Grants Awarded in 2024

Collective Giving in 2024

Special Funds in 2024

Area of Greatest Need

  • Lady of Love (Waterbury) (Fiscal Sponsor: NEST): Basic Needs Distribution – $3,000 to help distribute food and basic need items to Waterbury community members, partnering with local sites.
  • St. Vincent DePaul Mission of Waterbury (Waterbury): $6,500 to help replace the critical walk-in commercial freezer at SVDP, which is vital to numerous programs (Soup Kitchen, Food Pantry, Culinary Training) at Connecticut’s largest homeless shelter.

Arts and Culture

  • Afro-Caribbean Cultural Center (Waterbury): 3rd Annual Bombazo & Taino Remembrance Day – $10,000 to support merging of ACCC’s Bombazo and Barrio Arts Festival and Indigenous Peoples’ Remembrance Day into a large Afro Caribbean/Taino event to be held on October 14, 2024.
  • After School Arts Program (Washington): Programs at Children’s Community School – $7,500 to provide arts-infused educational programs at the Children’s Community School in Waterbury in-school and for a new After-School Program in 2024-25.
  • Arts & Culture Collaborative, Waterbury Region: Strengthening Connections & Collaboration in the Community – $5,000 to promote, connect, collaborate, and advocate for the arts in our region. This year’s focus is to strengthen connections and collaborations of the arts community in our region — both with and for members as well as with diverse populations in the community.
  • Arts for Learning CT (Hamden): Express Yourself: After School Arts Learning – $7,500 to continue a 10-week after school arts learning program, “Express Yourself”, for 40 elementary students at FJ Kingsbury in Waterbury, implemented by Teaching Artists, building on the prior year’s successful CCF-funded program.
  • Boys and Girls Club of Greater Waterbury (Waterbury): Art with the MATT! – $4,200 to allow campers (youth K-12) to join Mattatuck Museum staff and teaching artists to discover and create art.
  • Building Legacy and Community (Waterbury) – fiscal sponsor is NEST – 5th Annual Juneteenth Celebration – $10,000 to support this staple of Black culture in Waterbury, which brings together black businesses, performers, organizations, and individuals to celebrate the freedom of a disenfranchised population, while building morale & spirit.
  • City Youth Theater (Waterbury): Summer Music & Theater Camp and Fall Programming – $10,000 to support a collaborative Music and Theater program by City Youth Theater and Judah’s Music Camp in Waterbury, offering Summer and Fall programming for youth in Waterbury Public Schools (music & theater workshops, collaborative projects, and field trip).
  • DOE.Live (Waterbury) – fiscal sponsor NEST – A Downtown Summer Culture Project – $7,500 to teach/train youth how to produce their own festivals and events (including art, culture, music, dance, writing and theatre); these are covered in its curators’ camp and spontaneous learning programs, which will now include a more direct, hands-on approach.
  • Landmark Community Theater (Thomaston): Expanding Performing Arts Education Program to Include Technical Aspects – $7,000 to support Landmark’s effort to provide low-cost high-value arts education with the addition of technical training for sound, lighting, stage management, and costume design.
  • Mattatuck Museum (Waterbury): Children’s Community School Art Program and Expansion – $13,000 to continue & expand the Museum’s student arts programs at Children’s Community School from its current serving of K-4 to include grades 5 and 6. Museum staff and guest teaching artists will lead classes on basic art skills, art journaling and cartooning.
  • Merryall Center (New Milford): Fall Theater Festival at Merryall – $1,750 to feature premiere of Roger Peltzman’s “Dedication”, a one-person autobiographical musical written and performed by artist.
  • Northwest CT Arts Council (Litchfield): Critical Development Program Support – $5,000 to continue employment of the Council’s part-time Development Coordinator, as State funding cuts have put the Council in critical need of investment in development efforts.
  • Palace Theater Group Inc. (Waterbury): CommUNITY Series at the Palace Theater – $7,500 to provide interactive events designed to gather diverse presenters and audiences, many of whom have not been involved in the Theater’s prior activities to date, with the goal of fostering understanding and stronger community.
  • Park Central (Waterbury): Works of Art & Music – $3,000 to support continuation of the growing Works of Art & Music programs. These programs focus on empowering girls to love reading and use art as a form of expression.
  • Pilobolus (Washington): Movin’ with Students at Brass City Charter School – $5,000 to allow teaching Artists to bring Pilobolus’ unique teaching style, centered on collaboration, to 3rd graders at Waterbury’s Brass City Charter School. Students will create an original dance to be performed for the school population at the end.
  • RiseUP Group, Inc. (Hartford): Mural Honoring Fortune – $5,000 to, in collaboration with a local coalition, create a large-scale mural to honor Fortune, an 18th-century enslaved man whose story is significant, yet often overlooked.
  • Seven Angels Theater (Waterbury): Seven Angels in the Schools – $5,000 to bring Seven Angels support to three schools as an after-school program, during the 2024-25 school year. Each school would get ten, one-and-a-half hour sessions taught by a Lead Teacher and an Assistant Teacher.
  • Shakesperience Productions (Waterbury): Waterbury Interactive: Our City, Our Neighborhoods – $10,000 to support Neighborhoods, a year-long bilingual inter-generational humanities program encompassing history, the arts, and communication, and storytelling in the form of creative narratives from the local area for young people, older adults, teachers, and theatre enthusiasts and professionals.
  • Ungroup Society, The (Waterbury)–Fiscal sponsor NEST: The Music in WE: Culturally-Affirming Social/Emotional Learning & Music Program – $7,500 to provide after-school music-based social and emotional learning classes at a local community center, serving youth aged 13-18 from mostly low income African American / Latinx families.
  • Waterbury Pride NAACP Youth Council (Waterbury) – fiscal sponsor NEST: Find Your Light Multicultural Dance and Black History 365 – $7,500 to continue a newly-established dance program for Waterbury youth, taught by BIPOC instructors in a cultural/historical context, and which also will be 3 times as less expensive as other programs.
  • Waterbury Symphony Orchestra (Waterbury): Bravo Waterbury! – $12,000 to provide a five-week summer program to underserved youngsters, which offers continuation of the music instruction and community engagement activities the students experienced during the regular school year.
  • Waterbury, City of (Mayor’s Office): Make Music Waterbury 2024 – $4,250 for a free, community-wide musical celebration, featuring feature musicians of diverse abilities & music from any genre.

Building Equitable Opportunity

  • Abilities Without Boundaries (Cheshire): Shredding Program Expansion – $5,000 to support expansion of the Shredding Program, a key piece of ABD’s paid workforce development programming for individuals with disabilities. Funds will support costs of paper shredders, maintenance, and staff.
  • Advancing Connecticut Together (Hartford): Expanding CT Returning Citizens Program – $10,000 to maximize impact on financial literacy and empowerment in Greater Waterbury, expanding services to multiple sites in the area (in addition to the Waterbury Reentry Center).
  • Annie C. Courtney Foundation (Waterbury): Annie’s Books – $5,000 to support Annie’s Books, a used bookstore that will provide an immersive training opportunity/meaningful job experience for former foster youth to learn all aspects of a retail business from warehousing to inventory control to retail sales & administrative support.
  • Building Legacy and Community (Waterbury) – fiscal sponsor: NEST – Waterbury Black Business Network – $8,000 to develop educational business resources for Black-owned businesses in Greater Waterbury, offering seminars and workshops on critical subjects, as well as a video library.
  • Center for Children’s Advocacy (Hartford): Waterbury Children & Youth Advocacy Project – $8,389 to promote equitable opportunity for low-income Black and Latinx students and children with disabilities by through CCA’s legal services and systemic reform advocacy to reduce barriers to education and employability.
  • Chrysalis Center (Hartford): Advancing Community Supportive Housing in the Waterbury Area – $10,000 to support the delivery of the Community Supportive Housing (CSH) program in Waterbury. These affordable housing and case management services are offered to households who are homeless or at risk of homelessness including veterans, families, and those returning from incarceration.
  • Community Partners in Action (Hartford): Greater Waterbury Reentry Welcome Center – $10,000 to assist people returning to Greater Waterbury after prison and those living in the area who have a criminal history. The Reentry Welcome Center serves as a hub providing support services and coordinating referrals to 30+ community partners.
  • Connecticut Institute for Refugees & Immigrants (CIRI): Waterbury Immigration Legal Services – $20,000 to provide family reunification, naturalization, adjustment of status, DACA applications and renewals, visas for victims of domestic violence, asylum applications and appeals, and removal defense for immigrants living in greater Waterbury.
  • Literacy Volunteers of Greater Waterbury: Adult Literacy – $5,000 to use trained volunteers and community partners, strives to improve all lives through literacy by cultivating educational opportunities for adults.
  • Literacy Volunteers on the Green (New Milford): Adult Literacy Programs Serving English Language learners and Underserved Adult Learners – $5,000 to support the literacy needs of adult learners in northwestern CT. Literacy programs would target reading, writing, and English language skills for immigrants and undereducated adult learners.
  • Naugatuck YMCA (Naugatuck): Middle School After 3PM – $10,000 to provide an opportunity for youth to prepare for their future by learning social skills, independence, responsibility and academics. Youth in community will no longer be alone after school.
  • New Opportunities Inc. (Waterbury): Work Readiness Initiative – $13,923 to expand NOI’s existing CMAC (CT Manufacturer Assistance Center) initiative by adding 8-week Work Readiness classes in the program. Up to 6 different sessions will be offered over the course of the grant year, serving 50 people.
  • Police Activity League of Waterbury (Waterbury): Advanced Culinary Program – $10,000 to empower local youth by providing advanced culinary training equipping them with valuable skills and opportunities for future success in the culinary industry.
  • RIBA Aspira Career Academy (Waterbury): Fiscal Sponsor – Hispanic Coalition – RIBA Aspira Program Delivery – $20,000 to provide trainings in the community to remove some of the barriers identified by the community as major barriers towards sustainable employment or access to job training opportunities (including classes in ESL, Childcare, GED, and CNA).
  • St. Vincent De Paul Mission of Waterbury: Culinary Jobs Training Program – $10,000 for continued support of a culinary program for individuals facing high barriers to employment and to ensure them an opportunity for a living wage that will enhance their economic well-being. Job readiness skills and employment referrals are provided in addition to the food service training.
  • UConn Foundation (Storrs): Hands-on STEM for Waterbury Students – $12,745 to support Hands-on Health field trips with interactive learning activities for seventh grade students in the Waterbury Public School District. UConn-Waterbury will partner with community health educators to plan and implement the activities.
  • Winning Ways (Branford): Winning Circle Series™ presents: Money Talk – $5,000 to enhance financial health for underserved groups through trauma-informed education and partnerships, offering workshops on financial management and connecting participants with local banks, including a stipend.
  • YMCA of Greater Waterbury (Waterbury): Child Care Incubator Project – $9,616 to work in tandem with Waterbury Youth Services to expand the childcare workforce in the Greater Waterbury area by proposing and implementing a childcare business incubator at Waterbury Youth Services (which will soon be merged into the YMCA). Grant would support furniture and supplies.

Grassroots Leadership

  • 3D Music Academy (Waterbury): Music Lessons: $3,800 to support music programming for Waterbury youth. The organization provides music instruction, homework help and a healthy meal every Tuesday and Thursday.
  • MakeOver 2710 (Waterbury): Dream Warriors: $7,000 to support the organization’s summer tutoring and mentoring program.
  • Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education (Waterbury): LGBTIQ+ Advocacy and Organizing: $7,000 to support student organizing and advocacy efforts around gender neutral bathroom accessibility.

Health and Environmental Justice

  • Apex Community Care (Danbury): Apex Harm Reduction and Community Connections: $3,000 to provide snacks and Harm Reduction necessities to clients in their “Waterbury Drop-in Center” closet and pantry, prioritizing marginalized communities like BIPOC, LGBTQ+, the unhoused, substance users, and those in active recovery.
  • Audubon Center Bent of the River (Southbury): BOTR Audubon Center Waterbury Urban Oasis and Tree Canopy Project: $18,000 to work with Waterbury’s NEST and create 1-2 “Audubon Urban Oases” in Crownbrook using native perennials, shrubs, and trees, which help remediate heat islands generated by tree canopy loss and lay the groundwork for an urban forestry youth leadership program.
  • Brass City Harvest (Waterbury): Brass City Sustainable Urban Agriculture: $14,000 to support the expansion and rejuvenation of Brass City Harvest’s North Farm and Mill Street Garden. Both of these locations supply fresh produce to our local food pantries, senior housing, and soup kitchens!
  • Brian Gibbons Homeless Outreach Inc. (Waterbury): Program Support: $15,000 to support the Waterbury area’s unhoused population with a continuation of programs, outreach efforts, clinical supports, administration and oversight.
  • Built 4 Success (Waterbury): Kids RISE UP Community Enhancement: $5,000 to support a series of health and wellness events that are positive activities for families in Greater Waterbury.
  • Clean Water Fund (Cromwell): Waterbury Home Energy Action Campaign: $10,000 to support direct community education and engagement with low-income residents in Waterbury and helping them take advantage of energy efficiency services in their homes by hosting community forums with local partners and leaders to maximize efficient community engagement & assist participants to sign up.
  • Community Solutions Inc. (Bloomfield): Coming Home -Community Reintegration Assistance for Returning Citizens: $7,500 to assist individuals as they transition out of the “Chase Residential Reentry Center” in Waterbury and into their own homes, ensuring they have the essentials they need to live independently, and to reintegrate into the community successfully and fully.
  • Covenant to Care for Children (Southington): Basic Essential Goods for Children: $7,000 to help prevent child removal from homes, reunify, and preserve families in Connecticut through the provision of basic needs, family support, and essential items.
  • CT Foundation for Dental Outreach (Southington): Connecticut Mission of Mercy Free Dental Clinic (CTMOM): $10,000 to support a two-day temporary dental clinic in November at “Wilby High School” in Waterbury, staffed by over 800 medical, dental, and community volunteers providing charitable dental services and oral education to the underserved and uninsured communities in Connecticut.
  • Food Rescue US, Inc. (Stamford): Food Rescue US-Northwest CT: $5,000 to support continued efforts to expand food recovery work and increase the number of meals provided in the Foundation’s 21-town region.
  • Gaylord Hospital Inc. (Wallingford): Music Therapy Program for Patients Recovering from Life-altering illness or injury: $5,000 to support Music Therapy sessions for patients from the Foundation’s service area who are recovering from life-altering Illness or injury.
  • Hidden Acres Therapeutic Riding Center (Naugatuck): CCF Health: Community Garden at Hidden Acres: $2,000 to support the provision of fresh and healthy ingredients for the Naugatuck Valley Soup Kitchen and St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchens to help them prepare healthier meals for the community.
  • Monitor My Health (Bridgeport): Salud y Bienestar: Promoting Health Equity in Waterbury: $10,000 to implement a “Lifestyle Care Program” to reduce diabetes and cardiovascular disease cases among underserved Hispanic/Latino communities in Waterbury, and to address their social, physical, and economic needs, promoting the full potential for health and well-being.
  • NEST (Waterbury): Community Building and Empowerment (CB&E): $20,000 to foster resident engagement and leadership and create a vibrant and inclusive living environments through Community Building & Empowerment initiatives such as: tree planting, walking groups for Black women, and addressing food insecurity with a community garden.
  • Radical Advocates for Cross Cultural Education (Waterbury): Increasing Air Quality Monitoring Devices to support Environment Justice Organizing and Advocacy in Waterbury: $7,000 to support addressing gaps in air quality data for Waterbury neighborhoods with inconsistent and unhealthy levels of air pollution, and a high density of families identifying as Black or Hispanic/Latinx living in poverty.
  • Save Girls on Fyer (Waterbury): Leadership Academy- Research 7 Environmental Track: $13,000 to support enhancing areas for Research and Technology, Arts and Media, Leadership Development, and Advocacy, thereby increasing accessibility for more girls.
  • University of Connecticut Foundation (Waterbury): Addressing Food Insecurity for UConn Waterbury Students: $2,000 to support “Husky Harvest”, which provides both fresh and non-perishable foods to students and faculty, along with employment opportunities for students.
  • Womans Choice Charitable Association (Prospect): Community Doula Program: $10,000 to support the direct services of the “Community Doula Program”, which provides support to Black families in Waterbury during the perinatal period by way of events, community outreach, classes, and direct services.

Lois Livingston McMillen Fund

  • Center for Empowerment and Education (Danbury): Support for Women/Children Victims of Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault: $8,075 to support services for victims of domestic violence, including emergency shelter, counseling, crisis intervention, victim advocacy services, hotline services, safety planning and criminal justice/civil legal services in New Milford, Bridgewater, Washington and Roxbury.
  • Hidden Acres Therapeutic Riding (Naugatuck): Equine and Nature Programming for Women and Girls – $5,000 to provide equine-assisted therapy for women and girls who have experienced trauma, physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
  • Love 146 (New Haven): CT Survivor Care Program – $9,000 to provide long-term Services, rapid responses, one-time interventions that provide children with information, safety planning, and referral services related to human trafficking.
  • Safe Haven (Waterbury): Safer Communities Greater Waterbury – $9,000 to support the provision of domestic violence, crisis intervention, and long-term services for victims and survivors in 10 towns in the Foundation’s region.
  • St. Vincent DePaul Mission of Waterbury (Waterbury): Women’s Day Program – $8,000 to support extended shelter stays for women between October 2024 – April 2025.
  • Susan B. Anthony Project, Inc. (Torrington): Rebuilding Lives Program – $8,000 to support crisis and support services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, transitioning them from crisis and dependency to safety, empowerment, self-sufficiency, and independence.
  • Waterbury Youth Services (Waterbury): Child Advocacy Center Bridge Program – $7,500 to support the Child Advocacy Center, an evidence-based trauma treatment mental health intervention for child victims ages 7-17.

Pathways for Older Adults

  • Brass City Harvest (Waterbury): Brass City Cooks! Senior Nutrition and Healthy Cooking Program: $10,000 to continue supporting Brass City Harvest’s popular interactive cooking classes, which allow for socialization within a learning environment at the Waterbury and Woodbury Senior Centers, Mt. Carmel, Willow Plaza, Spruce Bank Senior Housing, Hispanic Coalition, Hopeville Church and Brass City Harvest.
  • Cape Verdean Social Club (Waterbury): Senior Fitness and Engagement Program: $6,500 to support offering recreational activities that encourage connections and social engagement, and to offer exercise classes led by a professional trainer to help improve the physical health of older adults over 65 years old.
  • Connecticut Community Care Inc (Waterbury): Fostering Inclusivity in Aging, Dementia and Disability: $5,000 to support building rapport and creating partnerships within the Foundation’s 21-town region, and work toward disrupting negative mental modes around aging and disability, help build community authority, and work toward more deeply valuing and integrating lived experience in municipal decision-making.
  • Elim Park Place Baptist Home, Inc. (Cheshire): Nelson Hall Performing Arts Center: Linking Youth and Seniors: $3,000 to support a youth theatre program, providing quality programming – and intergenerational connection – as youth and older adults work together to create a powerful production that is open to the community.
  • The Hispanic Coalition of Greater Waterbury (Waterbury): Senior Center Case Management Services: $15,000 to support continued case management services for older adults, which evaluates and manages a wide array of services required to successfully meet individual needs and supports older adults in achieving wellness and personal success.
  • Hidden Acres Therapeutic Riding Center (Naugatuck): Equine-Assisted & Nature Wellness Program: Older Adults: $15,000 to support the therapeutic program, which provides an environment to enhance sensory stimulation through interaction with Hidden Acres therapy horses and nature, nurturing the mind, body, and spirit.
  • Literacy Volunteers (Waterbury): Older Adult Literacy: $11,130 to continue improving older adult lives through literacy by cultivating educational opportunities to impact employment, US Citizenship, obtain a driver’s license, and countless other goals.
  • Monitor My Health (Bridgeport): Healthy Senior 2025: $15,000 to implement a “Lifestyle Care Program” that can reduce diabetes and cardiovascular disease cases among underserved older adults, and address their social, physical, and economic needs to promote attaining the full potential for health and well-being through social care referral.
  • Naugatuck YMCA (Naugatuck): Senior Wellbeing: $13,000 to continue providing evidence-based exercise classes, active older adult classes, and social interaction opportunities for older adults in the community.
  • New Opportunities, Inc. (Waterbury): Support for Senior Nutrition Services: $15,008 to support nutrition services and programs for homebound older adults, older adults with limited access to congregate meal services and senior center meal programing, including the Woodbury Senior Center through the “Chef on Site” program.
  • Prospect Senior Center (Prospect): Art Enrichment Programs: $4,910 to establish a creative arts program to enhance older adults’ well-being and health, and provide opportunities for expression and socialization, bringing consistent, high-quality, interactive art programs to older adults at no cost.
  • Soulful Sydney, Inc. (Southbury): Soulful Sydney Explores Diversity with the Soulful Grandma Brigade: $3,500 to support an intergenerational program that incorporates a children’s book about kindness and inclusion to third grade students, accompanied by an activity, new vocabulary, and music videos with songs.
  • Steep Rock Association. (Washington Depot): Seniors in Steep Rock: $9,566 to support four events for older adults living in Litchfield Hills, and improve their mental, physical, emotional, and social health through fun, low-impact outdoor recreational opportunities, and use video to market preserves to area older adults.
  • UR Community Cares, Inc. (Manchester): UR Community Cares: $5,000 to support facilitating communication and engagement between volunteers and community members who are currently enrolled in the program or seek to be enrolled, to receive volunteer support with housework, transportation, yardwork, and companionship.
  • Village Center for the Arts (New Milford): Senior Pottery: $6,886 to support the collaboration with the New Milford Senior Center, (NMSC) and provide accessible, high quality, low-cost fine art program experiences for older adults.
  • Warren Public Library (Warren): Enhancing our Services to Seniors: $2,500 to support stocking the library with large print hard copy lendable materials for older adults in the community.

Saunders Fund for the Sick and Infirm of Naugatuck

  • Hidden Acres Therapeutic Riding Center (Naugatuck): Naugatuck Residents: Equine & Nature Therapeutic Activities: $37,600 to support the continued therapeutic riding and equine-assisted activities and programming which aims to improve the physical and mental health of Naugatuck residents.
  • Human Resources Development Agency (Naugatuck): Medical Transportation Socialization: $30,000 to continue providing medical and recreational transportation services to Naugatuck residents (primarily older adults).
  • Naugatuck Ambulance, Inc. (Naugatuck): Ambulance Power Lifting System: $57,400 to upfit an ambulance with a power cot and power load system, which can assist EMS providers with safe-handling patient care, and decrease injuries to both providers and patients.
  • Naugatuck Valley Soup Kitchen (Naugatuck): Meal Delivery Program-Ongoing: $8,000 to support the free meal delivery service for Naugatuck residents, particularly residents who are disabled and/or needing support to improve or maintain their health.
  • Naugatuck YMCA (Naugatuck): Livestrong: $10,000 to continue offering the free and evidenced-based “Livewell program” to cancer survivors in Naugatuck, which has helped residents reclaim their health, physical fitness, and well-being following a cancer diagnosis, create opportunities for survivors to build a support system with others and decrease the severity of therapy’s side effects.

Southbury Community Trust Fund

  • PHS Gradnite, Inc. (Southbury): PHS Gradnite 2024 – $5,000 to support an annual all-night celebration that keeps graduating Pomperaug High School students safe in an alcohol and drug-free venue.
  • Quilts that Care (Waterbury): Fabric, Signage, Batting – $2,589 to provide backing and batting for 40 quilts to be distributed to cancer patients from Southbury. QtC also plans to put two Teardrop Feather Flags outside its headquarters to attract volunteers to this mission.
  • SMART Inc. (Southbury/Middlebury Acting Responsibly Together) (Southbury): Outreach & Educational Program Initiatives 2024 – $18,000 to better train the Board to implement strategic, widespread, and & relevant programs to educate on mental health, wellness & substance misuse to support stronger, fully informed & safe communities.
  • Southbury Junior Women’s Club (Southbury): Operation Backpack – $2,500 to purchase backpacks and school supplies for needy families in Southbury. These families are identified and vetted through Southbury Social Services.
  • United Church of Christ, Southbury: Preschool Expansion Project – $5,000 to expand and enhance the preschool at UCC. It will offer families with preschool age children expanded enrichment programs, open to all.

Strengthening Nonprofits

  • Afro-Caribbean Cultural Center (Waterbury): Strategic Planning: $15,000 fund work with a consultant to develop a strategic plan for the organization., which will act as a roadmap for ACCC over the next 5 years. The plan will help guide programming, development and operations.
  • Brass City Gamers (Waterbury): Website Redesign: $13,940 to work with a consultant to revamp the organization’s website and brand identity to enhance online presence and engagement.
  • Caring for Bethlehem (Bethlehem): Technology Upgrades: $2,745 to purchase accounting software for financial data management and reporting to help track impact, donations and expenses for programming, which has expanded over the past two years.
  • CT Farmland Trust (Hartford): Strategic Planning with an Equity Overlay: $10,000 to fund the development of a new strategic plan that centers racial equity and inclusive practices. Among the priority concerns are diversifying who gets access to farmland, developing a clear response to solar development pressure on farmland and clarifying criteria for prioritizing which farmland to preserve first.
  • Hang Time/Her Time – Waterbury (Bridgeport): Technology Upgrades: $4,815 to fund the purchase of four laptops for Waterbury Hang and Her Time staff to be used for program delivery and operations.
  • Hidden Acres Therapeutic Riding (Naugatuck): Technology Upgrades: $3,000 to fund the purchase of upgraded technology which will strengthen core infrastructure and make for a more efficient and adaptable organization. New hardware will benefit programming, fundraising and operations.
  • Northwest Community College Foundation (Winstead): Website Redesign: $9,000 to fund work with a consultant on a website redesign. The website is vital to promoting resources and services available to students.
  • Operation Fuel (Hartford): Communications Plan Support for Rebrand: $7,500 to support work with a marketing consultant to assist with rebranding efforts in the fall. Operation Fuel will be changing its name and logo to reach a broader constituency and seek assistance with the communication plans to ensure a successful launch and continued impact in Greater Waterbury.
  • Park Central (Waterbury): Rebrand Phase II: $9,000 to support new technology and software to assist in communications and marketing of the recently rebranded organization.

Waterbury Black Giving Circle

  • Lady of Love (Waterbury): Lady of Love – $3,000 to support the distribution of meals, basic necessities and daily living essentials to our unsheltered or less fortunate population in our African American community.
  • Live Girl (New Cannan): Waterbury Confidence Clubs – $3,000 to support the organization’s Confidence Club in Waterbury, which provides a supportive environment for middle school girls and addresses social pressures, academic stress, and confidence issues. Led by trained mentors, it focuses on enhancing social-emotional intelligence and self-esteem.
  • North End Co-Op Market (Waterbury): Fall Harvest Festival – $6,000 to support the organization’s Fall Harvest festival, which will provide high quality fresh produce, to promote healthy living and support local organizations.
  • The Ungroup Society (Waterbury): The Music in We – $2,500 to support after-school music-based social and emotional learning classes focusing on Black music styles serving local youth aged 13-18 from primarily low-income African American families.
  • Women’s Choice Charitable Association (Waterbury): Community Doula Program – $3,000 to support the Organization’s Community Doula Program, which provides free pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support services to the Black community in Waterbury.

Whittemore Travel Scholarship Fund for Youth

  • Waterbury Pride NAACP Youth Council (Waterbury): NAACP National Conference – $8,000 to support travel to the NAACP National Conference in Nevada for up to 8-10 youth council members. Funding would support lodging, food, and transportation.

Women’s Fund

  • Park Central (Waterbury): Life Skills 160: $6,126 to support core Life Skills 160 programs, including cooking, sewing and fashion design.
  • Save Girls on FYER (Waterbury): SGOF Leadership Academy – $14,000 to provide a safe environment for powerful enrichment and development programs that shape the lives of girls of color and to continue to provide training in youth advocacy and cover topics that provide character-building skills.
  • Women’s Choice Charitable Association (Waterbury): Community Doula Program – $10,000 to provide free and low-cost pregnancy support services, especially for Black mothers who live in Waterbury.

Women’s Giving Circle

  • Brian Gibbons Homeless Outreach (Waterbury): Homeless Outreach – $5,000 to support the needs of women experiencing homelessness through a compassionate approach.
  • Greenwoods Counseling & Referrals, Inc. (Litchfield): High Quality, Affordable Mental Health Care for Women & Girls in Litchfield County – $5,000 to support lifesaving, resilience-building mental healthcare to women and girls in Litchfield County, regardless of their ability to pay.
  • Literacy Volunteers of Greater Waterbury: Literacy Assistance – $5,000 to support literacy programming for women in Waterbury.
  • Naugatuck Valley Community College Foundation (Waterbury): Women of Color Empowerment Collective (WCEC) – $1,000 to support an 8-month, non-credit program offered to Women of Color enrolled at CT State Naugatuck Valley. Eligible students are invited to apply to the program which includes workshops, mentorship, and a capstone project with the objective to enhance the participants college experience.
  • Robotics And Beyond Inc. (New Milford): All-girls summer camp for Science, Engineering, Technology and Design – $5,000 to support a 1-week summer camp, for girls only, in topics of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and Design. The camp will expose the girls to multiple topics in activities unavailable elsewhere and to a host of female peer and adult role models.
  • Woman’s Choice Charitable Association (Waterbury): Community Doula Program – $5,000 to support the Organization’s Community Doula Program, which provides free pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support services to the Black community in Waterbury.