A Celebration of Community
Jun 12, 2026
On June 5, more than 250 nonprofit leaders, donors, advocates, elected officials, and community members gathered for Fairfield County’s Community Foundation’s first-ever Celebration of Community.
What resulted was more than an event.
It was a powerful reminder that community is built through relationships, strengthened through shared purpose, and sustained by people willing to keep showing up for one another.
We are deeply grateful to our sponsors, Webster Bank and Hartford HealthCare (also our gracious host), for helping make this celebration possible and for their shared commitment to a thriving Fairfield County.
Opening with Rhythm and the Spoken Word
The morning kicked off with a rousing New Orleans’ style second-line jazz processional performance, led by Jamie Berlyn and his quartet of musicians.
Then, we were grounded by an original poem written and delivered by Yexandra “Yex” Diaz, New Haven’s Poet Laureate. Together, they set the tone for a morning that was equal parts celebration, reflection, and call to action.
The poem, Kintsugi, was commissioned by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation specifically for this day and to honor our nonprofit partners.
In Kintsugi, Yex draws on the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold to reflect on the people and organizations working every day to strengthen our communities. Through imagery of seeds, gardens, cracks, repair, and possibility, the poem celebrates the leaders, advocates, educators, healers, and bridge-builders whose work helps Fairfield County thrive.
As Diaz reminded us:
“Before hope becomes a headline, it begins as a conversation in rooms like this one.”
That idea became a touchstone throughout the morning.
Celebrating the People Behind the Work
Throughout the morning, we paused repeatedly to recognize the nonprofit organizations whose work is strengthening Fairfield County every day.
This Fiscal Year, the Community Foundation has invested more than $3.5 million through our strategic grantmaking process in more than 150 nonprofit organizations working to increase opportunity in Fairfield County. One of the most powerful moments of the day came as nonprofit leaders across the room were invited to raise their hands and be recognized.
The visual reminder was unmistakable: meaningful change is already happening all around us because of the people in this room and countless others working alongside them.
View FY26 Strategic Grant Recipients
Ideas Take Root
Some of today’s strongest nonprofits and partnerships began as ideas searching for support, connection, and resources. Helping those ideas move from possibility to impact is one of the Community Foundation’s most important roles.
Just this year, 24 nonprofits received their first-ever grant from the Community Foundation. Another 11 nonprofits are partnering with the Community Foundation on multi-year, innovative, and cross-sector initiatives focused on Career Pathways for Youth and Black Maternal Health.
View FY26 Strategic Partners & First-Time Grantees
During the celebration, we premiered a new video, Ideas Take Root, highlighting nonprofit leaders, partnerships, and innovations that have grown through community investment and collaboration.
Connections Create Change
Since adopting our strategic plan in 2022, the Community Foundation has invested more than $1 million in community-led advocacy efforts because we believe communities thrive when residents have both a voice and a seat at the table.
During the event, we recognized the 21 nonprofits receiving grant support from the Community Foundation this year for their community-led advocacy work.
Our new video, Connections Create Change, highlights some of the advocates, leaders, residents, and partners working together to advance policies and systems that create greater opportunity throughout Fairfield County.
A Room Filled with Possibility
Beyond the formal program, Celebration of Community was designed to create opportunities for reflection, storytelling, and connection.
Throughout the morning, attendees added ribbons to the Connections Create Change installation, visually showing the values they believe should shape Fairfield County’s future. Others picked up vintage telephones at the Ideas Take Root station, recording stories about how ideas emerge, grow, and gain support within communities. (Curious to know what will become of the recorded messages left on these phones? Stay tuned!)
But perhaps the most meaningful moments happened in the spaces between the activities and presentations.
New connections were formed. Longtime partners reconnected. Conversations sparked new ideas and possibilities
That spirit was reflected in the feedback we received after the event. Many shared that the opportunity to build relationships and strengthen connections was among the most meaningful parts of the day. One attendee noted, “You excelled at leading with joy.”
Another reflected, “It reinforced the idea that we’re all in this together.”
For a couple of hours, the room became what community looks like at its best: people listening, learning, sharing, and imagining what becomes possible when we work together.
Community is a Practice
As President & CEO Mendi Blue Paca shared in her closing remarks, community is not merely a place, it is a practice.
It is something we choose, nurture, and return to again and again.
To every nonprofit partner, donor, volunteer, advocate, elected official, sponsor, and community member who joined us: thank you for practicing community with us.
Thank you for helping ideas take root.
Thank you for proving that connections create change.
And thank you for helping build a future where everyone can thrive.
