“Everyone knows a person or family hard hit by our nation’s current economic downturn. Strategic funding to address the economic and social perils currently facing our communities is needed now more than ever.”
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Contact: Paul Mounds 860-278-8888
Larson Announces Over $10 Million in Federal Funding to Invest in Hartford’s Future
Funds Directed to Support Programs to Address Economic, Social, and Health Issues throughout the City.
Hartford, CT-Today, U.S. Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01) announced at a press conference that he helped secured over $10 million dollars in federal funding to support organizations and projects based in Hartford. In all, 17 programs will receive a total of $10,071,000 in federal funding to support Hartford based programs. The funding was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010 and was signed into law last week by President Obama.
“In this year alone, over $100 million dollars of Recovery Act has been directed to the capital city to enhance public safety, improve health services, and transform the economic landscape of the city,” said Congressman Larson. "The funding I’m announcing today, more than $10 million dollars, builds on the success of the Recovery Act by providing targeted investments to programs and organizations essential to the growth of Hartford and its citizens.”
“Everyone knows a person or family hard hit by our nation’s current economic downturn. Strategic funding to address the economic and social perils currently facing our communities is needed now more than ever.”
Examples of programs to receive funding include the Hartford Police Department’s Truancy Program that will address at-risk youth issues, and organizations like Mercy Housing who will renovate a building that will provide shelter and transitional services to the homeless.
“I support all that is great in Hartford and I am confident these funds will truly play a role in helping the community and its residents move forward. These funds will support public safety, health care, education, and infrastructure and will strengthen Hartford now and help it set the course for a better and brighter future,” said Larson.
Larson was joined at the announcement by organizations receiving funding including the Hartford Police Department, Hartford Housing Authority, Connecticut Children Medical Center, Capital Workforce Partners, and state and local elected officials.
Programs in Hartford that will receive funding in this legislation include:
Boys and Girls Club of Hartford
$600,000
Establishment of a new site in SAND Community Center
This project will establish a new Boys and Girls Club presence in a particularly distressed area of Hartford. The partnership of this nationally acclaimed organization with the SAND Community Center is a centerpiece of efforts to decrease neighborhood violence and ensure an adequate education experience for Hartford youths.
Hartford Housing Authority
$500,000
Renovation of the Nelton Court Project
This funding will help create and build affordable housing for Hartford residents in the city’s North End.
Mercy Housing
$500,000
Renovations of Homeless and Transitional Shelter
This project will restore the 200 year-old landmark St. Elizabeth House, a historical part of downtown Hartford. The needed renovations to the facility will bring the masonry building up to code and make it usable for homeless and transitional services.
Hartford Police Department
$ 300,000
Truancy Reduction Program
This program will improve school attendance and reduce youth violence by continuously collecting and monitoring school attendance data, intervening when attendance problems exist, and increasing youth-oriented field operations.
Hartford Behavioral Health
$300,000
Stump the Violence Program
The funding would be used to the expand the Stump the Violence Youth Leadership program, which provides leadership training and peer counseling to Hartford youth in order to reduce school dropout rates, youth violence, and underage drinking.
Governors Prevention Partnership
$550,000
Prevention Initiative for At-Risk Youth
The Governor’s Prevention Partnership tries to reduce youth crime rates and promote public safety by providing support for at-risk youth. Federal funding will allow them to enhance their mentoring programs to prevent underage drinking.
Klingberg Family Centers
$400,000
Child Abuse Programming
The Klingberg family centers hopes to provide an array of child welfare assistance to families affected by abuse in Hartford. Programs will include psychiatric and psychotherapeutic services to children who have suffered physical and sexual abuse.
Bushnell Center for Performing Arts
$100,000
The PARTNERS program
The Bushnell Center’s K-12 arts-in-education program opens pathways to learning through the arts for students who struggle in traditional classroom settings.
CT Children’s Medical Center
$325,000
Clinical Care Center for Cancer and Blood Disorder
Funding for the Children’s Medical Center will go to build a new state-of-the art Clinical Care Center to treat children with cancer and blood disease. The center, when complete, will create an optimal family-centered, multidisciplinary setting in which to treat children.
Hartford Hospital
$325,000
Stroke/Vascular Disease Care Initiative
Hartford Hospital is a recognized leader in the treatment of stroke and vascular disease, the number one cause of death for people over 65. To maintain that status, create local jobs and improve care for critical patients, funding for the hospital would help construct a new neuro-interventional radiology suite. These suites provide technologically advanced care for patients suffering acute stroke.
St. Joseph’s College
$175,000
School of Pharmacy
Saint Joseph College’s school of pharmacy will expand professional and entry level job opportunities in Connecticut by training students for jobs that will stay in our communities. When the school opens in 2010 it will the opportunity for students to build a successful and rewarding career in the health care industry.
Capital Workforce Partners
$300,000
Young Parents Program
Young families, where parents are under 25 years old, have a greater chance of falling into poverty and relying on state services than the rest of the population. The Young Parents Program helps transition and train parents for more productive and successful careers. Funding this program will help relieve the costs of poverty on our state budget and give these families the promise of a bright future.
UCONN – School of Law
$300,000
Energy/Environmental Law Program
The University of Connecticut establishes a Center for Energy and Environmental Law to prepare our attorneys to navigate the complicated legal workings that changes in the energy industry. The source of our energy and development of alternative energies is one of the most important economic issues we will face in the future.
Connecticut Science Center
$500,000
Fuel Cell Installation and Educational Presentation
This project will help make the Connecticut Science Center part of our clean energy economy by providing it with the resources it needs to be a certified LEED building and to teach Connecticut’s students about the potential of energy efficient technologies.
Harriet Beecher Stowe House
Archival Protection and Restoration
$150,000
Connecticut’s rich historical record is one of our greatest treasures. This funding will preserve the home and historical collections of Harriet Beecher Stowe, which contains over 200,000 period artifacts and documents.
The City of Hartford
$800,000
Hartford Public Safety Complex
To coordinate the work of Hartford’s first responders during an emergency, this project will create an emergency operation center within the city's new public safety complex. This complex will house Hartford’s police, fire, and emergency response under one roof. This center will serve as a command post for regional emergencies.
Connecticut Department of Transportation
$3,896,000
Springfield New Haven Rail Line
This funding will support rail improvements on the New Haven/Hartford/Springfield rail line.
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