UNITED WAY GETS $25,000 FROM GE
TO ENHANCE NEIGHBORHOOD
COMMUNITY BUILDING

BRIDGEPORT, CT - (December 10, 2004) United Way of Eastern Fairfield County recently accepted a $25,000 grant from the GE Foundation to support the agency's involvement with an innovative community building collaborative between AmeriCorps and RYASAP (the Regional Youth / Adult Subsance Abuse Project).
The grant - targeted to fund community service internships - will go far in enhancing community building initiatives in Bridgeport's inner-city neighborhoods, according to United Way President and CPO, Merle Berke-Schlessel, Esq.

"This grant represents just one of the many ways GE works toward improving the quality of life for residents in Bridgeport's neighborhoods," Berke-Schlessel said. "And since GE has a very strong and long-standing relationship with United Way locally and nationally, the company and its Foundation utilize the partnership to maximize their community building initiative. Community building is a basic foundation principle of the new United Way as a community impact organization, and this grant is evidence that the principle is understood by industry leaders like GE, and well worth supporting."

Specifically, Berke-Schlessel said, the grant will be directed to the SNAP initiative, or Safe Neighborhoods AmeriCorps Partnership. Community service interns accompany certified professionals into low income neighborhoods performing simple repairs, while assessing and improving homeowners' security measures.

"Our partners do installations as well as teach homeowners about how to make their homes more safe and secure," she said. "By enhancing the residents' sense of security, GE and United Way hope to empower them to be more engaged with their neighbors, while discourage criminal elements by removing the opportunity to victimize individual members of that community.

"We think the SNAP inspires homeowners to begin taking steps to take back their communities from criminals who might otherwise continue to prey on neighbors' insecurities, thereby discouraging community interaction," she said.

Robert L. Corcoran, President of the GE Foundation, said the local grant is being made in conjunction with United Way of America's National Corporate Leadership Program to provide match monies for national service participants.

For further information, please contact: Andrea Kovacs, Sr. VP, Marketing and Community Relations at United Way, 334-5106, ext. 309 or via email at akovacs@thewaytocare.org.

United Way focuses on what matters, and builds stronger communities by supporting nearly 80 health and human service programs that helped more than 180,000 people last year. United Way funded programs impact a range of critical services in its six town service area including Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Stratford, and Trumbull. A complete list of local United Way partners and initiatives, and a link to United Way's Virtual Volunteer Center can be found on the website, www.thewaytocare.org.