January 19, 2012

Valley United Way Is Moving

A Preview of Valley United Way's New Offices

As we announced in our last e-newsletter, Valley United Way is moving to the new nonprofit community center in the former Lafayette School in Shelton. We received our certificate of occupancy today, and as soon as we can get our phones and internet hooked up, we will be making the move. The move should take place some time next week, and we should be fully operational at the new location by Monday, January 30. Watch our website or check our Facebook or Twitter feeds for the most up to date information. Our phone numbers and e-mail addresses will remain the same. 

Last month, we talked about all the "sweat equity" that it would take to make this possible - and it was even more than we thought. We'll have a full story on the website next week; but without our funding partners and volunteers, this project would not be viable. You can get a sense of what has taken place so far by watching the video above, or clicking here or here for photo albums of the work in progress.

 United Way Announces Special Needs Grants

Valley United Way's Board of Directors is pleased to announce approximately $21,000 in Special Needs grants for local nonprofit agencies. Eleven separate programs are receiving funds through this year's program. Special Needs grants are made on an annual basis for new programs or special needs not covered through an agency's annual budget. Funds for the program come from dollars specifically donated by donors for special needs issues in the community.

For a complete listing of the grants that were made, click here.

Youth Leaders Conducting Allocations Process

Members of the Valley United Way's Youth Leadership Program are currently putting their leadership training skills to work as they seek to distribute small venture grants to community organizations in Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton. The Youth Leadership Venture Grant Program is targeted at assisting organizations that either have or are planning on implementing programs or services that serve the needs of Valley Youth.

The following issues were identified as areas of critical concern to Valley United Way Youth Leaders: texting and driving, bullying, dating violence, drugs, underage drinking, stress, arts, recycling, mentoring and after school activities.

The students have a pool of $2,000 to allocate, and you can learn more and find an application by clicking here.

2-1-1 Had Almost 6,500 Valley Calls for Help

Valley residents made almost 6,500 phone calls to 2-1-1 for information last year - a 5.6% increase over the previous year. For the second straight year, the top three requests for service centered around basic needs with information about utilities/heat heading the list. Significant percentage increases were seen for holiday assistance, tax services, and health support services. For a complete list of all Valley calls, click here.

2-1-1 is a state wide information and referral system funded by the State of Connecticut and local United Ways and operated by the United Way of Connecticut in Rocky Hill. Connecticut's system was the first state wide system in the country to operate 24 hours a day every day of the year. In addition to the phone service, 2-1-1 also has a web portal where people can search for information. Click here

 to visit that site.

Charles H. Flynn

Nominate Someone for the Charles H. Flynn Humanitarian Award

The Charles H. Flynn Humanitarian Award is the oldest and most prestigious community service award in the Valley, and United Way is now accepting nominations for the 2012 award which will be presented at United Way's annual meeting and awards dinner in April.

To learn more about the award, its past recipients and this year's nomination process, click here.

One of the Special Needs grants made in 2011 went to TEAM, Inc. in Derby to work on a Drop Out Prevention Research Project in Ansonia and Derby. TEAM, Inc. had formed a Youth & Education Work Group following a Community Conversation on Poverty. The group was charged with developing a deeper understanding of the issue in hopes of coming up with recommendations to improve the situation.

They were a successful applicant for a Valley United Way Special Needs grant in the amount of $3,600 to help with their work.

The grant is already producing results as you can see by clicking here to read a report on the work being done.

2012 Corporate Cup Announced

Guys and Dolls

Our new neighbors at Center Stage Theatre have a great new production of Guys and Dolls opening this weekend and running through February 11. You won't want to miss this great production on the stage at 54 Grove Street. Click here for information and tickets.