Site Search

Connecticut’s Legislative Commission on Aging has produced their second annual report to the Connecticut General Assembly on their livable communities initiative. Connecticut’s population is aging, and that demographic transformation is both dramatic and permanent. Recognizing a growing urgency to plan for changing Connecticut communities, the Connecticut General Assembly empowered Connecticut’s Legislative Commission on Aging to spearhead a livable communities initiative. Livable communities are places that foster independence and support residents across the lifespan.

According The Philanthropic Collaborative's 2008 report every dollar that private and community foundations provided in grants and support in 2007 produced an estimated average return of $8.58 in direct economic benefits. The report found that the program areas generating the biggest returns include arts and culture, for which $5.2 billion in foundation support helped produce an estimated $51 billion in direct benefits, and education, for which $9.7 billion in foundation support helped produce an estimated $49 billion in benefits. Foundations also were responsible for some 9.2 million jobs, $511.9 billion in household income, and $145.4 billion in local, state, and federal revenue.

Foundation Center's new online portal serves as a hub of information about education philanthropy.

Looking at the grim picture of central city Hartford and Bridgeport when desegregation efforts began and considering the odds against the creation of new models in a time when civil rights were shrinking, what has been accomplished in Connecticut is a victory over great odds. It is also an example of the way there can be change that expands the possibilities for all and enriches the communities.

View the slide deck from CCP's April 30 Annual Meeting and Philanthropy Awards: Session 2, "Educational Equity in Connecticut Schools," presented by Susan Eaton, Research Director at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School.