Farmington Bank Community Foundation awarded $115,000 in grants under its Economic Empowerment & Sustainability – Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy and Housing Grant Cycle. These programs support the process of designing, launching and running a new business; efforts to improve the financial skills and knowledge of households to make informed and effective decisions and supporting development of a range of affordable housing options.
Catholic Charities Inc. – Archdiocese of Hartford – Financial Stability Initiative offers unemployed and underemployed individuals a bundled, integrated approach to employment, financial coaching and entrepreneurial services grounded in a participant-centered, two-generation approach.
Children in Placement – Youth Sponsor program uses a holistic approach to assist youth aging out of the system by matching individuals with a volunteer sponsor. Individuals are guided on finding employment, or furthering their education, housing and budgeting skills.
Chrysalis Center Inc.– Community Supportive Housing provides housing and case management services for individuals and families coming from homelessness. CSH helps clients secure housing, income, and other benefits, so they remain economically stable and meet their basic needs rather than return to homelessness.
Farmington Community Chest – Farmington Cares Day focuses on safety and maintenance items for the elderly and disabled homeowners who qualify for help through Farmington Social Services Departments.
Hands On Hartford – The Shared Kitchen helps clients develop the capacity and mindset to create, manage, and grow culinary businesses. The licensed commercial kitchen provides clients with the proper space and equipment to prepare, test, and produce products and to store food supplies.
HEDCO, Inc. – Consulting services to assist the CEO in developing an internal strategic plan that includes capacity building and professional development for staff.
International Hartford – Provision of 1:1 financial literacy coaching, business education, business planning, market research/strategy, regulatory compliance, legal formation and site identification for immigrant entrepreneurs.
Local Initiatives Support Corporation – Provision of financial and technical assistance to community development corporations (CDCs), nonprofit housing developers, and other community organizations to revitalize neighborhoods, build wealth for low- and moderate-income (LMI) families, and produce quality housing affordable to LMI residents in communities throughout Connecticut.
Neighborhood Housing Services of New Britain, Inc. – Support of a resident-driven homeowners’ group called Neighborhood Change Builders. The group intends to perform small housing repairs using a neighbors-helping-neighbors model.
Rebuilding Together Hartford, Inc. – The Homeowner Retention Program helps keep low-income Hartford homeowners living safely in their homes. The program fosters neighborhood revitalization and stabilization work by clustering homes to be assisted in a specific radius of a selected neighborhood.
Rebuilding Together New Britain – RTNB offers no cost home repair, maintenance, and accessibility services to low-income homeowners. Services are provided year-round and are delivered by engaging volunteer teams where possible or hiring licensed contractors to attend to critical repairs.
Social Enterprise Trust, Inc. – The Food Incubator grows the skills and capacity of individuals who have the idea and recipe(s) for a food business, but not the entrepreneurial know-how. Participants think through key business issues and gain the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions and understand the stringent regulatory environment for food businesses.
The Village for Families & Children – VITA offers free tax preparation services for individuals and families earning up to $57,000 per year. VITA also provides information, access and referrals to asset-building opportunities, financial education, career development, and other similar resources through the Village’s Financial Opportunity Center (FOC).
United Way of Central & Northeastern CT – United Way supports a robust portfolio of economic mobility work so low to moderate income (LMI) individuals can access services that focus on increasing household income and improve financial capability. The economic mobility includes helping adults obtain and retain jobs paying family sustaining wages; providing access to supports that help stabilize family income; and providing financial education and coaching.
University of Hartford -The Women’s Business Roundtable brings together groups of women entrepreneurs from greater Hartford. The program is divided into 5-month sessions, focused on aspects of marketing, sales, business development and related finances, as determined by group members with WBC staff and guest experts, who lead and coordinate the focus and content of the meetings.
OIC OF NEW BRITAIN -Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) programming helps those with barriers to self-sufficiency through Young Adult Workforce Development initiatives and providing youth career awareness and readiness programming to middle and high school students.