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Fairfield County Community Foundation — an organization that since its founding in 1992 has awarded $180 million in grants to nonprofits in Fairfield County -- will now be called Fairfield County's Community Foundation with the tag line: Together We Thrive. “Don’t worry, we are not going away,” said Stamford resident Juanita James, president and chief executive officer of the foundation. “We’re going forward.”
James explained the name change came about because the Community Foundation has grown from helping individuals and organizations establish charitable gift funds into an organization that conducts research on Fairfield County issues, launches initiatives and forges partnerships to tackle critical needs. This new focus has created expanded opportunities for collective giving to amplify impact. “From this, we realized we had become Fairfield County’s Community Foundation. It was time to update our name, change our logo, and fine tune our vision and mission to accurately reflect the work we’re doing now, and where we’re headed,” James said. “We envision a vital and inclusive county where every individual has the opportunity to thrive.” She cited three examples of countywide impact:
In March, the Community Foundation launched Fairfield County’s first Giving Day, a 24-hour period of online giving to local, registered nonprofit organizations. Within 24 hours, 9,212 donors contributed $750,000 to 267 local nonprofits. The next Giving Day is March 5, 2015.
In May, Mental Health Month, the Community Foundation released its research report, “Healthy Minds, Healthy Communities” based on 70 hours of community conversations about the Connecticut and Fairfield County mental health system. The conversations and report brought the taboo subject out in the open, identified challenges and presented solutions. Grassroots action steps across the county are underway. The report is available at FCCFoundation.org.
A new initiative of the Community Foundation is to help Fairfield County’s young people achieve self-sufficiency by age 25. There are 100,000 youth ages 16-24 in Fairfield County who face unemployment rates from 13.6 percent in Danbury to 49.5 percent in Bridgeport and some of the nation’s most expensive housing.
The Community Foundation worked with TFI Envision of Norwalk on its rebrand. Fairfield County’s Community Foundation promotes philanthropy as a means to create change in Fairfield County, focusing on innovative and collaborative solutions to critical issues impacting the community.
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