$2.6 Million Targets Food, Fuel, Housing, Tight Budgets
December 2009
Funding is ‘an effort to relieve some of the pressure of the recession’
Nonprofit agencies in Greater Hartford that are struggling to balance declining income with an increased demand for services have received nearly $2.6 million in grants from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
This includes grants of more than $884,000 awarded in November to 56 nonprofit agencies supplying emergency food, housing and healthcare, as well as $1.7 million in grants awarded this year to continue programs severely affected by reduced private, municipal or state aid.
“During these difficult economic times, with unemployment in our state at a level not seen in decades, and many traditional funding sources – especially state government – significantly reduced, the region’s nonprofits are providing vital services to more people than ever before,” said Linda J. Kelly, president of the Hartford Foundation.
In November, 53 agencies received a total of $300,000 in grants for programs in Hartford, Avon, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, Newington, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, Vernon, Wethersfield and Windsor. Grants ranged from $1,000 to $20,000 depending on the scope of the program and identified need.
More than half of the agencies provide emergency food aid as sole or key component of their programs. Funding was provided through a collaboration between the Hartford Foundation and Bank of America.
“The impact of the recession will be felt – especially by our neediest citizens – for some time,” said Kelly. “For example, it’s estimated that an additional 35,000 Connecticut children will fall into poverty during this recession, resulting in poorer heath and lower earnings when they become adults. These grants are an effort to ameliorate such ill affects by relieving some of the pressure of the recession on these agencies so they can continue to focus on core missions of helping people in need,” she said.
Seeking a Solution to Homelessness
In addition, three Hartford agencies – the Salvation Army, My Sisters’ Place, and Immaculate Conception Shelter and Housing Corp. – received $584,000 to address the immediate need for shelter during the winter months and to implement strategies to prevent homelessness.
“These grants reflect the Hartford Foundation’s active stance in supporting efforts to solve, rather than simply manage, homelessness,” said Kelly.
At a recent meeting of regional housing providers and advocates convened by the Hartford Foundation, the current emergency shelter system was repeatedly described as “log-jammed,” operating at 100 percent of capacity. These grants are mainly aimed at helping people who need assistance to overcome a temporary problem, thus reducing the number of people seeking emergency shelter services.
While providing emergency housing, the agencies work with the local Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Project, funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, to provide rent subsidies, counseling and case management services to keep individuals and families in housing or obtain new housing. A recent evaluation of a pilot project funded by $100,000 in grants from the Hartford Foundation showed 24 of 25 families remaining in housing after one year. With the aid of federal stimulus money, the project will be expanded.
Grants Sustain Programs
In addition to the grants for basic human needs awarded last month, grants totaling $1.7 million have been awarded this year to 19 agencies to continue programs threatened by reduced private, municipal or state aid.
These grants – averaging about $90,000 – cover program and overhead costs at agencies providing services such as legal aid, healthcare, food, housing, youth employment, and home ownership assistance. Grants have ranged from $33,000 to Covenant to Care for Children for its programs that meet the needs of abused, neglected and impoverished children and teens to $200,000 to Operation Fuel, which uses a network of over 100 community organizations to assist in paying the utility bills of 3,200 households in need.
“These are especially challenging times for nonprofits – from those that provide basic human needs to those that feed our souls,” said Kelly. “These agencies are to be commended for their resilience and commitment to meet their mission with dwindling resources. However, they continue to look to the generosity of the community as they struggle to maintain a basic level of service while waiting for the economy to improve.”
Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for the 29-town Greater Hartford region, dedicated to improving the quality of life for area residents. The Foundation receives gifts from thousands of generous individuals and families and awards grants to a broad range of area nonprofit organizations. For more information about the Hartford Foundation, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.