CONTACT: Jason Kannon FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Creative Partners
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TWO WESTPORT NONPROFITS RECEIVE GRANTS FROM
FIRST COUNTY BANK FOUNDATION
STAMFORD, Conn., July 8, 2010 ─ Interfaith Housing Association received $10,000 and Positive Directions – The Center for Prevention and Recovery received $5,000 in grants from the First County Bank Foundation.
Interfaith Housing Association dba Homes with Hope is a local grassroots response to the tragedy of homelessness. With a caring professional staff and the help of more than 400 volunteers, Homes with Hope assists people who have lost their ability to lead normal lives.
“This money is slated for the Bacharach Community Emergency Shelter for mothers and their children,” according to First County Bank Foundation Vice President Katherine Harris. Bacharach Community, located on Wassell Lane in Westport, with an additional facility on the Post Road, provides emergency shelter for up to six families headed by single women.
“This is the first time our foundation has awarded a grant to Positive Directions. They plan to use the money for its adolescent treatment program for those individuals in need regardless of financial capabilities or insurance coverage,” Harris explained.
Since 1973, Positive Directions -- The Center for Prevention and Recovery, has been reaching out to individuals, families and communities in Fairfield County providing treatment, counseling and education programs focused on the prevention of and recovery from substance abuse and dependencies. For adolescents, Positive Directions offers youth evaluation services designed to provide counseling, referrals and support to adolescents and their families. Positive Directions also offers prevention programs that promote positive parenting and the prevention of risky behavior by teens and young adults.
Although the deadline for applying for First County Bank Foundation grants has passed, a new short-form application, available April 1 until the end of the year, is available at http://www.firstcounty.com/Foundation_Application_r3.pdf. Short-form applications are defined as grants of $2,500 or less for those applicants who fit the regular grant criteria, and $1,000 or less for those applicants that do not fit the regular grant criteria.
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GRANTS – Page Two
To be eligible, all applicants must have nonprofit tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and serve the communities of Stamford, Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk or Westport.
Established in 2001 in honor of the bank’s 150th anniversary, the First County Bank Foundation was created to distribute funds annually to nonprofit organizations that support community and economic development for children and families. As a mutual bank with no shareholders, First County Bank considers contributions made by the foundation a means of paying dividends back to the local communities it serves. Through 2009, the foundation has been able to award 343 grants totaling $3.5 million to various community organizations.
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