Press Room - Connecticut Council for Philanthropy

HARTFORD, CT -- November 21, 2008 -- Nearly $1 million in grants to help Greater Hartford nonprofit agencies combat hunger and homelessness have been announced by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

“These are very difficult times – for our residents and the nonprofits that serve them,” said Linda J. Kelly, president of the Hartford Foundation. “As the community foundation for the Greater Hartford region, we are in a position to respond to those increased needs.”

The grants, approved Wednesday by the Foundation’s board of directors, more than double the amount made last winter to help nonprofits through the critical winter months when demand for the food and shelter they provide are at a peak.

“The 100 percent increase is recognition of the strain being placed on these agencies as they struggle to feed and shelter those in need during this difficult economic time,” Kelly said. “A significant issue being addressed in one of these grants is help for homeless veterans.”

The grants include:

· More than $285,000 to agencies that provide basics such as food, shelter, clothing or fuel. Initially, $135,500 will be awarded to 30 programs at 29 agencies in Bolton, Bloomfield, Enfield, Hartford, Manchester, Vernon, West Hartford, and Windsor. This money mainly comes from the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund, established at the Hartford Foundation in 2000 by heirs of the longtime Hartford department store owner. Approximately $150,000 in grants for similar purposes will be awarded from the Foundation’s unrestricted fund.

· Nearly $700,000 to four agencies in Hartford to address the needs of homeless individuals and their families and those at risk of becoming homeless. Grants are: $221,000 over three years to the Chrysalis Center for support services to homeless veterans; $220,000 to The Salvation Army of Greater Hartford to continue its Marshall House homeless prevention program; $180,000 to My Sisters’ Place to operate its rent subsidy program; and $76,000 to the Immaculate Conception Shelter and Housing Corp. for its expanded emergency shelter.

AGENCIES REPORT INCREASED DEMAND Typical of the increase in demand experienced by area agencies is the 51 percent hike in people served last month by the food pantry run by the Manchester Area Conference of Churches. “In October of last year we gave a week’s worth of groceries to 1,170 people but this year the number jumped to 1,776,” said Dale Doll, director of food services.

One soup kitchen official thinks the increased demand is the result of people using money normally spent on food to pay other bills. “With the bad economy, the lack of good jobs, eating here is a way to save money for other things, like fuel,” said Priscilla Brayson, director of Enfield Loaves and Fishes. She said the agency is well on its way to surpass the 47,000 meals served last year, largely to residents of Enfield, Suffield, Somers, Windsor Locks, and Stafford.

The economy has put a strain on the resources of entire families, says Robert Williams Jr., executive director of the Horace Bushnell Children’s Food Pantry in Hartford. “I began to see an increase in entire families coming last year and it’s been pretty steady. We’re in tough times. I get 15 to 25 emergency calls every week,” he said. The agency provided 14,000 meals last month.

The number of families served at Latino Community Services in Hartford has more than doubled in recent months, mainly due to the higher food costs, said Yvette Bello, executive director. “We’re hearing that a voucher for $100 of food now only has about half the purchasing power it once did, the equivalent of $50 or $60,” she said.

“These reports are a snapshot of what is happening in our communities,” said Kelly. “People are struggling with financial issues – many for the first time – and often they don’t know where to turn with questions about housing, financial assistance and social support.” A good place to start, she said, is by dialing 2-1-1, the toll-free helpline administered by the United Way of Connecticut. Assistance is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The helpline has multilingual call specialists and is accessible to the hearing-impaired by TDD.

HELP FOR THE HOMELESS The immediate result of the grants for the homeless will be the ability to add an additional 20 men per night at the Immaculate Conception Shelter and 23 additional women and children per night at The Salvation Army shelter.

But the largest portion of the funding is directed toward pilot prevention and rapid-re-housing services designed to keep people in current housing or to find new housing for them as quickly as possible, thus reducing the strain on emergency services.

For example, the grants to The Salvation Army and My Sisters’ Place include funds to support rent subsidy programs. The Salvation Army will be able to assist 33 families in the prevention and rapid-re-housing pilot. Funding to My Sisters’ Place will allow it to assist at least 75 more families.

Homeless veterans will be the focus of the grant to the Chrysalis Center. The majority of the funding is to hire a case manager with expertise in post traumatic stress disorder - common among homeless veterans - to support 30 to 35 homeless veterans each year, primarily from the Vietnam War. The agency has secured $2 million in federal housing vouchers over five years, contingent upon obtaining funding for the case management services.

“The Foundation is heavily invested in combating homelessness in this region,” said Kelly. “These grants are a continuation of our efforts over many years to confront this issue. For example, with this new funding, in the last five years Foundation grants directed toward homeless prevention and shelters total $10 million.”

Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for the 29-town Greater Hartford region, dedicated to improving the quality of life for area residents. The Foundation receives gifts from thousands of generous individuals and families, and last year, awarded grants of more than $26 million to a broad range of area nonprofit organizations. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.hfpg.org or call 548-1888.