BLOSSOM HILL FOUNDATION INC
PO Box 143, New Canaan, CT 06840 blossomhill-foundation.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: Blossom Hill Foundation funds innovative ideas to help children affected by conflict in the Middle East.

Blossom Hill Foundation, Inc.Form 990 2019Program Service AccomplishmentsDuring 2019, Blossom Hill Foundation provided operating grants to one organization: Sports for All: This program brings refugee children and youth from all parts of the world together with Jordanians to play soccer and basketball. Through their love of sports, this program is working to unify them on a common ground. The program chose a basketball trainer, who is an Iraqi refugee with a lot of experience. A total of 51 children participated in the program. They will lead teams and do exercises with the kids. $ 5,000During 2019, Blossom Hill Foundation sponsored eleven programs implemented by 12 fellows: Project Lift - Hold My Hand: This program supports the increasing need of psychosocial services for refugee children living in Turkey. Her program uses art, music, and dance modalities as a form of therapy to support refugee children and creates a safe environment for them to heal from the trauma of war. The program enrolled a total of 150 refugee children, ages 5-17, that attended her group sessions. Each child participated in 6-8 weekend sessions, divided by age and group dynamics. Each group had 8-12 children who participated in various music, art, and dance modalities. This program was renewed in winter 2019. Over 200 children are benefiting from one or more sessions provided including one-on-one homework support, creative art therapy methods used to discuss important topics that ensure childrens short-term and long-term safety and well-being, and a drop in time for positive and creative activities where children spend 15 minutes per day in the center to draw, read books or play some creative games. Youth Empowerment Program: This program is designed to prepare refugee high school students for higher education in the United States. This program provides TOEFL and SAT preparation classes, as well as one-on-one mentoring, to guide students through the college application process. In winter 2019, the program accepted 90 students and 10 ad-hoc students who are not part of the formal class. Many students received visas to the US. In collaboration with Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. Program now has 28 mentors based in the US, and has expanded to the UK, Canada, and other international colleges. Code to Inspire: This is the first coding school for girls in Afghanistan. The program offers young Afghan women rigorous training in computer science with a curriculum focused on web development, mobile application development, gaming, graphics, and design. Eighty girls were enrolled and started a more advanced curriculum. Students completed were involved in game development and were certified by UNITY. They were invited to go to UNITYs largest gaming conference in India. The students had booths to showcase their games and presentations and had the opportunity to connect with companies. Entrepreneurship and English-language Instruction: This program conducts classes in business entrepreneurship and English-language teaching methodology for young Afghan boys and girls, ultimately aiding them in starting their own careers. The program enrolled 65 students boys and girls. Classes are taught after school. Science Kits: This program provides science experiments with practical outcomes knowledge and take-home science kits. The program delivered 4000 kits to refugee camps in Greece and conducted workshops with educators. The kits included videos, translated science vocabulary documents in four languages and activity plans. Azraq School: This is an Early Childhood Center to support early academic and behavioral needs of young refugee and other vulnerable children through alternative education activities inspired by Montessori methods. The Blossom Hill Early Education Center enrolled 30 children ages 3-5 in Azraq. El Sistema - Blossom Hill Beginners Orchestra: This is a beginners orchestra that promotes the social inclusion of refugee children in Greek society. 67 students have enrolled, 41 are refugees and 16 are Greek. The instruments have been bought or donated for the new orchestra; teachers have been hired including a conductor who shares the values of El Sistema; outreach officer (a refugee himself) has reached children in the refugee communities to encourage them to join the program; a specific and dedicated repertoire for this new orchestra has been created. The orchestra already performed its first concert in December 2019 Recoded: This is a Coding Bootcamp and Workshop for conflict affected youth in Yemen and Turkey. 15 students enrolled in the coding bootcamp in Yemen (8 women, 7 men). The bootcamp is for 5 months with last two months including an apprenticeship for client projects. The bootcamp in Turkey will start in 2020. Elenas Light: The program conducted two joint parent-child events: One on child safety and home safety, and one on self-care and positive parenting. The program also celebrated the first Refugee Thanksgiving Dinner on November 25 at the Southern Conn. State University in New Haven. Over 100 people attended and were largely Afghan refugee families as well as faculty, students, and health professionals. Helping Hands: The program uses art therapy, puppetry, and theater to provide psychosocial support and remedial, as well as informal education to Syrian refugee children who suffer from the effects of war. The program enrolled 55 children (35 boys and 20 girls ages 6-15). Children go through deep feelings through this technique to overcome trauma and express deep memories. ANKAA Project: This program creates sustainable livelihoods for displaced people through the provision of workspaces that are self-led to provide education, vocational training and skill exchange. The program enrolled 180 students and are taking 1-3 classes. Students are offered English and Greek classes, computer, media, cooking as well as workshops in tailor, carpentry, metalwork, screen-printing, jewelry, electricity, and bike repair. ANKAA students sold some of their products in the Market. Total grants $195,000 Less: Prior year grant returned - $14,136 Net grants $180,864.

Program services, which are not allocated to grants.

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Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202001649349300035_public.xml