|
For Release: January 27, 1999
HARTFORD, Jan. 27 — The Connecticut Commission on National and Community Service
has awarded grants to 16 programs across the state for youth mentoring activities. The
programs are designed to recruit youngsters to mentoring programs as well as to train
persons to be mentors and to conduct programs at community centers, schools, colleges,
youth shelters and correctional institutions. More than 5,000 Connecticut youngsters are
expected to be served.
The 16 programs were selected from 43 applicants in a highly competitive process. In
all, the amount of Youth Mentoring Grants awarded exceeds $260,000. Individual grants
range from $10,000 to $25,000. This is the first time such grants have been awarded by the
Commission. Funding for the grants is provided by the state.
"These grants put money where it’s most needed — at the local level
— so kids will have more opportunities to be mentored," stated William R. Dyson,
chairman of the Connecticut Commission on National and Community Service. "Mentors
help kids see the endless possibilities life has to offer. The Commission is please to be
a leader of this effort."
Recipients of the Youth Mentoring Grants, listed by program location, are as follows:
| City or Town |
Program |
| Bridgeport |
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Southwestern CT |
| Bridgeport |
Bridgeport Board of Education |
| Bridgeport |
Greater Bridgeport Adolescent Pregnancy Program |
| Bridgeport |
Southend Community Center |
| Danbury |
The Danbury Mentoring Collaborative |
| Greenwich |
Life Issues: Youth Forums, Inc. |
| Hartford |
Hartford Americorps/Southend Community Services |
| Hartford |
Nutmeg Big Brothers/Big Sisters |
| Hartford |
The Village for Families and Children |
| Hartford |
The West Middle School |
| New Haven |
Dwight Hall College Mentoring Coalition-Yale University |
| New Haven |
Jumpstart |
| New Haven |
School Volunteers for New Haven |
| Terryville |
Plymouth School District |
| Vernon |
Rockville High School |
| Waterbury |
Partners in Education |
The grant review panel was comprised of Commission members, youth development experts,
legislative aides and state agency personnel.
The Connecticut Commission on National and Community Service was created in 1993 by an
Executive Order of the Governor to promote volunteerism and coordinate service programs
throughout the state. In partnership with the Connecticut Department of Higher Education,
the Commission is the state’s lead agency for administering Connecticut’s
AmeriCorps programs.
Contact: Connie Fraser
(860)947-1801
| 
