Mayor points to Trailblazers Academy as example of success
through cooperation
Nonprofit organizations from lower Fairfield County converged in Stamford yesterday to celebrate their successes and contributions to their communities.
The morning meeting at the Rich Forum - initiated by Mayor Daniel Malloy and attended by municipal officials from Norwalk, New Canaan, Westport, Wilton, Darien, Weston and Greenwich - was the first to combine such a diverse group of area non-profits, organizers said.
"There is not always a lot of interaction between nonprofits in various towns" said Ron Cretaro, executive director of Connecticut Association of Non-profits, a Hartford-based group which, along with the Fairfield County Foundation, coordinated the event with Malloy. "We seem to be very localized and there are not a lot of opportunities to get together.
Malloy, who served as moderator, stressed the importance of the synergy among nonprofits, business and government.
"You basically make it work," he told the crowd of about 350, "We are so much better a community because of it. We wouldn't be a community without it."
Malloy cited Trailblazers Academy - a collaboration among the Stamford Board of Education, the city and Domus Foundation - as an example or that synergy. The charter school, which opened in September, provides an alternative educational experience for middle school students having difficulty in a traditional school setting .
"We have children believing they are failures - a belief reinforced by what they were experiencing in a traditional school setting - now experiencing success for the first time in their lives," Malloy said. "That could not have happened without a partnership between government and a nonprofit organization.
State Comptroller Nancy Wyman and U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Bridgeport, were guest speakers. Shays applauded the wealth of nonprofit services available through the groups, which range from arts and culture organizations to social service providers.
"You have wonderful things happening here, that are not happening all over the state, " she said. "If we can spread the word, maybe we can have this much success elsewhere."
Fairfield County nonprofits are among the healthiest in Connecticut according to Internal Revenue Service records. The county's 1056 organizations have assets totalling almost $28 billion - more than half of the assets of all nonprofits in the state.
The prosperity of the region has contributed to a $240 million budget surplus that state lawmakers are in the process of deciding how to divide. Wyman said.
"People don't realize there are poor people down here who need our help," she said. "I would hope that forums like this can continue to tell us up in Hartford what those needs are."
Rick Hobish, Executive Director of Pro Bono Partnership - which provides free legal services to nonprofits in Fairfield County and Westchester County, NY - urged organizations to support government efforts to expand accountability through more stringent regulations. He called the past decade the "the era of nonprofit nightmares," thanks to such insiders as William Aramony, former president of United Way, and televangelist Jim Baker, who diverted funds for personal use.
"Rather than oppose regulation, we should embrace it," said Hobish, stressing the importance of IRS Form 990, which makes nonprofit information available to the public. "Without this kind of accountability, questionable fund-raising and excessive compensation will continue to haunt us all."
Cretaro and other organizers were pleased with the number of people who attended the meeting.
"It's good to see non-for-profits are alive and well in Fairfield County," said Bob
Minicucci, a board member of Children's Connection, a Norwalk-based nonprofit that helps children and families in crisis.
"This gives me a sense of community I haven't experienced before," said Winthrop Adkins president of Institute of Life Coping Skills, a Stamford-based non-profit group.
