First Round of Grants Approved at CFGNB

New Britain, Conn., April 20, 2021 – After a virtual board meeting, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain (CFGNB) has approved their first round of grants and awarded more than $260,000 to a wide variety of community programs serving Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington.

The Community Foundation’s board of directors recently approved $177,900 in Community Response grant awards to local nonprofits. These grants are discretionary grants selected by the board to meet a variety of community needs. Grants were made to 11 programs and organizations serving the Foundation’s four-town service area.

Following is a listing of recently approved Community Response grants:

Arts, Culture & Heritage
• Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, $7,500.00 to support the Public Relations & Marketing Coordinator and Grants & Development Coordinator
• New Britain Museum of American Art, $50,000.00 to support the Education and Outreach program
• Queen Ann Nzinga Center for Cultural Education & Social Change, $10,000.00 to support the development of after-school programming
Community & Economic Development
• Sustainable Connecticut, $5,400.00 to support the Fellowship Program in Greater New Britain

Education
• Boys & Girls Club of New Britain, Inc., $10,000.00 to support the Club’s Youth Development programs
• Connecticut Students for a Dream (United We Dream Network), $10,000.00 to support the UndocuPwer program in New Britain
• Consolidated School District of New Britain, $40,000.00 to support the SEE, XTREME, and CREATE programs

Health & Human Services
• Bread for Life, $5,000.00 for Development Enhancement Efforts
• Children’s Law Center of Connecticut, $10,000.00 for Legal Representation and Families in Transition programs in Greater New Britain
• Chrysalis Center, $10,000.00 to support the Community Supportive Housing services in Greater New Britain
• Salvation Army, $20,000.00 to support the Pathway of Hope program in New Britain

The Board of Directors also approved three grants from the First Years First Initiative. The Initiative strives to provide our youngest children and their caregivers with the developmentally strong start in life they need to succeed, or risk not only their future, but our collective future, as well.

The following is a listing of recently approved First Years First Grants:
• $7,500 from the First Years Fund to CT Council for Philanthropy, Early Childhood Funders Collaborative to continue the work of the Collaborative which aims to support creation of a coordinated system of early care, education and child development in Connecticut
• $7,500 to the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance to provide early childhood provider, parents and advocates in our four towns with information, training and connections so they can more effectively advocate to support young children.
• $25,000 to Literacy Volunteers of Central Connecticut to support programming for parents and their young children at the Central Connecticut Family Literacy Center.

The Foundation also made a $10,000 Capacity Building grant to Bread for Life, Southington to partner on year one of a new and innovative social enterprise that will diversify the organization’s funding stream and provide transitional training and employment to BFL clients.

In addition to these grants, CFGNB has awarded over $5,000 in sponsorships to local nonprofits for community events that celebrate and promote children and families; arts, culture and heritage; education; and civic engagement.

The second round of grant applications will be in the summer. Letters of Intent are due July 1. If your organization is invited to submit a full application, the deadline for the full application is August 1. For questions about applying for a grant, please contact Kaylah Milligan at kaylah@cfgnb.org or Joeline Wruck at jwruck@cfgnb.org or call the office at 860.229.6018. For more information, and to learn how you can start your own fund or scholarship, visit www.cfgnb.org.

Established in 1941, the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain is “Where Good Begins” in Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington. The Foundation works to inspire philanthropy, responsibly manage permanent charitable assets, and partner to address key community issues through strategic leadership. For more information, visit www.cfgnb.org.