Ruddell Fund at Hartford Foundation Awards 17 Grants to Manchester Organizations

Since 2001, the H. Louise Ruddell Charitable Fund at the Hartford Foundation has been providing support to an array of organizations offering programs and services to the citizens of Manchester and institutions working for the prevention of cruelty to animals. This year, 17 organizations are receiving nearly $92,000 in grants from Ruddell Fund.

One of these organizations is the Community Child Guidance Clinic’s (CCGC), whose mission is to assist and support children with emotional and behavioral issues by providing a special education day school and a system of child and family focused mental health services. The $6,000 grant from the Ruddell Fund will be used to increase outreach and improve services provided to Manchester’s increasingly diverse and multicultural community. The Clinic will use these funds to support the provision of interpreter services, translation information and materials about the clinic in different languages, and complete minor updates to make the clinic more welcoming to the population of children and families served.

“As Manchester continues to become more diverse, many families face barriers to receiving care that are often different than they were in the past, but CCGC aims to continue its legacy of helping families reach the services they need easily and without any difficult obstacles to overcome,” said executive director Jamie Bellenoit, PhD, LMFT. “With the support of the H. Louise Ruddell Charitable Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, we will be able to reach out to non-English speaking families and connect with them on the subject of their children’s mental health. We will be able to provide care for them in ways that we were not able to before, and therefore improve the lives of our minority populations throughout the community.”

An $8,000 grant was also awarded to MARC, Inc., an organization committed to providing the opportunity for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live meaningful lives of independence, choice, inclusion and continuous personal growth. The grant will kick start a healthy living initiative for Manchester-area residents with disabilities. Participants will enhance their overall health with the assistance of personal trainers and gym memberships using an exercise program that is compatible with individual abilities. These exercise and gym sessions would run approximately one hour in length and meet three times a week. The purchase of 10 Fitbits will be used to track physical activity in a fitness walking program. This program will run in blocks of 8 to 12 weeks and will benefit approximately 50 to 75 people over the course of a year.

Other 2017 grants from the Ruddell Fund are:

  • Community Health Resources, $7,500: To expand health and wellness programming for Manchester residents.
  • Connecticut Humane Society, $9, 000: To improve the welfare of owned and unowned pets in Manchester by expanding the current collaboration with Manchester Animal Control.
  • Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, Inc., $4,500: To provide follow-up services to current Manchester clients and services to Volunteer Puppy Raisers living in Manchester.
  • Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective, $4,000: To support the Aid-a-Pet program.
  • Housing Education Resource Center, $4,000: To support housing counseling, information, education and assistance services provided to Manchester residents.
  • Little Theater of Manchester, Inc., $7,000: To support the Passport to the Arts program.
  • Lutz Children's Museum, $5,000: To support the care and feeding of the animals at the museum.
  • Manchester Area Conference of Churches, Inc., $4,625: To upgrade the equipment in the food pantry.
  • Manchester Community College Foundation, $3,000: To partially support hosting a VISTA worker and the student food pantry on campus.
  • Manchester Early Learning Center, Inc., $8,000: To purchase a bus to provide regular, hands-on, educational and engaging opportunities and experiences for children in year-round, school-age and preschool programs.
  • Manchester Symphony Orchestra & Chorale, Inc., $2,000: To support the All That Jazz! Pops concert in Manchester.
  • MRC Track & Field Series, Inc., $2,200: To partially fund capital improvements to support the 2017 Summer Track & Field Series including computers, youth equipment and other long-term needs of the organization.
  • Our Companions Domestic Animal Sanctuary, $4,000: To support the expansion of The Buddy Project, a program for youth at risk for failing school.
  • Rebuilding Together of Manchester Inc., $8,000: To partially support home modifications and repairs for low income homeowners.
  • The Children's Museum, $4,976: To support the expansion of the Science Achievement for All project to additional schools.

The H. Louise Ruddell Charitable Fund is named in honor of a lifelong resident of Pearl Street in Manchester who died in 1983 at age 96. In her will, she set up a private foundation to aid organizations supporting residents in Manchester. The assets of that foundation came to the Hartford Foundation in 2001. Since then, the fund has awarded 208 grants totaling more than $1.2 million.

 

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding communities. In 2015, the Foundation celebrated 90 years of grantmaking in the Greater Hartford region, made possible by the gifts of generous individuals, families and organizations. It has awarded grants of $687 million since its founding in 1925. For more information about the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.