The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving awarded 2,440 grants totaling nearly $55 million to nonprofit agencies in 2024 – the second largest amount in the organization’s history, the group said.
The Hartford Foundation, the community foundation for 29 cities and towns in Greater Hartford, is focused on dismantling structural racism and creating equitable social and economic mobility.
The total includes more than $1.45 million awarded through 440 scholarships.
The foundation received gifts totaling more than $36.6 million in 2024.
“At a time when many in our community continue to face significant fiscal challenges, the Hartford Foundation has been able to provide a meaningful source of support through local nonprofits,” said Hartford Foundation President and CEO Jay Williams. “As we mark our centennial year, we remain committed to serving the diverse needs across our region.
The foundation’s 2024 grants included the following:
- A two-year, $460,000 grant for Roca Inc.’s Young Mothers program. The funding includes $160,000 from foundation donors. Roca anticipates expanding its Hartford program, which has already demonstrated significant demand and has a waitlist.
- A $530,000 two-year grant for ReadyCT, which prepares East Hartford and Hartford public high school students to enter high-growth and high-demand career sectors. The funding will allow the organization to build on its efforts to establish business partnerships that better align K-12 education and workforce needs.
- A three-year, $1.5 million grant to LISC Connecticut to create a more inclusive community development sector in the Greater Hartford region. LISC pools financial resources to provide low-cost capital to nonprofit developers to build and preserve affordable rental units and create homeownership opportunities.
- A $150,000 grant to the Connecticut Tenants Union, an organization of tenants working toward safe, well-maintained, affordable, stable and democratically controlled housing.
- An 18-month grant to the Hispanic Health Council to support the organization’s mission and strategies to provide integrated health care through its Family Wellness Center, community-based services, research and advocacy.
- More than $688,000 in Emergency Assistance grants to 71 nonprofit organizations to provide food and other basic needs to residents throughout Greater Hartford.
- A $250,000 grant to Connecticut Students for a Dream and a $300,000 grant to Make the Road Connecticut to support undocumented and immigrant youth and adults in Greater Hartford.
- Nearly $240,000 to 14 nonprofit organizations to support nonpartisan voter engagement activities leading up to the November 2024 election.
- $241,000 to support the third cohort of the Artists of Color Accelerate Fellowship, which provides an opportunity for creatives to develop and refine their business acumen.
- A $150,000 grant to the Wadsworth Atheneum to support its “Styling Identities: Hair’s Tangled Histories” exhibition that was co-curated with the Amistad Center for Art & Culture and a community advisory board.
- A $200,000 grant for The Connecticut News Project’s “Raising Voices Lab,” which is focused on understanding and meeting the information needs of communities of color and telling stories about underrepresented communities.
Also, the foundation’s nonprofit support program, which seeks to increase stability, effectiveness and resilience of nonprofits and nonprofit leaders, provided 90 grants, totaling nearly $2 million, to area nonprofits to help them plan for the future, use technology strategically, build financial systems and transition to new leadership.
Since its founding in 1925, the Hartford Foundation has awarded more than $1.05 billion to organizations across the region.
