Impact Fairfield County held its second of two Fall Kick-Off Events on Oct. 18 at The Granola Bar in Greenwich. More than 50 members and guests were in attendance to hear from its two $100,000 Impact Grant winners and learn more about membership and participation in Impact’s 2018 grant cycle.
Impact Fairfield County Co-Presidents, Wendy Block and Vicki Craver, each spoke briefly about how membership in Impact works and the strides made in the first two years since Impact’s inception. Craver applauded the $340,000 in grant funding that Impact has been able to provide to exceptional organizations from throughout Fairfield County.
Quentin Ball, Executive Director of the 2017 $100,000 Impact Grant winner, The Center for Sexual Assault Crisis Counseling and Education (The Center), spoke about its progress in implementing its Lower Fairfield Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners (SAFE) Program. This groundbreaking program is a coordinated effort between The Center and Greenwich, Stamford and Norwalk Hospitals to provide timely, compassionate and trauma-informed sexual assault forensic exams to victims of sexual violence. Ball stressed the urgent need for such a program, since “in Connecticut, 19% of adults say that they have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime, which is a staggering statistic.” Ball continued by announcing that “the hospitals are on board and eager to participate, with the head of the Emergency Room Department at one saying, ‘this program is 15 years overdue.’” Ball continues, “the Impact Grant has done so much for us. It has opened doors to other organizations from a funding perspective; having such a large program has also vitalized our organization, our staff and Board of Directors, because they are seeing positive growth and change.”
Next, attendees heard from Jason Shaplen, CEO of Inspirica, whose Early Childhood and Parenting Program (ECPP) was the recipient of the inaugural $100,000 Impact Grant. Inspirica, one of the largest organizations serving homeless families in the state of Connecticut, is having great success in the second year of this innovative program. The ECPP combines crucial early childhood learning, development and a pre-literacy program for homeless children ages zero to five. The program also offers essential parenting skills to the parents of participating children. “Of all the programs that we do, we think the most impactful ones are the ones that serve children. If we don’t address these children now, just because they are homeless when they are ages zero to five, they are almost certain to grow up into homelessness or poverty.” Through Inspirica’s Impact Grant, Shaplen said “it gave us the time to learn valuable lessons that are actually going to set us forward for the next ten years.” Shaplen closed by speaking directly to potential members by saying “if you are thinking about Impact and want to make a difference, Impact Fairfield County is an extraordinarily good way to learn how to give in a responsible, thoughtful and most optimal manner.”
Impact Fairfield County is a collective giving circle that engages women in Fairfield County in local philanthropy on a deeper level. Impact unites women by together providing large, transformational grants to local non-profits. The organization strives to reach the underserved and improve the lives of those in our community. Impact raises $1,000 from each member, which is pooled to provide Impact Grants of $100,000. Any remaining membership funds are provided to its other finalists as general operating grants. 100% of membership funds go directly to the non-profits Impact supports each grant year. Grant finalists are determined after a rigorous grants review process by volunteer members, and the grant recipients are chosen by a vote of the membership at the Impact Fairfield County Annual Meeting on May 2, 2018.
Impact Fairfield County is an all-volunteer organization. Members may choose to be involved as much or as little as they want. Some participate on a leadership level or on grant review committees, where others simply provide a check and vote for the grant recipients in May. This is what makes Impact unique and enables it to be successful. The more members Impact has, the more grants it is able to give.
For further information about Impact Fairfield County and to join, visit impactffc.org
