Nearly $1M awarded by inner-city foundation

The Mercy Learning Center, one of the organizations that benefited from the donation provided by Fairfield County’s Inner-City Foundation for Charity and Education.

Fairfield County”™s Inner-City Foundation for Charity and Education announced that it awarded $951,214 in grants to 52 local organizations throughout the county in the last year.

“We saw a significant increase in grant requests for education this year,” said Richard T. Stone, executive director of The Inner-City Foundation. “Educational grant requests were up almost 30 percent.” Stone said that state budget cuts have had a devastating impact on social programs. “We have just completed our 25th year and the need right now in Fairfield County is probably greater than we”™ve ever seen it.”

About half of the awards went to inner-city education programs in Bridgeport, including scholarship and financial aid programs at Kolbe Cathedral High School and Catholic Academy of Bridgeport, and women”™s literacy and life skills programs such as those available at Mercy Learning Center and Caroline House. Other funding went to area social programs providing food, shelter, medical help and counseling.

Since its founding in 1992, the Inner-City Foundation has provided more than $29 million to about 200 local organizations.