Recipients of 2023 grant awards from the Hartford Greater Together Community Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving pose during an awards ceremony sponsored by the Fund’s Advisory Committee.

2024 Grant Awards
 

The Hartford Greater Together Community Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has awarded 2024 grants to 11 community organizations to address critical needs of city residents.  

Grants ranged from $2,500 to $4,000 and totaled $33,580.

Overall, since 2021, the Fund has awarded 44 grants totaling $120,730 to address a wide range of community needs.

“In 2024, we received the highest number of applications for any grant cycle, which indicated to us the importance of the fund as a resource for nonprofits to help them carry out their work for Hartford’s various communities,” said Lara Langer, Chair of the Fund’s Advisory Committee that distributes the grants. “We are proud to support these organizations providing essential services in a range of fields, including health and wellness, education, food insecurity, career development and the arts, and we are thrilled to be able to contribute to their efforts.”

2024 awardees are:

  • Hartford Catholic Worker, $4,000, to assist with food, rent payments, utilities, clothes, and funeral expenses for residents in North Hartford in need of these core necessities.
  • Just Be Big, $4,000, to support a “Big Beautiful Wellness Retreat” that will provide a holistic experience that empowers plus-size women by focusing on mental, physical and emotional well-being.
  • Theta Alpha Sigma Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, $3,500, to host a community baby shower for roughly 50 expectant mothers, primarily Hartford residents. The event offers essential supplies and education geared towards improving pregnancy outcomes in high-risk communities.
  • Aknew.org, $3,500, to support their program, Life Skills 2025. Funds will be used for a series of cooking and sewing classes for children and adults - six cooking classes, eight sewing classes, 10 families a week for each class.
  • Invent the Summer, $3,080, to support Hartford Community STEM Workshops. Eight STEM workshops will be held in summer 2025 for Hartford children 5 to 12 years old.
  • Night Fall, $3,000, to provide community workshops with Night Fall artists. Night Fall will stage six hands-on workshops for local families, up to 120 participants.
  • Connecticut Invention Convention, $2,500, to support a year-long STEM program aimed at youth and educators that will provide both educational enrichment activities and teacher training. The program is estimated to serve 550 youth and will culminate with a “shark tank meets science fair” where participants showcase their work and compete for prizes.
  • Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford, $2,500, to support Career Pathways, a program designed to move low-income, low-literate adults forward along the career pathway, leading participants to secure sustained employment. The program includes literacy and computer skills training, job training, career counseling, and job placement.
  • Covenant to Care for Children, $2,500, to provide basic essential goods to at-risk children who are abused, neglected, or impoverished. Essential items include car seats, beds, cribs, clothing and other household goods.
  • Gifts of Love, $2,500, to help provide food, clothing, household and personal care items to clients who reside in Hartford.
  • New England Carousel Museum, $2,500, to present “The Carousel Museum Comes to Hartford.” The Bristol-based Museum will offer eight on-site programs for Hartford community members - four at senior centers and four at library branches - and a week of free museum admission for all Hartford residents.

Background

In 2019, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving established $100,000 Greater Together Community Funds for each of the 29 towns in the Foundation’s region, which includes the City of Hartford.

The purpose of the Greater Together Community Funds is to support residents in taking ownership of the needs in their towns, encourage broad and inclusive civic engagement, and anchor the Hartford Foundation in each town. In 2020, Hartford’s Greater Together Community Fund Advisory Committee was created.

2023 Grant Awards

The Hartford Greater Together Community Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has awarded 2023 grants to 11 community organizations to address critical needs of city residents.  

Grants ranged from $500 to $3,300 and totaled $24,700.

Overall, since 2021, the Fund has awarded 33 grants totaling $87,150 to address a wide range of community needs.

2023 awardees are:

  • Invent the Summer, $3,300, to support “Hartford Community STEM  workshops,” eight STEM workshops in summer 2024 for Hartford children 5 to 12 years old.
  • Choir School of Hartford, $3,100, for new keyboards and supplies such as instruments, music stand lights and binders.
  • Active City, $3,000, to expand Hoop Wave, its annual basketball showcase.
  • Theta Alpha Sigma Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, $3,000, to offer “Project Cradle Care,” a community baby shower geared to improving pregnancy outcomes in high-risk communities.
  • Literacy Volunteers, $2,500, to support its Career Pathways, which provides a range of support and services, from literacy and computer skills classes to career counseling, and job-training and placement programs.
  • Keney Park Sustainability Project, $2,500, to stage a series of wellness popups offering vaccinations, dental screenings, pharmacy, nursing, yoga, drumming, and activities for kids.
  • United Methodist Church of Hartford, $2,500, to launch “Harmony Community: Breakfasts/Luncheons Monthly,” a breakfast or lunch series that brings the vulnerable, needy, low-income families and single mothers together for food and fellowship.
  • Covenant to Care for Children, $2,000, to provide funds to purchase goods for Connecticut children, birth to 18, who are abused, neglected, impoverished or otherwise at risk. Among the goods are basic essentials such as furniture and clothing.
  • Mayor Mike Peters’ Little League, $1,800, to purchase catcher’s equipment for its teams.
  • Aknew.org, $500, to help with seed funds for the project “Enhancing Wellness,” a wellness retreat with a focus on coping skills that includes yoga, meditation, group discussions, hiking, and arts and crafts.
  • Klassy Katz Elite Dance Team, $500, to support “Let’s Move,” a series of dance workshops that will help promote physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health and wellness.​​​​

Read the press release to learn more about the 2023 cycle of grants.

Click here to listen to a Fox 61 interview with Lara Langer, chair of the advisory committee for the community fund, and Michelle Horsley, music director of Choir School of Hartford, a 2023 grant recipient, about the impact the fund has had in assisting Hartford non-profits.

The Advisory Committee to the Community Fund held an Awards Ceremony on January 22, 2024 to recognize the 2023 awards recipients. At the ceremony, the recipients shared stories of their projects.

Photo Gallery: Awards Ceremony

Click here for fullscreen gallery

2022 Grant Awards

Advisory Committee Chair Lara Langer presents a check to members of Hartford's Proud Drill Drum and Dance Corp. for equipment for its new studio/practice space.

In December 2022, the Hartford Greater Together Community Fund made grants to nine community organizations. Eligible organizations had to be based in Hartford.

Grantees were: 

  • Active City, Inc.
    To expand its annual basketball showcase
    $2,500
  • ActUp Theater, Inc. 
    To support youth and their families attending a community theater production in Hartford
    $2,250
  • Hartford's Proud Drill, Drum & Dance Corp.
    To purchase equipment for a new studio/practice space
    $2,500
  • Keney Park Sustainability Project, Inc. 
    To support Wellness Pop-Ups
    $4,500
  • Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford
    To support the Career Pathways program
    $5,000
  • McDonough Middle School
    To support the Bundle Up program to supply warm clothing to families at McDonough Middle School, a part of the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Hartford 
    $3,000
  • The Police Athletic and Activities League of Hartford, Inc.
    To support PAL activities
    $2,500
  • Theta Alpha Sigma Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
    To support community baby showers geared to improving pregnancy outcomes in high-risk communities
    $3,000
  • West Indian Independence Celebrations
    To support the Youth Caribbean Costume Workshop
    $1,200

Read the press release to learn more about the 2022 cycle of grants.

2021 Awards

These grants were awarded to support local non-profits that are serving Hartford residents to address critical needs in housing security, food security, childcare, health care, job readiness, literacy, and other critical issues – understanding that these non-profits are the backbone of grassroots efforts to better Hartford.

To illustrate the impact of these grants, three organizations offered success stories and testimonials:

Read the press release to learn more about the second cycle of grants. 

Click here to see further details about the inaugural grants.

Advisory Committee Members

The role of the Advisory Committee is to design and lead an inclusive process to identify the needs in Hartford and manage a grantmaking process aimed to ensure that the Greater Together Community Fund can have the greatest impact for the benefit of Hartford residents.

The current Advisory Committee members are:

Front row, left to right, Samantha Rajotte, Lara Langer (chair), Anna Kistoo and Jennika Lebron. Standing, left to right, Kyra Brown, Merlyn Herrera Duran, Tammy Freeberg, David Barrett and Greg Secord

Questions? Contact the advisory committee at hartfordgreater2gether@gmail.com.

Click here to read the Advisory Committee Conflict of Interest Policy

For media inquiries, please contact Chris Senecal at csenecal@hfpg.org