Valley and Greater New Haven Community Foundations Strengthen Partnership
With a beautiful backdrop of crew teams gliding on the Housatonic River in the late afternoon sun, Valley Community Foundation Board Chair, Liz Kennard, drew some parallels to the sport of rowing and the signing of a new affiliation agreement between The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and the Valley Community Foundation:
"Team members carried the precision shell –dubbed Legacy--above their heads to the dock…stepping gingerly, though with balance --knowledge and strength-- into the craft… ready to share their individual talents—all sharing strength of purpose—some providing technical expertise—others providing nuance and finesse—placing their oars in the ready position and then in concert rowing together propelling that shell with a raw burst of power---then proceeding with a measured cadence along the course… a route that resulted in the new Affiliation Agreement executed today."
The Agreement, signed on September 7, 2010 at the Gilder Boat House in Derby, strengthens the partnership between the two organizations and extends its term through 2017. Board members, donors, staff, and community leaders came together to celebrate.
Leaders of both organizations see the new agreement as a recognition that the Valley Community Foundation has established itself, since its founding in 2004, as the institution individuals, families, and institutions turn to create permanent philanthropic endowment for the benefit of the Valley. The endowment is valued at approximately $7 million and has distributed nearly $1.5 in its short history.
Bishop Theodore Brooks, Board Chair of The Community Foundation, recalled growing up in Ansonia and being proud of his Valley roots. He encouraged residents in the Valley to continue to grow their community foundation.
The new affiliation agreement provides that the two foundations will administer a joint grantmaking process for the Valley, in which VCF’s judgments will be central to decisionmaking. The annual appropriation of funds for 2011 is anticipated to be between $1.1 and $1.2 million; the anticipated appropriation is based on historic Valley grantmaking of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven since 1993. Funding will be made possible through multiple funds at TCF, including the Gates Fund, which was established in the 1950s by bequest of Frank and Ross Gates for broad charitable purposes with consideration that a portion of the income benefit residents of Derby, CT and vicinity. The agreement also calls for stronger links between the organizations at both the Board and operational level.
James E. Cohen, president of the Valley Community Foundation, acknowledged those
people who helped to make the Valley Community Foundation successful, “Our donors, the board of the Valley Community Foundation, Valley community leaders, as well as the leaders of The Community Foundation
for Greater New Haven, have worked hard to make sure the Valley has its own wonderful unique vehicle for philanthropy called a community foundation,” Cohen said.
William Ginsberg, president of The Community Foundation
for Greater New Haven,
commented, “We are so pleased with the success of the Valley Community Foundation and look forward to working with the Board and staff on this new phase in the TCF-VCF partnership.”