Somers Greater Together Community Fund
The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has established a $100,000 Greater Together Community Fund for the Town of Somers.
The purpose of the Greater Together Community Funds program is to:
- support the community in taking ownership around the needs in their towns
- encourage broad and inclusive civic engagement and
- anchor the Hartford Foundation in each town.
Open Call for Grant Applications
The Somers Greater Together Community Fund is pleased to announce a competitive grant opportunity available to nonprofits and municipalities.
A grant from the Somers Greater Together Community Fund must only benefit residents of Somers. Each applying organization may submit more than one proposal, however the maximum total award to an organization is $15,000. The proposal must fall within the five priority areas identified in the Community Needs Assessment:
- Outdoor recreation projects
- Mental health services
- Establish a Farmers’ Market
- Additional after school activities/Teen Center
- Small business development
Please review the Request for Proposals to learn more.
Please email completed applications with a program budget to Somerscommunityfund@gmail.com by September 15, 2022.
All questions regarding the grant application must be submitted by September 1, 2022 to Somerscommunityfund@gmail.com.
Somers Greater Together Community Fund Announces Inaugural Grant Awards
The following organizations were recipients of inaugural grant awards during October 2021:
- Junior Achievement of Southwest New England Inc. ($4,500) - to support the Economic Empowerment program.
- Somers Community Beautification Org. Inc. ($500) - to support purchase of perennial plants and shrubs for planting around Somers.
- Somers Fire Department ($7,500) - to support the mental health first aid for first responders program.
- Somers Recreation Department ($6,000) - to support the Outdoor Adventures program.
- UR Community Cares Inc. ($1,600) - to support the UR Community Cares in Somers.
Background Research
The Somers Community Fund advisory committee conducted a community needs assessment beginning January 2021. Residents who responded to the survey identified five priority areas that the Request for Proposals seeks to address:
- Outdoor recreation projects
- Mental health services
- Establish a Farmers’ Market
- Additional after school activities/Teen Center
- Small business development
Any questions can be directed to members of the advisory committee at somerscommunityfund@gmail.com.
Advisory Committee Members
The role of the Advisory Committee is to design and lead an inclusive process to identify the needs in your community, and design a grantmaking process aimed to ensure that the Community Funds can have the greatest impact for the benefit of town residents.
The Advisory Committee members for your town are:
Tom Davis, Edward DePeau, Danielle Hoague, Teresa Mancini, Allison Maynard​, ​Gail Tishler, Kathy Schiessl, Melanie Stevens, Jan Warnock
Click here to read the Advisory Committee Conflict of Interest Policy
For media inquiries, please contact Chris Senecal at csenecal@hfpg.org.