January 10, 2017 - The Women & Girls’ Fund of Main Street Community Foundation is built on partnerships. Partnerships with donors. Partnerships with the communities. Partnerships with nonprofit organizations. All working to improve the conditions and opportunities for local women and girls.

That was the cause for celebration at the Women & Girls’ Fund’s Annual Meeting & Grantee Reception on January 10, 2017. The event gathered donors, community members and Fund representatives together to award 15 organizations serving women and girls in Bristol, Burlington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington and Wolcott a record $45,465 in grants. Grants were made possible with the proceeds from the annual Wonder of Women (WOW) event, the Barbara Hackman Franklin Fund for Women, the John & Gloria DiFrancesco Fund for Women and Girls, the Malerbo Childrens Field Maintenance Fund, the JoAnn & David Mills Family Fund and the City of Bristol Treasurer’s Fund for Financial Awareness.

“We are thrilled to be announcing over $45,000 in grants thanks to the generosity of the many donors who believe in the mission of the Women & Girls’ Fund,” said Dawn Nielsen, Chair of the Fund’s Advisory Board.

Representatives from the grantee organizations spoke to Women & Girls’ Fund donors and representatives about the programs funded and the impact they will have on local women and girls. Grants were awarded to the following organizations for the purposes described:

• Boys & Girls Club and Family Center of Bristol - Entrepreneurial Program (E-Program), a pilot program for eight girls from Bristol to master simple home repair and develop skills to build projects for their home or to sell.
• Bristol Youth Lacrosse - Scholarships for girls in Bristol, Burlington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington and Wolcott and field equipment, including goal sets and replacement nets, for the girls lacrosse program.
• Bristol Youth Services - Skills to Pay the Bills program, which provides social/family life education and independent living skills to teenage girls in Bristol.
• Chippens Hill Middle School - Partnership to Promote Healthy Relationships, a program run by Prudence Crandall Center that provides domestic and teen dating violence prevention services for students at CHMS.
• Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington - To enhance the development of young children in music and movement by providing training and supplies to Southington Family Child Care Providers.
• Environmental Learning Centers of Connecticut, Inc. - Camperships for girls from Bristol, Burlington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington and Wolcott to enable them to attend the summer programs.
• For Goodness Sake - To support women from Bristol, Burlington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington and Wolcott making the transition to independent living and needing additional assistance to purchase items not provided by the warehouse.
• Imagine Nation – A Museum, Early Learning Center - Building Blocks for Empowering Teachers, a program to empower teachers to build the skills to be emotionally balanced, mindful and able to juggle the multitude of daily tasks that they deal with.
• Literacy Volunteers of Central Connecticut - Family Sustainability through Literacy Plus, a program to increase reading, writing and math literacy, giving women from Bristol, Plainville and Southington the tools to gain financial literacy and work with their children.
• Oak Hill/Chapter 126 - Continuation of the Beautiful U Project for girls from Bristol, Burlington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington and Wolcott with and without disabilities in grades five through eight.
• Plymouth Family Resource Center - Girl Power, a program for 4th and 5th grade girls at Plymouth Center School. The program focuses on helping girls acquire social emotional skills using the curriculum from Girls Scouts of America.
• Prudence Crandall Center - Partnership to Promote Healthy Relationships, a program that provides domestic and teen dating violence prevention services for youth and teens in Plainville Community Schools.
• Southington Valley Midget Football - Safety head gear for Southington girls in the Powder Puff football program.
• The Children’s Museum - Girls & Science, a program that provides 15 female students in grades 1-6 from the Boys and Girls Club of Bristol to participate in a one-week, hands-on STEM summer camp program at The Children’s Museum.
• Wheeler Clinic - Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in School, a program to expand access to mental health services for students at Greene-Hills School and West Bristol School in Bristol.

Leading the Fund into the next year, the officers serving for 2017 are: Dawn Nielsen, Chair; Julia Weston, Vice Chair; Susan Moreau, Recording Secretary; and Lisa Palen, Treasurer. In addition, the following Advisory Board members were reelected to a second three-year term: Angela Chapman of Plainville; Susan Moreau of Burlington; Lisa Palen of Burlington; and Sharon Stotz of Southington.

“The Advisory Board guides the work of the Women & Girls’ Fund,” stated Dawn Nielsen. “We’re grateful for their valuable expertise as we head into the Fund’s 16th year and continue to serve the women and girls in your communities.”