Impact FFC – 10 Years of Impact + 2025 Grant Winners Announced

Cristina Cabral, Manager of Community Impact for The Center for Empowerment and Education (“CEE”) and Sr. Elizabeth Doyle, ASCJ, Principal St. Raphael of Catholic Academy of Bridgeport (“CAB”), also presented updates on their 2023 Impact FFC Grant Award initiatives. CEE increased their outreach to 1500 education programs with 34,000 participants over the past two years in addition to expanding their programming to be available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin – languages requested by their community partners. CAB opened the Happy Hollows Outdoor Learning Center in 2024 and by integrating outdoor learning and unstructured play into the school day, CAB reported significant impact in students’ academic performance, engagement and other positive benefits such as a 50% reduction in disciplinary referrals.

Impact FFC’s 2025 Grant winners:

• The Rowan Center, based in Stamford, CT, has supported survivors of sexual violence through advocacy, counseling, and prevention education for over 45 years. As the state-designated sexual assault crisis center for Lower Fairfield County, The Rowan Center reaches more than 20,000 community members each year, including K–12 students, parents, educators, healthcare workers, and law enforcement, with programming rooted in trauma-informed and developmentally appropriate approaches. The Impact FFC grant will fund the development of a digital platform designed to address the increasing threats facing children—including sextortion, grooming, and online exploitation—by bringing together expert-vetted, locally relevant safety resources in one centralized hub called KidSafeHQ. In addition to real-time, local alerts of possible threats, the site will include content on healthy development, how to have age-appropriate conversations about safety, how to spot red flags, and where to turn for help.

“This generous grant from Impact FFC comes at a critical time,” said Sharon Walker Epps, CEO of The Rowan Center. “It will help us expand our prevention work and equip families with the tools they need to keep children safe in an increasingly complex digital world. This type of website should exist, but it does not – we even asked ChatGPT to confirm.”

• EMERGE Connecticut, based in New Haven, is a mission-driven employment social enterprise (ESE) dedicated to transforming the reentry experience for individuals impacted by incarceration. EMERGE alleviates the immediate pressure to secure employment and creates space for participants to heal, rebuild, and stabilize—while simultaneously addressing the systemic issue of recidivism through holistic, community-centered interventions. By directly hiring those most marginalized by the justice system, EMERGE provides a critical bridge to long-term success through paid transitional employment, transferable vocational skills, and comprehensive personal and professional development coaching. The Impact FFC grant will bring EMERGE’s
  signature programming—including Transitional Employment, personal development, exit services, and alumni engagement programming—to the city of Bridgeport, representing a pivotal milestone in EMERGE’s expansion.

“We’re incredibly grateful to Impact FFC for believing in our mission to support more individuals on their path from incarceration to opportunity,” said Alden Woodcock, Executive Director of EMERGE Connecticut. “This transformative investment from Impact FFC, combined with the strong support of local faith leaders and the City of Bridgeport, underscores a collective commitment to empowering justice-impacted residents through opportunity, healing, and sustained reintegration.”

Impact FFC’s past grantees also attended the celebration and were honored with a video montage created by Sacred Heart Greenwich filmmaking students, commemorative plaques and the surprise grants of $10,000 per grantee. The grantees include: All Our Kin, The Boys & Girls Club of Stamford, Building One Community, Career Resources, Catholic Academy of Bridgeport, The Center for Empowerment & Education, The Center for Family Justice, Filling in the Blanks, Hall Neighborhood House, The Housing Collective, Inspirica, INTEMPO, Kids in Crisis, New Reach, nOURish BRIDGEPORT, The Rowan Center, and Stamford Public Education Foundation.

In its tenth year of investing to transform the lives of Fairfield County’s neediest, Impact FFC has provided nearly $2.6 million in total grant funding. “This year marks a decade of women coming together to drive meaningful change across Fairfield County, and we’re proud to celebrate it with our largest day of giving yet,” said Kristen Rosenbaum, Co-President of Impact FFC. “From funding innovative new initiatives to honoring the work of our past grantees, this year’s awards reflect both the depth of need in our community and the power of collective action — and we’re committed to building on this momentum in the decade ahead.”

Ashforth is a proud Corporate Partner and member of Impact FFC. Visit Impact Fairfield County’s website to learn more.