New & Noteworthy

July 19, 2022

Basic Human Needs

Hartford Foundation Awards $400,000 in Grants to Support Food Programs, Other Basic Services

First of two rounds of 2022 Emergency Assistance Grants Awarded to 50 Nonprofits

As part of its ongoing efforts to dismantle structural racism and advance equity in social and economic mobility in Greater Hartford's Black and Latinx communities, the Hartford Foundation has awarded more than $400,000 in grants to 50 nonprofit agencies that provide food and other basic human needs to residents throughout Greater Hartford.

This year, the Foundation established a new approach to its annual Basic Human Needs (BHN) Emergency Assistance grants to create a more open and equitable application process that involves two rounds of grantmaking. In prior years, all emergency assistance grants were awarded only in the fall, but emergency assistance nonprofits provided feedback that having access to funds earlier in the year would help them in planning and meeting community need. The application process for the second round of BHN grants will begin on August 2, 2022. To learn more about this and other grant opportunities, nonprofits can log onto hfpg.org/opportunities.

The Foundation’s BHN Emergency Assistance grants focus on increasing access to food and addressing immediate needs such as personal care items (e.g., deodorant, diapers), utility assistance, emergency transportation, and other needs essential to wellbeing. This grant opportunity prioritizes nonprofits that serve neighborhoods and towns in the region with a higher percentage of residents living in poverty, seek to reduce barriers to equitable access to basic needs and provide direct support to clients. Grants are made using an equity lens, acknowledging that many of these issues have a disproportionate impact on people of color.

The Foundation’s overall Basic Human Needs portfolio balances grantmaking that responds to immediate needs of residents as well as nonprofits that support systemic approaches to eliminating food and housing insecurity, poverty and health disparities. Systemic grants include core and project-specific support to multiservice nonprofits and collaborative efforts that establish and strengthen coordinated care networks to address the social and economic drivers of social issues.

Examples of systemic BHN annual grants include the combined homelessness grants focused on diversion and the Connecticut Coordinated Access Networks (CT CANS) that identify opportunities for improved service delivery to prevent and reduce a person’s time experiencing homelessness. The BHN grants are also complemented by the Foundation’s other outcome portfolios, helping to address basic human needs as a means to further education, employment, improve neighborhood quality of life outcomes, engage in fulfilling creative pursuits, and to advocate for other resident needs.

These grants support both regional and local agencies in Greater Hartford. Grants range between $1,000 and $15,000 and are primarily funded through the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation as well as the Foundation’s discretionary funding.

Of the 50 grants:

Twenty-seven are primarily for food assistance or food access ($216,522)
Thirteen are for immediate emergency aid (which might include food, but also include issues such as rental assistance and personal care items) to be provided in a state of crisis ($98,740)
Five are for clothing, shoes, and diapers ($30,750)
Two are for case management ($26,000)
Two are to subsidize clients in need of medical assistance ($16,500)
One is for a small capital request directly related to providing services for a vulnerable population ($11,800)

“When individuals and families cannot afford to pay for groceries, housing, medical care or other basic necessities, it is incredibly challenging for children to perform in school or adults to go to work each and every day,” said Hartford Foundation Senior Community Investments Officer Cierra Stancil. “Providing for the most basic of human needs helps individuals and families stabilize themselves on their way toward upward social and economic mobility.”

Hartford Foundation 2022 Basic Human Needs Grants

Organization Name	Primary Grant Focus	Project Description	Area Served	Grant Amount
Aknew	Emergency Aid	Grant funds to provide housing assistance, food, transportation, utility assistance, school uniforms, work/school related items and supplies, and other basic needs	Hartford and immediate surrounding towns	$5,000
Angel of Edgewood Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to support purchasing food and supplies for the Community Cafe as well as basic needs requested by clients.	Greater Hartford	$8,000
Camp Courant, Inc.	Emergency Aid	Grant funds to provide Harford children and their families with tote bags filled with hygiene and personal care products.	Hartford	$5,000
Chrysalis Center, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase supplies to grow fresh vegetables at Chrysalis Center Food Hub, consisting of raised garden beds and hydroponic gardens.	Hartford	$7,500
Community Health Resources, Inc.	Emergency Aid	Grant funds to be used for food, clothing, personal care, rental assistance, help with utilities, and bus fare for clients attending the East Hartford and Manchester adult and child outpatient practices.	Greater Hartford	$13,500
Community Health Services, Inc.	Emergency Aid	Grant funds to provide basic needs supplies for the Community Outreach Department, which includes an on-site food pantry, assistance with medications, emergency clothing, glasses, diapers, and other basic needs.	Greater Hartford	$5,500
Community Renewal Team, Inc.	Emergency Aid	Grant funds to support clients at multiple locations with food, emergency clothing, housing and utility assistance, and other basic needs.	Greater Hartford	$14,000
Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants, Inc.	Emergency Aid	Grant funds to assist foreign-born survivors of trafficking and torture with utilities, rent, food and other basic needs.	Greater Hartford	$5,000
Covenant to Care for Children, Inc.	Clothing/Shoes/Diapers	Grant funds to purchase school uniforms and school supplies, distribution expenses, and overhead.	Greater Hartford	$5,500
Diaper Bank of Connecticut	Clothing/Shoes/Diapers	Grant funds to provide diapers to families in Greater Hartford that do not qualify for government programming, including undocumented residents.	Greater Hartford	$5,000
Ellington Farmers Market, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to distribute vouchers to SNAP recipients and low-income seniors and WIC recipients primarily from East of the River to purchase food at the Ellington Farmers' Market. The program matches SNAP up to $20 per week per EBT cards and matches WIC FMNP vouchers one to one.	Greater Hartford	$7,000
Enfield Food Shelf, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase food and supplies across the agency's four food programs, including the new summer lunch extension.	Enfield	$10,000
Enfield Loaves and Fishes	Clothing/Shoes/Diapers	Grant funds to purchase supplies needed to operate the indoor dining offering dinner Sunday through Friday, and lunch on Saturday.	Enfield	$10,500
Family Essentials Network, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase food, including fresh foods such as meats, fruits, and vegetables, as well as other basic needs.	Vernon, Manchester and Hartford	$5,000
First Congregational Church of Granby	Emergency Aid	Grant funds to purchase personal care items, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies and other basic needs requested by clients of the Open Cupboard food pantry, as well as refrigeration and storage equipment needed to support the food pantry.	Greater Granby	$9,240
Footwear with Care, Inc.	Clothing/Shoes/Diapers	Grant funds to provide homeless people with walkable, weatherproof shoes and in some cases steel toed boots needed for jobs.	Hartford	$5,000
Forge City Works, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to provide administrative support to operate the SNAP acceptance program at four Hartford-based farmers markets.	Hartford	$11,522
Gentle Love Diaper Pantry	Clothing/Shoes/Diapers	Grant funds to purchase diapers in bulk for distribution by community partners.	Manchester, Vernon	$4,750
Grace Episcopal Church Hartford	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase food and other basic needs.	Hartford	$5,500
Hands On Hartford	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase of food for the MANA food programs and other basic human needs of clients of the programs.	Hartford and immediate surrounding towns	$12,000
Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective	Medical Assistance	Grant funds to purchase dental and medical supplies, PPE supplies, testing materials, laboratory fees, food, and other basic needs of clients.	Primarily Hartford and Manchester	$8,500
Healing Meals Foundation Corporation	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds primarily to purchase food for the meal delivery program and to support of the salaries of Serv-Safe certified staff to run the program.	Greater Hartford	$3,000
Hockanum Valley Community Council, Inc.	Case Management	Grant funds to support the provision of case management services and for emergency financial assistance to those struggling with rent or utility payments.	East of the River	$15,000
Holcomb Farm, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to increase the fresh food delivered to community partners located in Hartford, such as Wheeler and the Hispanic Health Council, and Granby.	Hartford, Granby	$10,000
Horace Bushnell Children's Food Pantry	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase food and personal care items for the food pantry as well as provide financial assistance to meet other basic needs.	Hartford	$11,000
House of Bread	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase food, personal care items, and other basic needs.	Hartford	$10,000
Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services	Emergency Aid	Grant funds to meet the emergency needs of recently arrived refugees resettling in the Hartford area.	Hartford and immediate surrounding towns	$13,000
Jewish Family Services of Greater Hartford, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase food, personal care items, and other basic needs.	Hartford, West Hartford, Bloomfield	$9,000
Loaves & Fishes Ministries, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to support operations of the soup kitchen located in the Asylum Hill neighborhood.	Hartford	$14,500
Malta House of Care, Inc.	Medical Assistance	Grant funds to purchase clinical supplies, lab tests, radiology, medications, and other basic needs of uninsured patients of the mobile clinic.	East Hartford, Hartford	$8,000
McLean Foundation	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to support the meals-on-wheels program.	Avon, Canton, East Granby, Granby, Simsbury	$2,500
Mercy Housing and Shelter Corporation	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds would be used to purchase foods for meals and the emergency food pantry and operations of the Friendship Center day shelter.	Hartford	$11,000
Mount Bethel Church of God EHT, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grand funds would be used to provide food, personal care items, transportation, and other basic needs of clients. A portion of the funds would support Community Friends and Family events.	Hartford	$5,000
Mutual Aid - East of the River	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds would be used to provide food, personal care items, cleaning supplies, emergency assistance, and other basic needs to members of the community.	Greater Manchester	$6,000
My Sisters' Place, Inc.	Case Management	Grant funds to provide case management services for children and their families residing in supportive housing.	Hartford	$11,000
Network Against Domestic Abuse of North Central CT, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to provide clients with food, personal care items and other basic needs.	Greater Enfield	$5,000
New Testament Tabernacle	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase food, supplies and equipment for the food pantry. Grant funds would also support food pantry operations.	Greater Hartford	$5,000
No Animal Left Unfed, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to provide pet owning clients with food, gas, transportation, personal care items, PPE and other basic needs.	Hartford	$1,000
Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to provide food, including healthier items such as fresh produce, dairy, and meats, to meet growing community needs and to support the pantry’s shift to a client choice model. Funds also would be used to provide personal care items, diapers, clothing and other basic needs.	Greater Hartford	$6,500
Services for the Elderly of Farmington, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds would be used to support the meals-on-wheels program, the congregate meals program and an assisted shopping program.	Farmington Valley	$4,500
South Park Inn	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to supply emergency food, clothing, bus passes, and other basic needs of clients.	Hartford and immediate surrounding towns	$12,000
Sunrise Northeast Opportunities, Inc.	Capital	Grant funds to purchase heavy duty electronic lifts and related equipment to improve access for clients utilizing mobility assistance devices and to improve client and staff safety.	Hartford, East Hartford, Vernon	$11,800
The Bridge Family Center	Emergency Aid	Grant funds to provide food, personal care items, and basic goods to clients of Bridge program sites.	Hartford and immediate surrounding towns	$13,000
The Bridge, an Outreach Ministry of Our Savior Lutheran Church	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase food, personal care items, and other basic needs.	Hartford and immediate surrounding towns	$5,000
The Brooks Token Inc.	Emergency Aid	Grant funds to provide food, clothing, footwear, personal care items, and other basic needs to homeless individuals, seniors, and others in need. Grant funds would also support a school backpack program.	Hartford and immediate surrounding towns	$5,000
The New Antioch Baptist Church, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase food and supplies for a community breakfast program.	Hartford	$7,000
The Open Hearth Association	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to purchase food, personal care items, and other basic needs of shelter clients.	Hartford	$12,000
The Salvation Army	Emergency Aid	Grant funds to purchase food for the food pantry and to provide client assistance including utility bills, transportation, medication, hygiene items, clothing and other basic needs.	Hartford and immediate surrounding towns	$10,500
Town of Simsbury	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to provide fresh food and other basic needs to low income residents of Simsbury and associated villages.	Simsbury	$5,000
Urban Alliance, Inc.	Food Assistance/Access	Grant funds to support printing of resource guides and coupons to increase local participation in Hartford's Farmers' Markets. Funds would also support administrative expenses, resource bags, and a community event.	Greater Hartford	$5,000

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding towns. Through partnerships, the Foundation seeks to strengthen communities in Greater Hartford by putting philanthropy in action to dismantle structural racism and achieve equity in social and economic mobility. Made possible by the gifts of generous individuals, families and organizations, the Foundation has awarded grants of more than $894 million since its founding in 1925. For more information, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.