Berlin Programs Receive Community Foundation Grants

The Community Foundation of Greater New Britain closed its 2015 grantmaking year in December with more than $200,000 in grants, including several grant awards to support programs serving the Berlin community.

Among the funds distributed were a $750 Community Sponsorship Award to the Berlin High School Band Parents Association for sponsorship of the association’s ‘Jazz with Pizzazz’ event on May 21, 2016. In addition, the Foundation distributed more than $1,300 in grants to Mooreland Hill School from two of its donor-advised funds, the New Britain Saturday Night Club Fund and the Rathgeber Family Fund.

The Community Foundation’s board of directors approved a total of $203,541 in grants aiding non-profit organizations and programs serving Berlin, New Britain, Plainville and Southington. Up to $91,000 in grants were targeted for early childhood development programs as part of the Foundation’s signature First Years First initiative.

First Years First grant awards included up to $36,000 to expand services for families at the Southington Family Resource Center; $30,000 for the Central Connecticut Literacy Center managed by Literacy Volunteers of Central Connecticut; and up to $25,000 for the YWCA of New Britain’s new Trauma Informed Childcare program.

Also approved was a $30,000 capital grant to the Friendship Service Center in New Britain. The grant matches funds from the American Savings Foundation and will provide the Center with the necessary local funding to earn state financing for 11 units of permanent supportive housing on North Street for the chronically homeless.

Additional grant awards included:

Arts, Culture & Heritage

• New Britain Symphony Orchestra. A $10,000 grant to fund its executive director position.
• Farmington Valley Trails Council. A $3,000 capacity-building grant to retain a facilitator for a planning session and retreat that will help the board of directors and officers implement plans to expand into new communities.

Education

• Junior Achievement of Southwest New England. A $2,421 grant to support programming at New Britain High School’s Satellite Careers Academy.

Health and Human Services

• Rebuilding Together New Britain. A $10,000 grant to fund its Construction Coordinator position.
• YWCA New Britain. A $10,000 grant to support its Sexual Assault Crisis Service Training Program.
• Farrell Treatment Center. A $5,000 grant to support Dialectical Behavior Therapy training for its staff to treat adults with borderline personality disorders.

Community Sponsorship Awards

• New Britain Museum of American Art. A $1,000 sponsorship of the 16th annual Juneteenth Celebration to commemorate the end of slavery, June 18, 2016.
• Literacy Volunteers of Central Connecticut. A $750 sponsorship of the 14th Annual Scrabble Challenge, May 4, 2016.
• Plainville Choral Society. A $750 sponsorship of the Society’s performance of Pirates of Penzance, May 5, 13 and 14, 2016.
• Plainville Wind Ensemble. A $750 sponsorship of the Ensemble’s Spring Concert, May 15, 2016.
• CCARC. A $500 sponsorship of the 11th Annual Spring into Fashion Event, April 8, 2016.
• Hoops for the Homeless. A $500 sponsorship of the 4th annual in Downtown New Britain, April 30, 2016, to end homelessness.
• Plainville Family Resource Center. A $500 sponsorship of the Plainville Family Fest, May 21, 2016, an admission-free day for families with activities and entertainment.
• Trinity-on-Main. A $500 sponsorship of December’s Christmas party with Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
• Iwo Jima Memorial Historical Foundation. A $250 sponsorship of the Foundation’s annual open house at the Iwo Jima Memorial, Newington/New Britain, June 25, 2016.

Additional Grants (Donor-Advised)

• Mayor’s Trophy Charitable Fund. A total of $6,450 in grants to programs and causes including Thomas Jefferson Elementary School’s Family Resource Center; CCARC’s 45th Annual Golf Open; New Britain Arts Commission’s High Voltage Art Project; Boys and Girls Club of New Britain (in memory of Angelo Tomasso, Jr.); New Britain Academy for Health Professions; Capital Workforce Partners’ Youth Build Physical Fitness and Nutrition Program; New Britain Youth Football’s Junior Hurricanes.
• Ronald and Alive Gilrain Fund. A $3,000 grant to the North Central Area Agency on Aging for its statewide Respite Care Program; a $1,000 grant to The Cove Center for Grieving Children.
• Kevin and Christine (Malachowski) Bruemmer Fund. A total of $1,500 in grants to support the Foundation for Special Care’s Autism Center; Farrell Treatment Center; Southington Education Foundation; and First Congregational Church of Southington.
• Benjamin A. Hawley New Britain Day Nursery Fund. A total of $1,000 in grants to support the New Britain Symphony Society’s Spring 2016 Young People’s Concert, and the Consolidated School District of New Britain’s Road to Recovery Program.
• Schaller Auto World Fund. A $5,000 grant to the Tunxis Community College Foundation and Advisory Board for scholarship support.
• Roundtable Fund. A $1,000 grant to the YWCA New Britain for its Fresh Start program to fund four $250 awards toward the purchase of household essentials.
• Edmund G. Noyes Fund. A $100 grant to the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain’s Civic Leadership Fund.
• Catalyst Fund. A $10,000 grant to Danosky & Associates to provide capacity-building training to local non-profit organizations.
• The Stanley and Bernice Shepard Fund. A $500 grant to Planned Parenthood of Southern New England.
• Conry Asset Management Charitable Fund. A total of $5,000 in grants to support the YWCA New Britain’s Homelessness Prevention Program; Foodshare; Warm the Children; and the YWCA New Britain’s Fresh Start program.

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, manage permanent charitable assets effectively, and partner to address key community issues through strategic leadership. For more information, visit www.cfgnb.org.

Contributed photo.