With grants to date totaling $2.16 million, Hartford Foundation Board authorizes an additional $5.4 million to support community-based organizations providing basic human needs to local residents
Last month, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving launched the COVID-19 Response Fund to rapidly deploy resources to support the residents who are most significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The Fund is designed to complement the work of federal, state and municipal government efforts and expand local capacity to address all aspects of the outbreak as efficiently as possible.
“The Foundation created the COVID-19 Response Fund to provide both short- and long-term support, as our community and residents deal with the fallout from the pandemic,” said Hartford Foundation president Jay Williams. “We are inspired and so very grateful to our dedicated and committed nonprofit providers who are making heroic efforts to respond to the overwhelming increase in demands for the critical services they provide. We remain committed to doing all we can to provide immediate assistance to nonprofits and support long-term efforts that will be necessary to stabilize our region in the aftermath of this crisis.”
The Foundation seeded the COVID-19 Response Fund with an initial $1 million, and we expect to add $5.4 million to the fund between now and May 31. Through the generosity of our community, we have raised an additional $1.35 million in donations, and we have several more commitments from individuals, private foundations and corporations. For a complete listing of COVID-19 Response Donors follow this link.
The second round of grants totaling $1.1 million are supporting community-based organizations that provide basic human needs and other critical supports to residents with the greatest need.
| Organization | Services | Grant Amount |
| Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Foundation | CT Children’s will be opening to non-COVID patients to ease the burden on hospitals. Grant will provide flexible support for medical equipment and increased telehealth. | $100,000 |
| Connecticut Fair Housing Center
|
Grant will allow the organization to address lost revenue and increased demand, and continue to provide fair housing advocacy to tenants and housing providers. | $35,000 |
| End Hunger Connecticut! | Grant will support three months of an additional full-time employee. Will help the organization increase capacity to take calls, screen for eligibility and process SNAP applications. | $15,000 |
| Gifts of Love | Grant will allow the organization to transition to curb-side pickup and delivery and help to cover other additional expenses to meet increased food demand. | $13,000 |
| Goodworks
|
Grant will allow the organization to meet the basic human needs of women returning from prison during the pandemic. | $7,500 |
| Hands on Hartford
|
Grant will support lost revenue and increased needs to enable the organization to continue housing, case management, community pantry and community meals services. | $100,000 |
| Hartford Healthcare Medical Group | Grant will support local manufacturing of at least 22,000 face shields to be distributed to hospitals, health clinics and emergency response organizations in our region. | $20,000 |
| Hispanic Health Council | Grant will allow the organization to meet the basic human needs of participants experiencing health inequities, with a focus on immigrant women and girls. | $100,000 |
| Integrated Health Services
|
Grant will support organizational stability and allow the organization to provide scaled back health and behavioral health services, in partnership with Goodwin College. | $20,000 |
| Jewish Association for Community Living
|
Grant will support increased staffing and cleaning required to continue care for intellectually disabled residents, who are particularly at-risk for COVID-19. | $20,000 |
| Make the Road Connecticut
|
Grant will provide for direct assistance and organizational staffing to meet the needs of immigrants, including undocumented and mixed status families. | $20,000 |
| Mount Olive Baptist Church | Grant will support coordinated efforts of three North End churches and Charter Oak Health Center to provide housing, food and mobile medical care to vulnerable residents. | $20,000 |
| New Haven Diaper Bank | Grant will support three months of diapers for approximately 140 children in our region. | $15,000 |
| Operation Fuel | Grant will support direct energy assistance and staffing costs to maintain and expand services to approximately 230 families throughout the region. | $150,000 |
| Planned Parenthood of Southern New England | Grant will support increased cleaning and staffing costs to allow the organization to provide continued reproductive health and primary care services to low-income communities in the region. | $100,000 |
| Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center | Hospital on the front lines of addressing the pandemic as numbers surge later in April. Grant will provide flexible support for equipment, food, childcare and overtime for staff as well as the food bank. | $150,000 |
| The Salvation Army of Southern New England | Grant will support increased food and cleaning supplies for Marshall House Family Shelter and emergency assistance programming.
|
$38,886 |
| San Juan Center | Grant will support lost revenue and basic human needs of residents living in the organization’s two senior housing facilities. | $20,000 |
| The Village for Families and Children | Grant will provide flexible dollars to help the organization navigate lost revenue and adapt to providing remote behavioral health and family support services. | $150,000 |
Grants from the COVID-19 Response Fund are being made on a weekly basis. Hartford Foundation staff will continue to review applications and work with existing grantees to explore options to repurpose already awarded grant dollars and accelerate multi-year grant payments to address emerging needs. In addition to grant dollars, the Foundation will offer capacity building, technical support and lines of credit to nonprofit organizations in the Hartford region.
Fundraising will continue throughout the public health crisis, but it is clear that the consequences of COVID-19 will continue through the end of 2020. While the Fund will not be able to address all of the needs that arise, the Foundation expects to continue to add additional Foundation-directed dollars to the COVID-19 Response Fund going forward.
To learn more about the COVID-19 Response Fund or to make a donation log onto www.hfpg.org/covid-19-response.
The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding communities. Made possible by the gifts of generous individuals, families and organizations, the Foundation has awarded grants of more than $795 million since its founding in 1925. For more information about the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.