$1 Million from W.K. Kellogg Foundation

May 2010

Grant Awarded to Hartford Foundation’s Brighter Futures Initiative

A national foundation dedicated “to help children face the future with confidence” has awarded $1 million to the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to strengthen its successful initiative to prepare children in Hartford for school and support them in the early grades.

The two-year grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is for the Brighter Futures Initiative, a $25-million program begun in 1990 by the Hartford Foundation.

“This grant from the Kellogg Foundation, which is highly regarded nationally for its early childhood funding, will help us strengthen and expand services for Hartford’s children from birth to age 8,” said Linda J. Kelly, president of the Hartford Foundation. “It will also strengthen collaboration on issues affecting school readiness and quality of life for Hartford’s children and their families.”

“This award acknowledges the innovative and successful programs and partnerships developed by community organizations, government agencies, and the Hartford Foundation,” said Christopher Hall, vice president for planning and strategy at the Hartford Foundation. “It also speaks to the strength of the Hartford Office for Young Children, the only municipal department in the state specifically focused on the school readiness and school success of young residents.”

Children and seniors enjoy an afternoon of learning and sharing at Catholic Charities' Institute for the Hispanic Family in Hartford, through a program of the Brighter Futures Family Center located there.

“This grant will enable us to continue to build those critical bridges between the work of the City and that of the State to support young children,” said Hall. “It will also provide this community with access to Kellogg’s outstanding national network of resources and contacts.”

Five Family Centers in city neighborhoods each serve approximately 200 families a year, said Richard Sussman, director of the Brighter Futures Initiative. The centers provide educational activities and support services in seven areas: home visiting; parent education and support; parent-child interaction; adult education; parent advocacy and leadership development; basic human needs and quality care and education.

The Kellogg funding will be used to:

• Strengthen the Family Centers by significantly increasing the availability of adult education programs for center participants, while simultaneously providing on-site educational programs for their children, and increasing families’ knowledge of community support services.
  
• Improve the ability of the City of Hartford’s Office for Young Children to plan, innovate and track approximately $35 million in annual expenditures that the city and the schools dedicate to early childcare and education, and increase the city’s capacity to promote parental engagement, leadership development and advocacy (through its Hartford Family Civic Initiative). 
  
• Boost a partnership between the Hartford Office for Young Children and the Connecticut Commission on Children to improve continuity between state and local policies for young children, to maximize federal funding, and to reduce the number of low birth weight babies through increased enrollment in the Women, Infants and Children program.

For all five Family Centers, a partnership exists between a community-based organization and citizens from the targeted neighborhood.  Since their inception with funding solely from the Hartford Foundation, Family Centers have broadened their reach into the community and developed numerous collaborative programs that have resulted in a diversified funding base. Foundation funds currently account for approximately 25 percent of the total Family Center revenues. 

About the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
The 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 for the past 85 years.  The Foundation receives gifts from thousands of generous individuals and families, and last year, awarded grants of more than $25 million to a broad range of area nonprofit organizations.  For more information about the Hartford Foundation, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Established in 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa. For further information, please visit the Foundation’s website at www.wkkf.org.