FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Maureen Dowdle, Director of Institutional Advancement,
Housatonic Community College
203-332-5078
Housatonic Community College Receives Grant from the Connecticut Health and Facilities Authority
Gift Supports College Bridges Program
Barbara Johnson, president of the Housatonic Community College Foundation,
Inc. has announced that Connecticut Health and Facilities Authority
(CHEFA) will award a $61,048 grant to the Housatonic Community College
Foundation, Inc. The gift will support the hiring of a coordinator
for the High School Bridges Program and is part of the HCC Foundation’s
Pathways to Success Major Gift Campaign.
The Bridges
Program seeks to ease the transition of high school students to college. In
its second year, the Housatonic program offers workshops to students and their
parents or guardians from Bassick, Harding, Central and Platt High Schools.
The workshops include Orientation to College, Career Planning, Financial Aid,
and College Placement Test Preparation. Workshops take place either at the
high school or at HCC. More high schools will be added in the future. The coordinator
allows Housatonic to expand this program so that more students will benefit.
“We
are pleased to support HCC’s innovative program for high school students,” said
Richard D. Gray, executive director of CHEFA. “Bridges addresses a critical
area that will help students succeed in college. The goals of this program
are consistent with the mission areas of the Authority will impact students
in Connecticut.”
Bridges
is a Housatonic Community College initiative of the National Achieving the
Dream program. This program has engaged specific community colleges throughout
the country to address the reasons why numbers of community college students
do not complete their college studies. The colleges have been directed to collect
data and, based on this data, to develop programs and methods that will help
college students achieve success and graduate.
Barbara
Johnson says, “We are delighted to receive this grant from CHEFA to help
our high school students make the important transition to college.
About the Housatonic Community College Foundation
The Housatonic Community College Foundation was formed in 1990 to assist
the College and its students beyond the fundamentals provided by
the state. The Foundation provides resources for scholarships, equipment,
program enhancements, community outreach and support for the Housatonic
Museum of Art. The Foundation is conducting a major gifts campaign,
seeking to raise $1 million, which will assist the College to continue
to provide convenient and affordable post-secondary training and
life-long learning to those in the Bridgeport area.
About CHEFA
The Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority is a quasi-public
agency that provides access to the tax-exempt bond market to eligible
nonprofit institutions in Connecticut. The CHEFA Board of Directors
established the Authority grant programs in 2003. Since then, CHEFA
has awarded more than $8 million to Connecticut nonprofits through
its two major grant programs. From their childcare facility funding
programs, to the financial advisory services provided to their clients,
CHEFA continues to build on forty years of service to Connecticut’s
hospitals, colleges and universities, independent schools, and nursing
homes.
Anson C. Smith, Public Relations Coordinator
Housatonic Community College
900 Lafayette Blvd.
Bridgeport, CT 06604
Tel: 203-332-5229, Fax: 203-332-5247
E-mail: asmith@hcc.commnet.edu