Lincoln Financial Foundation has awarded $232,000 in grants to 17 nonprofit agencies, targeting programs that strengthen educational opportunity, close the achievement gap and reduce the dropout rate in Hartford.
The largest grant — $40,000 — went to Teach For America to support up to 70 corps members teaching in high-need schools and classrooms in Hartford. That grant is part of Lincoln Foundation’s three-year, $1 million national commitment to Teach For America.
Connecticut Forum received $30,000 in support of its Connecticut YOUTH Forum, engaging teens in issues-focused discussions and leadership skills development workshops, as well as the Connecticut Forum’s series of public forums on issues.
Our Piece of the Pie received $20,000 for its Pathways to Success program, which offers students a combination of tutoring services, college entrance exam preparation, GED preparation, the services of its College Bridge program, and post-secondary essay application workshops, tours and financial aid workshops.
Connecticut Science Center received $18,000 for its initiative with the McDonough Expeditionary Learning School to develop, test and evaluate six STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) packages during the 2012-2013 school year. Hartford Youth Scholars Foundation received $20,000 to support its Steppingstone Academy in Hartford. Steppingstone Academy provides highly motivated inner-city youth with academic preparation, placement in independent schools and support services when they enter college. All members of the first Steppingstone Academy class have been accepted at four-year colleges.
The grants are a portion of almost $804,000 in charitable funds the foundation has allocated for Hartford in 2012.
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New Haven fund grants
The Community Fund for Women & Girls, a component fund of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and the region’s permanent charitable endowment dedicated solely to advance women and girls, has awarded $111,824 in grants to 20 organizations.
Among the grant recipients is Women’s Health Research at Yale, which received $25,000 in its final year of funding from a 2011 grant to address inequities in women’s health research.
On June 19, the Community Fund for Women & Girls in partnership with The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, will host a Convening for Women event at the Omni Hotel in New Haven. The event will highlight data from the first ‘Status of Women and Girls in New Haven’ report, funded in part by the Community Fund for Women & Girls and conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. To register, visit www.cfgnh.org/convening or call 203-777-2386.
Since its inception in 1995, the Community Fund for Women & Girls has awarded over $665,000 into the Greater New Haven and Lower Naugatuck Valley communities.
VNA HealthCare has received a $50,000 grant from the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority to support its Meals on Wheels program. The grant will allow the agency, a Hartford HealthCare partner, to deliver approximately 5,000 additional meals to those who need assistance with paying for meals.
Meals on Wheels grant
CHEFA is a quasi-public agency created by the State Legislature to help Connecticut healthcare and educational institutions, and other not-for-profit entities obtain tax exempt financing. CHEFA is self-sustaining and receives no taxpayer funds.
