2025 Award Recipients

The International Association of New Haven awards Grants for 2025/2026!

The International Association of New Haven, which is celebrating its 75^th anniversary, is pleased to announce the 2025/2026 grant recipients at a recent meeting.  A total of $72,000 was awarded to four organizations.  Each non-profit group received $18,000, after competing in a process that involved 18 groups submitting an initial short proposal and 11 being invited to submit full applications. 

IRIS (Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services) received a grant to support its Youth Leadership Program, led by Associate Director of Education, Omar Yacoub.  About 40 New Haven high school students who are immigrants/refugees from countries including Afghanistan, Syria, and South Sudan participate in the program.  Through interactions and engagement with each other and with the community, the students receive tutoring, engage in service projects, improve social and academic skills, gain confidence and become acclimated to their new environment.  About 60 volunteers are available to assist the students as needed. 

Nou La Nou Pare (We Are Here We Are Ready) is a group, led by co-founder Imani Jean-Gilles, which has only been official since 2024.  Their Ayisyen Cultural Heritage Initiative is a year-long series of programs and public events designed to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of Haiti and to change perceptions about Haitian culture.  They are also working toward having a digital archive of stories and information about the linked history of Haiti and the United States.  They partner with a Southern Connecticut State University Social Justice Collaborative group and are also involved in attending and conducting Taino language workshops. 

City Seed’s Naseema Gibson recounts the history and evolution of Sanctuary Kitchen, which began in 2017.  It is a six-month cultural training program for refugees and immigrants, which includes culinary ESL, culinary arts including measurements, and internships.  The organization has helped participants learn to provide catering to the New Haven community and to sell products at the City Seed farmers’ markets and also to tell their personal stories.  Many of the members of the first cohort have become managers by now, and more professional development is in progress to enable even more outreach and community engagement. 

Vivan Las Autonomas is a group which became official in 2023, according to Director Vanesa Suarez.  Members of the group work to support families impacted by a loss because of gender-based domestic violence and to raise awareness about femicide in CT, a state in which two women are murdered each month.  They are addressing their mission with healing and advocacy through the arts, with small art projects involving talk and healing and through festivals and public-facing events like their Day of the Dead event honoring victims (women, children, and infants) of femicide. 

We wish all of the awardees a successful completion of their programs!