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09/23/2022 10:09 AMPress Release, Branford Community Foundation
With a keen eye toward addressing and improving mental health and wellness, the Branford Community Foundation is awarding more than $90,000 in grants this year. Among the recipients are support agencies and programs that target children’s mental health and wellness, as well as family support, youth development, and help for senior citizens.
The Branford Community Foundation (BCF), a non-profit public charitable trust, has been supporting educational, cultural, health-related and civic needs of the town for more than 40 years. The BCF’s community investment committee recommends the grants for funding and the BCF’s full board approves the list for funding each year.
This year 19 grants, out of 26 applications, were made totaling $80,385 and $10,000 was set aside for emergent needs that may arise throughout the year.
The committee was very committed to addressing the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to committee chairperson Rita Berkson.
“In 2020 and 2021, the impact of covid was very clear in this community,” she says. “It was evident at the food pantry, with the school closings, and the isolation of families. Everyone knew it and we talked about it, about addressing those needs in the best way.”
The committee decided on its guiding principles: addressing basic needs and recovery efforts, particularly those that focus on disparity. They wanted to be careful not to duplicate other funding sources and to strive for high impact among a smaller pool of programs and organizations that focus on mental health services and youth services. Each application was reviewed by several members of the committee and ranked according to its alignment with those guiding principles.
The Clifford Beers Community Care Center, a regional provider of mental health services for children, adolescents and families, was an immediate standout. Their outpatient clinic just over the Guilford town line serves dozens of Branford families with its “whole person - whole family” approach. They also provide testing and services around autism and intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Tirzah Kemp, vice president of community support services and engagement, describes the Clifford Beers approach as “wrap-around care.”
“When a child is struggling, it can be difficult for parents to triage their own needs…they put their children’s needs first. We look at the child, but also what’s going on with the care giver, what’s going on with mom or dad, what’s going on in the household. It’s all for the betterment of the child.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, so many families struggled with basic needs and were not prepared for the sudden shift to virtual school. Clifford Beers was able to provide desks to families - giving children a place to focus on their assignments and alleviating a major source of stress in the households. BCF awarded Clifford Beers a $7,500 grant to respond to the needs of Branford families.
“We so appreciate that type of general operational support grant,” Executive Director Melanie Rossacci says. “Often federal or state grants are for very specific services. But [a grant like this] says ‘we believe in the work you are doing, and we trust in the work and the outcomes, and we trust you to produce those outcomes.’ We’re so grateful to the Branford Community Foundation.”
Similarly, the BCF gave grants to the Women & Family Life Center, which supports families during major life transitions, and the Branford Microfund, which provides small loans for sudden emergencies like a car repair or a new kitchen appliance. Berkson explains that while the BCF does not grant funds to individuals, these local organizations are able to respond quickly to those acute and immediate needs that are so prevalent during difficult economic and social times.
Berkson is also particularly excited about the grants that directly impact children - the YBeFit after school wellness program that encourages whole families to use the YMCA; Feed Branford Kids, which tackles food insecurity among school age children; and Read to Grow, which provides books through a number of programs.
The Witness Stones Project is a newly funded collaboration between the Branford Historical Society and Branford Public Schools. A $4,500 grant will be used to support research and educational materials related to slavery in Branford. Students will be directly involved in researching and writing the personal histories of locally enslaved individuals. At the conclusion, a witness stone will be set to mark a significant location in that person’s life.
“It’s an opportunity for children to become historians. It’s focusing on a local issue and giving kids a reality check about what’s true by learning how to engage in their own research,” Berkson says. Overall, Berkson says, the committee is so pleased with the pool of applicants for grants this year. She says some applications needed some guidance and extra review, but the committee works hard to understand each application.
“Our board members know a lot about organizations in our community, and if we don’t we go out and learn about them during this process…There is important work being done here,” Berkson says.