The Connecticut Community Foundation is seeking applications for its Building Equitable Opportunity to provide vital supports for long-term success, such as educational equity, youth development, job training, economic security, and affordable housing.
Donor Name: Connecticut Community Foundation
State: Connecticut
Town: Selected Towns
Type of Grant: Grant
Size of the Grant: 10/16/2023
Size of the Grant: $5,000 -$15,000
Details: 
Building Equitable Opportunity seeks to explore solutions across generations and systems, helping to create favorable conditions for residents of communities to thrive.
The Foundation’s focus on equitable opportunity is based upon research into the deep educational and economic disparities that exist in region, across a range of critical measures:

Income
Poverty
Education
Transportation
Employment
Housing

The Foundation approach focuses on:

Supporting programs, advocacy, and system change efforts that build equitable pathways out of poverty and to economic mobility
Promoting access to quality culturally responsive education, especially focused on Waterbury where there are significant disparities by race and income
Supporting the development of jobs and career pathways with livable wages
Promoting opportunities to build assets for BIPOC families that have been left behind in traditional banking systems
Targeting education interventions that support BIPOC students and include youth and parent voice in decision-making

Efforts they support include:

Initiatives that improve the quality of the pre-k and k-12 experience for students and build pathways to higher education
Interventions that address disparities for Black and Latinx students, low-income students, children with disabilities, justice-involved individuals, and other marginalized populations
Programs that substantially build the long-term assets and economic resiliency/mobility of area residents (such as financial education and planning, adult literacy, job and skills training, etc.)
Efforts addressing systems and policy affecting critical issues such as education, access to quality childcare, career pathways, availability of affordable housing, etc.

The grant encourages requests that:

Provide services or support to the communities located within 21-town service area
Support system change and advocacy efforts
Include support for core nonprofit operations such as staff time, overhead and evaluation
Support organizations led by Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC)

Funding Information
The average amount is between $5,000 and $15,000.
Eligibility Criteria
In order to apply for funding, an organization must:

Be a not-for-profit organization recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or a municipal entity seeking a grant for public purposes. Organizations may also have a nonprofit fiscal sponsor, if they do not have their own nonprofit status.
Have a board, representative of the community, of which a majority is neither employees nor relatives of employees.
Possess a Nonprofit Registration to Solicit Funds (or exemption, if appropriate) from the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. This registration must be renewed annually.

For more information, visit Connecticut Community Foundation.