Summer Funding

For nearly half a century the Hartford Foundation has been a primary funder of programs to entertain, enrich and educate low-income Greater Hartford school-aged youth in the summer months.

Summer program providers are good at disguising learning as fun.

A project that began with camperships in the 1960s has evolved to include tutorial, counselor-in-training and youth employment programs funded with more than $1 million in grants in 2010.

Camperships, Tutorials and Counselor-in-Training Programs

In 2010, grants totaling $771,000 supported 71 programs - 47 camps, 9 tutorial and 15 counselor-in-training programs - run by 46 nonprofit agencies throughout Greater Hartford. At least 90 percent of agencies saw their programs as supporting new skills or experiences, developing socialization skills as well as providing a safe place for youth. In addition, 69 percent also reported expanding academic learning. Many programs have evolved from primarily recreation into programs that also have academic enrichment components designed to reinforce learning.

Call it ‘summer learning loss,’ as the academics do, or ‘the summer slide,’ but by any name summer vacation is among the most pernicious, if least acknowledged causes of achievement gaps in America's schools. Children with access to high-quality experiences keep exercising their minds and bodies...Time Magazine, July 2010

“The summer program providers are good at disguising learning as fun,” said Judith McBride, senior program officer. “They offer youth a safe environment in addition to exposing them to different experiences that impart life skills as well as academic lessons. Many of the programs give youth an opportunity to practice being part of a community, making healthy choices as well as reading, writing, and math skills.”

Overall, the camperships, tutorial and counselor-in-training programs served 15,152 youth, people with disabilities, and senior citizens from Greater Hartford. For 56 percent of the youth, the summer programs represent an extension of school-year educational and recreational programming they attend at the agencies. Almost 800 youth participated in tutorial programs, with offerings of computer, art, theater, music, and science activities as well as recreation. Another 263 youth were trained as counselors. Hartford Foundation funding provided 62 percent of the 7,049 scholarships and reduced fee programs awarded.

Youth Employment

Grants totaling $361,611 were awarded in 2010 to Capital Workforce Partners to help support its Summer Youth Employment and Learning Program, and provide 227 jobs for Hartford youth ages 14 to 16.

“The Summer Youth Employment and Learning Program provides young people with much needed cash while introducing them to workplace expectations,” said Foundation Senior Program officer Sara Sneed.

Participants received either wage-earning jobs or exposure to employment through job-shadowing and field trips through five nonprofit agencies: Artists Collective, Blue Hills Civic Association, Capitol Region Education Council, our Piece of the Pie and the Urban League of Greater Hartford.

Participating youth could earn up to $1,023 for up to 124 hours of work over six weeks - for many - critical income given increased pressure on many families this past year to manage more with fewer resources.

Few other workplace readiness and employment options existed for the age group served. The value of the program is supported in a 2010 survey by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. While summer is traditionally a peak time for youth employment, last June only 28.6 percent of the nation’s teens ages 16-19 were employed. At the start of the decade, the rate was 51.4 percent. The report said teens “who participate in work-based learning programs are more likely to see the connection between school, work and their career goals.”

The Hartford Foundation has supported summer youth employment since the mid-1980s through direct grants and Capital Workforce Partners, which is federally designated as the federal Workforce investment Board responsible for oversight of public workforce development programs and services in North Central Connecticut.

Organizations that received funding in 2010 are:

• 4 H Education Center at Auer Farm
• Almada Lodge Times Farm Camp Corporation
• American School for the Deaf
• The ARC of Greater Enfield, Inc.
• The Artists Collective, Inc.
• Blue Hills Civic Association
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford, Inc.
• Camp Horizons, Inc.
• Capital Workforce Partners
• Capitol Region Education Council
• Catholic Charities, Inc.
• Center for Urban Research, Education and Training, Inc.
• Charter Oak Cultural Center
• Christian Activities Council
• City Slickers
• COMPASS Youth Collaborative
• Connecticut Pre Engineering Program, Inc.
• ConnectiKids, Inc.Cultural Dance Troupe of the West Indies
• Easter Seals Connecticut, Inc.
• Ebony Horsewomen, Inc.
• Girl Scouts of Connecticut, Inc.
• HARC, Inc.
• Hartford Children's Theatre, Inc.
• Hartford Conservatory
• Hartford County 4 H Camp, Inc.
• Hartford Friendship Kids' Camp
• Hartford Hospital Institute of Living
• Hartford Neighborhood Centers, Inc.
• Hartford Youth Scholars Foundation
• Hartford's Camp Courant
• Holcomb Farm Learning Center, Inc.
• Mandell Jewish Community Center
• Mi Casa Family Service & Educational Center, Inc.
• Organized Parents Make A Difference
• Our Piece of the Pie
• Real Art Ways, Inc.
• The Salvation Army of Greater Hartford
• Talcott Mountain Science Center for Student Involvement, Inc.
• Trinity College
• United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Hartford
• The Village for Families & Children, Inc.
• Voluntown Peace Trust
• Watkinson School
• The West Indian Foundation, Inc.
• YMCA of Metropolitan Hartford, Inc.
• YWCA Hartford Region, Inc.