United Way of Western Connecticut has allocated $635,000 in grant funding for early childhood, afterschool and educational 
enrichment programs serving the Stamford, greater Danbury and greater New Milford areas. The grant funding period spans from January 2017 through June 2018.
According to United Way, its grants are aimed at programs supporting families living within the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) income threshold that spans from a one-adult/one-child home with an annual household income of $42,264 to a two-parent/four-children home with an annual household income of $73,648.
United Way is providing $316,160 to support scholarships for children to attend 10 early childhood programs across the region, $168,840 in nine afterschool programs, and $150,000 is invested in The ALICE Enrichment Fund to help qualifying families offset the cost of out-of-school enrichment programs for their children.
“This past year, we heard overwhelmingly in our surveys and community conversations with parents across our region that a top concern is their inability to pay for child care, afterschool care and enrichment activities for their children,” said Kimberly Morgan, CEO of United Way of Western Connecticut.
“We know that access to high-quality youth programming is crucial to a child”™s academic and social success and is what sets children from lower-income families apart from their peers from upper-income families. We hope that our support can help alleviate the financial stress of ALICE families across the region by supplementing the cost of these programs and activities.”
