,000) to assist in funding the Meechimuk Camp for HIV/AIDS-affected children.
- Life Haven, Inc. ($16,786) to provide a financial literacy training program for at least 20 families who are currently or have been recently homeless.
- Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven ($9,500) to provide educational materials for teen parent credit workshops.
- The Neighborhood Music School ($20,000) to provide opportunities for economically disadvantaged children to participate in high-quality music, dance, and drama education.
- New Haven School Readiness Council ($16,000) to provide additional mental health services and support for two child care centers.
- New Life Corporation ($20,000) for the expansion of a bilingual (Spanish-English) financial literacy programs.
- Solar Youth, Inc. ($10,000) to support the Citywide Steward Summer Program providing positive educational opportunities to at-risk youth.
- St. Luke’s Services ($20,000) to operate a year-round after school program for children.
- Student Parenting and Family Services ($20,000) to provide parenting education for adolescent and expectant fathers.
- Youth Rights Media ($20,000) to support the agency’s Summer Institute, a youth development program employing and training youths as community organizers.

