Capital Campaign

Ascending the Hilltop a Campaign to Bring Hope, Help and Healing to Hurting Children Phase I: 2005-2009

When our staff leadership and board of directors agreed to hold a campaign to build an addition onto the Unity Center of The Children’s Home campus in Cromwell, never had they dreamed the journey it would follow.  A brief chronicle of that journey follows here:

January to September 2005 –The Children’s Home Board of Directors votes to conduct a capital campaign for a clinical space addition to our residential building. $400,000 is raised by (now retired) Senator Billy Ciotto, through the bonding process. The Campaign Goal is $2.8 Million.

Our Capital Campaign Co-Chairs are Patrick and Kristen Walsh, and Craig and Laura Hall.

October 2005 to August 2006 - 100% of the Board members make their pledge or outright gift, CHOC staff give their pledges and gifts, and $600,000 is raised. The American Savings Foundation was the first foundation to step up with a major gift of $150,000 to add to this. We reach out to our donors and others whom we feel will be interested in helping our children.

Work is begun on a federal grant to this project through U.S. Senator Dodd’s office.

September 2006 – The Buy a Brick Campaign begins, and is still going. 

This is the brick walkway that leads to the front entrance of the completed campaign building. Anyone who has purchased a brick has their brick here. If you are purchasing a brick, your brick will replace a blank brick on this walkway.

January through March 2007 – New agency leadership and the board of directors review the changing needs of teenaged youth and the space we have available, then determine that a different type of building addition will be needed. Instead of a clinical office space, we needed an addition with single bedrooms and larger 2 bed spaces with handicapped access.  The building plans are changed to accommodate the identified needs of the traumatized teenage girls referred to us.  The new plans are born for Phase I of our project.

Rendering by JCJ Architecture, Hartford, CT

We also determined that the project would need to be done in two phases, with this as Phase I and Phase II being a new reception area that is comfortable and which secures the children’s living area from the visitors’ area.

April 2007 through April 2008 – Fundraising continues and a second $400,000 is secured from the State of Connecticut through bonding funds, this time through Senator Paul Doyle and with the help of retired Senator Ciotto. We are within $250,000 of our goal.  During this time, dozens of people, foundations, and businesses have stepped up to support this project, including Randy and Eileen Edsall.

[photo of Randy and Eileen]

May 2008 through February 2009 – During this period, we went from groundbreaking to substantially completing the building. The remaining minimum funds to be raised are $150,000 since we want to have no loans on this building when everything is completed.

    
June 2008 - Clearing the site for the new girl's house;    August 2008 - Building the foundation

    
October 2008 - The walls are going up!    November 2008 - Enclosing the house

    
December 2008 - Shingles are on & windows are in    January 2009 - Looking into a single bedroom

    
February 2009 - Finishing the outside    April 2008 - Finished girls house

The first Open House was held on April 8, 2008 with more than 70 people in attendance.