News

Farmington Bank Community Foundation awarded $170,500 in grants through its first quarterly grant cycle to support Economic Empowerment and Sustainability. This round of grants was focused on access to job training and educational opportunities that support enhanced career prospects and lifetime earnings (such as GED, degree, or credential attainment).

Grants awarded are listed below:

Aurora Foundation for Women & Girls – Matching grant to support the Hartford Public Library’s Barriers Can’t Stop Us Program which supports college retention for immigrant women.

Bristol Boy & Girls Club Association – For Careers for Cambridge Park, a career exploration program for youth at the Cambridge Park club.

Career Resources, Inc. – For STRIVE Hartford, career competency training co-located at the Greater Hartford Reentry Center.
Compass Youth Collaborative – For COMPASS Peacebuilders, which connects (or reconnect) Hartford youth to education and training opportunities and other supports.
Forge City Works, Inc. – For culinary job training including hands-on kitchen training and customer service for residents with barriers to employment.
Fresh Start Pallet Products, Inc. – For the Fresh Start Academy, a partnership with Capital Workforce Partners that supports job training in carpentry.
Greater New Britain Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Inc.- For Pathways to Success in Higher Education which builds off of the Pathways Senderos youth programming to support young people through their transition to college.
Hartford Promise, Inc. – For the Integrated College Success Model which combines scholarship funds with outreach and support services for Hartford students pursing secondary education.
Hartford Youth Scholars – For the Collegiate Academy, High School & College Scholar Success which supports the academic attainment, personal achievement, and professional development of Hartford students, ages 7th grade through college senior.
Hartford’s Camp Courant – For 2022 Camp Courant Camperships.Human Resources Agency of New Britain– For summer youth employment internships for New Britain youth.
Junior Achievement of Southwest New England, Inc. – For Jr. Apprentice;  a year-long program for students at Weaver High School with financial literacy, work readiness classes,  and paid internships.
KNOX, Inc. – For Green Jobs Apprenticeships which provides work experience, technical skills, and certifications in the green industry to Hartford residents.
Literacy Volunteers of Central Connecticut – For Literacy for Economic Self-Sufficiency, expanding economic opportunities for adult students by helping them learn to speak, read, and write English to gain employment, improve wages, and gain financial literacy skills.
Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford – For adult literacy and job training; improving the language, digital and math literacy competencies of  low literate adults living or working in Greater Hartford.
Opportunities Industrialization Center – For the StemLinx Enhancement, a STEM skills development program. FBCF funding will support the development of an accompanying computer lab.
Our Piece of the Pie – To support Hartford youth in education and employment through a combination of youth-focused, relationship-centered programming and academic and workforce training.
The Open Hearth Association – For the Working Man’s Center (WMC); a job-centered training initiative focused on helping clients end the cycle of homelessness.
Trinity College – For free camperships at Trinity Dream Camp.
United Way of West Central Connecticut, Inc. – For the Walsh Summer Work Experience Program; a seven-week summer workforce development program for Bristol youth.
Women’s League Child Development Center – For the STEAM Lab which provides toddlers and preschoolers play based experiences exploring Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. 
YWCA Hartford Region Inc. – For YW Career Women Hartford, an individualized career pathways program designed to provide support low-income BIPOC women pursuing an Associate’s Degree.

Basic Needs

Application closes April 30^th, 2023 at 6PM

The Farmington Bank Community Foundation is accepting applications for programs that provide services supporting economic stability for individuals and families. Priority will be given to organizations that provide short-term emergency assistance for households including shelters and homelessness diversion programs, food pantries and programs that improve access to healthy food, as well as programs that provide access to other essential goods (diapers, formula, etc.).

Applicants are encouraged to read through the Foundation’s Areas of Giving and Eligibility prior to applying.  The narrative questions are available on the Grantseeker Tips page. If you are not sure if your request would qualify, please contact us at FBCF@FBCFCT.org.

Farmington Bank Community Foundation first grant cycle for 2023 is now open.

Its first grant cycle is targeted to connecting workers to new skills and enhanced job readiness; programs that support workforce development, enhance, or improve opportunities for quality employment and career prospects. Included in this grant round is consideration of programs that provide educational building blocks that impact an individual’s average hourly wage and lifetime earnings, i.e., adult education, completion of secondary education or core school readiness.

Applications will be accepted online until 6 PM January 31, 2023.  For more information on the foundation’s areas of interest, eligibility and application guidelines please go to the Grant Process section of the website.

Farmington Bank Community Foundation awarded $119,000 in grants under its Economic Empowerment and Sustainability – Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy and Housing Grant Cycle. These programs provide ta and resources to start up business, improve financial management of household budgets and generate more affordable housing options

Catholic Charities Inc. – Archdiocese of Hartford – Financial Stability Initiative offers extremely low-income, previously unemployed, and underemployed individuals a bundled, integrated approach to employment, financial coaching and entrepreneurial services grounded in a participant-centered, two-generation approach.
Chrysalis Center Inc. – Community Supportive Housing provides housing and case management services which support 530 individuals and families coming from homelessness.  Staff ensures clients’ basic needs and mental health are supported, so they remain economically stable and housed.
Farmington Community Chest – Community Chest Cares matches Farmington citizens in need of critical household repairs and upgrades with area contractors and handypersons to conduct the projects.  Farmington Community Chest provides funding for materials and labor for the projects.
Girls With Impact – Support of NextGen Connecticut programming that educates up to 20 young women with our modern, digital business and leadership curriculum over one year.
Hands On Hartford – Shared Kitchen Program helps clients develop the capacity to create, manage, and grow their start-up culinary businesses. Our licensed commercial kitchen provides our participants with the proper space and equipment to prepare, test, and produce their products and to store their supplies.
HEDCO, Inc. – Internship program will support two interns majoring in graphic/website design, communications, or marketing, from local colleges who will provide small business support in the organization’s Business Resource Center and work alongside other HEDCO departments.
International Hartford – generating minority business ownership, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and jobs for residents. The goal is to recirculate consumer dollars and business profits in the city’s neighborhoods.
Jewish Family Services of Greater Hartford      Comprehensive Community Supports, a program that provides a full scope of services for low-to-moderate income clients including case management, skilled volunteer one-on-one supports and a community safety net, connecting clients with the rich resources we have in our community.
Local Initiatives Support Corporation – Providing financial and technical assistance to community development corporations, 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.
Social Enterprise Trust, Inc. – Hartford Culinary Collaborative, a 7-member entity that supports food-based startups, ReSET provides backbone support for the Collaborative through the Food Catalyst. They offer a Food Incubator to grow the skills and capacity of moderate-income individuals who have the idea and recipe(s) for a food business, but not the entrepreneurial know-how; and a Digital Marketing Mastermind for food businesses to develop fully functional websites with ordering capacity.
The Village for Families & Children – Financial Opportunity Center provides financial literacy education, benefits assessment, and job readiness support, through workshops and one-on-one coaching. Families learn to protect and maximize income, reduce debt, create budgets, manage credit, build assets, and pursue careers. If needed, we assist clients to secure stable housing.
United Way of Central & Northeastern CT – “United For ALICE” is an umbrella term that describes UW’s goal of improving the financial stability and economic conditions of low-income households through direct services and partnerships with public and non-profit organizations. Economic mobility services provide low to moderate income (LMI) individuals with access to services that focus on increasing household income and improving financial capability to achieve financial goals.
YWCA New Britain – Childcare Business Incubator, the project will support individuals who will be trained in the operation of their own family childcare business; supported in the establishment of that business for a period of years; and trained in preparation to successfully and independently move to an independent location once their tenure in this project is completed.
CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, Inc. – Support of ConnectiCorps an AmeriCorps program that facilitates nonprofits engaged in food insecurity or antipoverty services in building their organizational capacity through increased volunteerism. The purpose is to identify meaningful opportunities for volunteers so that paid staff can focus on mission-critical work.

Farmington Bank Community Foundation awarded $140.500 in grants under its Health & Human Services – Basic Needs Grant Cycle.  These programs provide emergency safety net services to household experiencing housing, food, or other essential insecurities.

Bread for Life    Funding will be used for operational expenses for the  soup kitchen, meal delivery program (including homebound citizens, seniors living in subsidized housing, and homeless individuals and families placed at Southington hotels and motels by the State of CT), and the Children’s Summer Lunch Program.
Community Health Network of Connecticut Foundation, Inc        Cooking Matters- Participants learn to shop smarter, use nutrition information to make healthier choices, and cook delicious, affordable meals. Cooking Matters also equips families to stretch their food dollars and link up with public nutrition programs like SNAP (food stamps) and WIC.
Connecticut Foodshare – Mobile Food Distribution in Hartford County, CT -This “pantry on wheels” program dispatches trucks into underserved neighborhoods, distributing food to assist those in need who lack direct proximity to a supermarket or food pantry or may not have a vehicle or the physical means to access resources outside of their neighborhood.
Covenant to Care for Children, Inc – Basic essential goods responds to the urgent needs of families who are at-risk of losing their children, or those being reunified with their children and mandated by the state to have tangible goods such as beds, cribs, clothing, and other essential household items to create a safe and healthy home environment.
Diaper Bank of Connecticut – Diaper Distribution Network Support – Providing diapers to families with infants and toddlers who do not qualify for government assistance.
End Hunger Connecticut!, Inc     SNAP Outreach supports efforts to fight food insecurity by increasing awareness of critical food assistance programming and drive potentially eligible residents to EHC!’s SNAP Call Center to receive free assistance with SNAP applications, redeterminations, technical support, and more.
Friendship Service Center, Inc.- The Tomasso Community Kitchen feeds the FSC Shelter and Transitional Living participants, as well as hundreds of New Britain community members who have been relying upon the program for a warm lunch since 1968.
General Federation of Women’s Clubs Newington/Wethersfield – Monthly supplemental weekend food for the families of school age children in Newington who are food insecure.
Healing Meals Foundation Corporation – Healthy Meals Program offer 12 weeks of meals to people and their families impacted by serious health crisis.  The organic meals are designed to promote healing and good health.
Mercy Housing and Shelter Corp – St. Elizabeth House supports people who are economically disadvantaged, homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness by offering transitional housing and the Friendship Center Day Shelter and meals program.
New Britain ROOTS – The ROOTS Market Express operates as a delivery service for individuals 60 years old or older with an emphasis on low to moderate income households. Market Express  provides healthy, locally grown produce delivered directly from the farmers market each week.
Operation Fuel Inc. – Emergency Energy Assistance that helps offset oil, gas and electric bills for income qualified families.
Plainville Community Food Pantry, Inc. – The pantry distributes food to clients bi-weekly, school supplies in the fall and holiday baskets for Plainville residents
Services for the Elderly of Farmington – Support for Meals on Wheels, Medical Equipment, Congregate Meals, Friendly Shopping, Medical Transportation, “Forget-Me-Not”, and our free A.A.R.P. Tax Assistance Program.
South Park Inn, Inc. – South Park provides emergency shelter and 3 meals per day for their clients.  The provision of healthy food reduces the incidence of obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes among the population they serve.
Tabernacle Christian Church Inc. – Giving Back Food Pantry provides weekly food to household with food insecurity.  Last year CT Foodshare calculated that the pantry distributed more than 140 tons of food.
Urban Alliance – Is working withnetwork partners and other organizations, such as Midwest Foodbank to utilize our network of over 200 community partners and allies (including churches and local schools) to create centers for food and resource distribution throughout the year. 
Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness – Continuation of CCEH’s work engaging towns in the Greater Hartford region to take action to end homelessness. The end goal of this project is that every town will take these actions to create greater capacity for homeless services, address regional service gaps, and ultimately reduce and end homelessness.
Malta House –  Support for Malta House’s first permanent clinic to be opened in Asylum Hill neighborhood.  The addition of this clinic allows the mobile medical van to serve another neighborhood.

Economic Empowerment- Entrepreneurship, Affordable Housing, Financial Literacy June 15^th – July 31st^th 2022 online system closes at 6PM

The foundation is accepting applications for programs and services that 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 financial decisions and supporting development of a range of affordable housing options are eligible under this grant cycle.

Applicants are encouraged to read through our 2022 Foundation Focus prior to applying.  The narrative questions are available on the Grantseeker Tips page. If you are not sure if your request would qualify please contact us.

Farmington Bank Community Foundation awarded $165,000 in grants under its Economic Empowerment and Sustainability – Workforce Development and Self Sufficiency Grant Cycle

Grantees included:

Career Resources, Inc. – STRIVE; provides intensive attitudinal workplace preparation, utilizing a 5-Pillar Model:  Job Readiness Training; Occupational Skills Training; Case Management; Job Placement; and Job Retention, Advancement and Follow-up.
Compass Youth Collaborative – COMPASS Peacebuilders; connecting  with young people and start building trusting relationships in order to connect (or reconnect) them to education and training opportunities and other supports.
Forge City Works, Inc. – Culinary Job Training; hands-on kitchen training with culinary customer service component for residents with barriers to employment (incarceration, homelessness, poverty, Opportunity Youth status).
Fresh Start Pallet Products, Inc. – Job Training; support the development of new business line, training in construction, which doubles the size of our training program.
Greater New Britain Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Inc.- Career Readiness; prepares participants for jobs and successful careers with financial literacy education on saving, finding loans and scholarships, and avoiding fraud and financial scams.
Hartford Promise, Inc. -Hartford Promise Integrated College Success Model; an Integrated College Success Model  combines scholarship funds with needed outreach and support services for Hartford students pursing secondary education.
Hartford Youth Scholars – The Collegiate Academy, Scholar Success High School & College; support the academic attainment, personal achievement, and professional development of 265 Hartford students, ages 7th grade through college senior.
Hartford’s Camp Courant – 2022 Camp Courant Camperships; funding for Camp Courant free summer day camp program for up to 900 Hartford youth.
Jumpstart for Young children – Early Education Workforce Development; to build a diverse pipeline of future early childhood educators and, simultaneously, advance equitable learning outcomes for preschool children in underserved Hartford County communities.
Junior Achievement of Southwest New England, Inc. – Jr. Apprentice;  an innovative year-long program for 20 students at Weaver High School in Hartford with financial literacy and work readiness classes and paid internships in industries projected to have future job growth and financial stability.
KNOX, Inc. – Green Jobs Apprenticeships; providing green jobs and professional skills training to 39 underserved Hartford young adults. Participants gain work experience, technical skills, and certifications in the green industry.
Literacy Volunteers of Central Connecticut – Literacy for Economic Self-Sufficiency Program; expanding economic opportunities for adult students helping them learn to speak, read, and write English to gain employment, improve wages, and gain financial literacy skills.
Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford – Adult Literacy and Job Training; improving the language, digital and math literacy competencies of 500-525 low literate adults living or working in Greater Hartford.
Opportunities Industrialization Center – FO’REAL (Fostering Opportunities to reach Educational and Employment Aspiration for Life); an economic empowerment program designed to prepare youth and young adults for the world of work and self-sufficiency utilizing the Career Competency System.
Our Piece of the Pie – Supporting Hartford Youth for success in education and employment; combination of youth-focused, relationship-centered programming with academic and workforce training.
The Arc of the Farmington Valley Inc, FAVARH –Project Search; a yearlong work readiness program supporting young adults with IDD through classroom and multiple hands on internships.
The Open Hearth Association – The Working Man’s Center (WMC); a job-centered training initiative focused on helping The Open Hearth’s clients end the cycle of homelessness.
Trinity College – Dream Camp; a five-week summer camp, serving up to 170 children, and an after-school program, serving up to 70 children; both are tuition free.
United Way of West Central Connecticut, Inc. – Walsh Summer Work Experience Program; a seven-week summer workforce development program for twenty-five (25) Bristol youth age sixteen and up.
Women’s League Child Development Center – Early Childhood Education STEAM Lab; creation of a STEAM lab for toddlers and preschoolers that will allow them rich play based  experiences exploring Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. 
YWCA Hartford Region Inc. – YW Career Women (YWCW);  an individualized, career pathways program, designed to provide support and motivation for low-income BIPOC women pursuing an Associate Degree.
Aurora Foundation for Women & Girls – FBCF is  providing a matching grant to Aurora Foundation to support college retention and programs that assist college students to complete their degree.
Bristol Preschool Childcare Center Inc – Child care preschool program that targets LMI families in Bristol
Hartford Food System – Hartford Harvest Farm Share; a member of HFPG Social Enterprise Accelerator Program launching a Community Supported Agriculture farm share program for Hartford residents. The CSA program enables several small farmers to sell produce built on a 18 week contract.  Participants can purchase a full half or weekly share.  LMI residents may qualify for a subsidy.

2021 launched Farmington Bank Community Foundation’s (FBCF) new strategic focus “get back to basics.”  Our goal with this narrower focus is to ensure residents will have access to employment training and education, health services, healthy nutrition, stable housing, and safety net services. 

The attached analysis looks back at our 2021 grant making with the new lenses.  With a tighter focus and smaller footprint our hope was to increase the resources to our grantees. We look forward to continuing our efforts with our nonprofit partners as we all work towards economic opportunity and a network of support for our community.

Basic Needs- Health & Human Services

March 15^th – April 30^th 2022 online system closes at 6PM

The foundation is accepting applications for programs and services that provide a safety net for individuals and families who are traveling the path to self-sufficiency or are experiencing financial setbacks. Priority will be given to organizations that provide short-term emergency assistance for households including shelters, food pantries or household goods; improve access to healthy food and health-related income supports (such as SNAP or WIC) or efforts to decrease homelessness.

Applicants are encouraged to read through our Foundation Focus prior to applying.  The narrative questions are available on the Grantseeker Tips page. If you are not sure if your request would qualify, please contact us.

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.