The Hartford Foundation awards $780,000 in grants to support summer youth programming
The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has announced nearly $800,000 in grants to support summer programs for youth in the Greater Hartford area.
The Foundation is awarding just over $782,000 to support 32 summer programs throughout Greater Hartford, officials said. The grants will support more than 6,250 Hartford youth, including more than 350 youth and adults with disabilities, who reside throughout the foundation's 29-town region.
Among the 30 grant recipients includes Hartford's Proud, Drill, Drum, and Dance Corp, which has been awarded a $10,000 grant to allow the organization to engage 30 Hartford youth ages 3 to 18 to participate in activities that seek to foster empowerment through the arts by creating a safe environment for students to express themselves and develop a sense of belonging. The grant will also fund costumes and supplies, studio rental fees, workshops, travel expenses, and more, providing some financial relief to program participants.
'In 10 years, I envision Hartford's Proud as a thriving, influential force both within our community and in the broader performing arts world,' said Hartford's Proud founder Terry Starks. 'Our goal is for every participant to leave Hartford's Proud not only with artistic skills but also with values that shape them into engaged, compassionate adults.'
Other grant recipients include the American School for the Deaf, Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford, Camp Courant, Community First School, Connecticut Science Center, Hartford Stage, Hartford Public Library, Real Art Ways, and YMCA of Metropolitan Hartford among several others. Grants ranged from $10,000 up to $50,000.
This year's summer program grants will support free or reduced-cost opportunities for nearly 3,400 Hartford youth and Greater Hartford youth and adults with disabilities to attend summer camp and provide nearly 2,900 youth with access to summer enrichment programs, according to officials.
In underserved communities like Hartford, there is a significant gap in paid opportunities for young people with supervised career leadership. The Foundation's 2025 summer program grants include support for 131 counselor-in-training opportunities, providing Black and Latine youth with career exposure, employment opportunities and training, and the chance to develop essential life skills, the foundation said.
'This year's summer program grants showcase and highlight the vast number of programs that are supporting our Hartford youth, and youth and adults with disabilities,' said Alexis Safo-Agyeman, a community impact officer at the Hartford Foundation. 'From grassroots programs making waves in their neighborhoods, to camps that support individuals from our 29 towns, we know that with each program comes support for working families, work experience for students, and opportunities for kids to engage in learning and fun all summer long.'
A full list of the 2025 grant recipients can be found here and more information on the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving can be found at www.hfpg.org
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com
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