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 Grant Applications - Deadline March 1, 2024

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. Preference will be given to projects that focus on underserved populations or sections of Vernon. We invite all 501(c)3’s - big or small to submit an application and share their ideas for serving our community.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the Vernon Greater Together Community Fund is to:

Support the Vernon community in taking ownership around the needs in Vernon;
Encourage broad and inclusive civic engagement; and
Grow the Vernon Greater Together Community Fund (VGTCF), seated within the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

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 an application. Nonprofits do not need to be headquartered or based in Vernon, but must serve and benefit Vernon residents.

Applications 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 Community Fund Advisory Committee.

The application and budget template can be downloaded below, and the completed form emailed to vernoncommunityfund@gmail.com.

Grant Application
Project Budget Template

KEY DATES:

1/30/2024 - Call for Applications Open

3/15/2024 - Applications Close

TBD - Proposals Selected and Grants Awarded

For questions or to submit an application, please contact the Vernon Advisory Committee at vernoncommunityfund@gmail.com

Vernon GTCF Advisory Committee Announces Second Round of Grant Awards

In April 2023, the Vernon Greater Together Community Fund made their second round of grants to nine organizations, for a total of $43,500 in grant dollars.

The Cornerstone Foundation received $10,000 to fund a new generator for the community kitchen
Opportunity Works CT received $10,000 for completion of a Sensory Room in Downtown Rockville. Funding will be used to purchase ADA bathroom fixtures, overhead lighting and interactive equipment.
Friends of Rockville Public Library received $2,000 to fund their Museum Pass Program
RHS Project Graduation received $500 to help cover the cost of Project Graduation, which provides a safe event for graduates the night of graduation.
Vernon Community Network received $4,000 to fund their Circle of Moms support program.
Interval House received $2,500 to offer assistance to residents of Vernon experiencing domestic violence under their Victim to Survivor Program
Bridge Family Center received $3,000 to purchase furniture for their Rockville Counseling Center.
Strong Family Farm received $1,500 to purchase volunteer management software and hold software training.
Evergreen Family Theatre received $10,000 to fund their Sprouts Program for Fall 2023.

Past Grant Awards

The Vernon Greater Together Community Fund has made grants to the following organizations:

2021 Inaugural Grant Awards

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 Vernon are:

Nicholas Bartos, Ann Bonney, Samantha Charette, Emma Dashnaw, Sheila Reveron, Stephen Taylor, Dustin Yager

Click here to read the Advisory Committee Conflict of Interest Policy

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