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Bridgeport Rescue Mission
The Bridgeport Rescue Mission provides free shelter, clothing, meals and a faith-based drug- and alcohol-rehabilitation program to homeless people in greater Bridgeport. The mission serves about 175,000 meals a year. Charter Oak donated 500 cases of canned vegetables to the mission.
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Connecticut Food Bank
The Connecticut Food Bank is the largest centralized source of donated, emergency food in the state. Its five warehouses and distribution sites serve 560 feeding programs, including soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and adult and children’s day care centers. The food bank provides food for about 250,000 people every year. Charter Oak partners with companies like Seneca Foods to donate tens of thousands of cans of food to the food bank.
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Fairfield ‘08
A coalition of local non-profits dedicated to expanding the amount of affordable housing in Fairfield County, Fairfield ‘08 plans to build 1,375 units of affordable housing by 2008. Charter Oak’s grant allows
Fairfield ‘08 to hire a Housing Development Specialist who will help coordinate this ambitious project.
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Family ReEntry
Family ReEntry provides counseling and services for offenders, ex-
offenders, pre-trial defendants and their families. It provides
rehabilitative counseling services and psychoeducational programs
with the goal of reducing violence, crime, abuse, and neglect. Family
ReEntry’s programs are mandated by the state but the budget is filled
only about a third by government grants. With Charter Oak’s grant,
Family ReEntry will be able to hire a case manager to address basic
survival needs, eventually helping clients transition back into society
and reduce recidivism rates.
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Operation Hope
Operation Hope works to end homelessness by providing shelters,
transitional housing and related programs and services to some
4,000 people in Fairfield and Bridgeport. Charter Oak’s original grant
to the organization allowed Operation Hope to employ an additional
clinical case manager, so the organization could serve at least 40
more families. Charter Oak awarded Operation Hope its second grant
to help fund a full-time development director. The addition of this
position will allow Operation Hope to grow and stabilize its
infrastructure to meet the demand for solution-focused housing and
service programs among low-income individuals and families.
As a yearly project, Operation Hope and the Charter Oak Foundation receive and distribute over 100,000 pounds of canned goods throughout the greater Bridgeport area.
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ReFocus Outreach Ministry
ReFocus Outreach Ministry, a home for addicted homeless women and their children, helps its residents get clean, teaches them life and job skills and then helps them transition into society, eventually finding homes and jobs. ReFocus is run by Martha Melvin, who was also homeless and addicted for several years, in a large three-story house on the East End. Charter Oak’s grant allows ReFocus to hire a part-time case manager.