Vernon Greater Together Community Fund  

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has established a $100,000 Greater Together Community Fund for the Town of Vernon.

The purpose of the Greater Together Community Funds 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.

Your town has formed an advisory committee to manage a participatory process to identify your town's needs and allocate community funds.

Announcing Call for Letters of Interest
DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 1, 2023

The Vernon Greater Together Community Fund is pleased to announce the availability of funding from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving for projects directly benefiting the Vernon community. The Vernon Advisory Committee is focused on funding programs that will improve or enhance the quality of life of Vernon. We invite all 501(c)3’s - large or small to submit a letter of interest and share their ideas for serving our community.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the Vernon Greater Together Community Fund is to:
1) Support the Vernon community in taking ownership around the needs in Vernon;
2) Encourage broad and inclusive civic engagement; and
3) Grow the Vernon Greater Together Community Fund.

POTENTIAL GRANT AWARD 

The size of the grant awards will be based on the scope and focus of proposals. The minimum award for any proposal is $250 and the maximum grant shall not exceed $10,000. However, additional funding for proposals can be sought from other sources.

REVIEW & SELECTION PROCESS

Any nonprofit registered as a 501(c)(3) organization that serves the community of Vernon is eligible to submit a letter of intent. Nonprofits do not need to be headquartered or based in Vernon, but must serve and benefit Vernon residents. 
Letters of Interest will be reviewed on a competitive basis by the Vernon Community Fund Advisory Committee and will be evaluated according to the merit and relevance to the call. Please note that all grant awards are made at the sole discretion of the Vernon Greater Together Community Fund Advisory Committee. 

KEY DATES:

1/4/2023 - Call for Letters of Interest Opens
2/1/2023 - Application period for Letters of Interest Closes
TBD - Organizations notified as to invitation to submit Grant Application
TBD - Grant Applications Due
TBD - Proposals Selected and Grants Awarded

Letters of Interest can be submitted via Google Form starting January 4, 2023 at the below link. A paper form of the application will also be accepted.

Submit a Letter of Interest 

For additional questions or to submit a letter of interest, please contact the Vernon Greater Together Community Fund Advisory Committee at vernoncommunityfund@gmail.com.

Inaugural Grant Awards

In 2021, the Vernon Greater Together Community Fund made inaugural grants to the following organizations:

• Hartford Interval House, Inc. received $5,000 to support the Victim to Survivor program.
• Junior Achievement of Southwest New England received $2,5000 to support the Economic Empowerment for Vernon Students program. 
• RHS Graduation Project received $500 to support RHS Project Grad
• The Bridge Family Center, Inc. received $3,000 to support the purchase of furniture and toys for the Rockville Counselling Center.
• UR Community Cares, Inc. received $2,000 to support UR Community Cares in Vernon.
• Arts Center East received $3,000 to support programming on the life and work of African American artist Charles Ethan Porter.
• Vernon Historical Society, Inc. received $2,500 to support the Community Map to promote awareness of Vernon's walking trails and historical markers. 

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:

Nicholas Bartos, Ann Bonney, Samantha Charette, Hannah Fontenot, Sheila Reveron, Dustin Yager, Tyler Durdan

Click here to read the Advisory Committee Conflict of Interest Policy

For media inquiries, please contact Chris Senecal at csenecal@hfpg.org.