Governor, Senate President, & Speaker of House Announce $77M to Municipalities & Organizations

Governor Ned Lamont, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven), and Speaker of the House Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) today announced that the State Bond Commission has approved the release of approximately $77 million in state funding to support the sixth round of grants under the Community Investment Fund 2030.

This sixth grant round supports 35 economic development projects in 21 towns and cities across Connecticut.

“Through this grant program, we are helping municipalities throughout Connecticut make improvements in underserved areas that will enhance their economic vibrancy and revitalize neighborhoods,” Governor Lamont, chairman of the State Bond Commission, said. “I am glad that we can partner with these towns and cities and other organizations to make these improvements that will drive growth in our state.”

“The Community Investment Fund is one of the most transformative economic development tools we’ve created in recent years,” Senator Looney said. “These grants are targeted investments to uplift underserved communities, assist struggling nonprofit social service organizations, promote equity, and spur long-term economic growth across Connecticut. I am proud to see this funding approved and look forward to its meaningful impact on cities and towns throughout our state.”

“I want to thank Governor Lamont for his continued commitment to this important funding source,” Speaker Ritter said. “Investing in transformational projects can provide a huge boost to nonprofits, communities, and even entire regions of Connecticut.”

The Community Investment Fund was created by the Connecticut General Assembly and Governor Lamont in 2022 to support economic development in historically underserved communities across Connecticut. Eligible projects include capital improvements, such as those focused on affordable housing, brownfield remediation, infrastructure, and public facilities, as well as small business support programs that provide revolving loans, gap financing, microloans, or start-up financing. The program is anticipated to release up to $875 in grants over a five-year period.

The following grants were approved under this round:

Municipality: All Community Investment Fund communities
Grant Recipient: CT Humanities Council
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Cultural Cohort” – Connecticut Humanities has a mission to champion the enduring value of public humanities in our lives and civil society. This planning grant will allow CT Humanities to assess the needs of 560 cultural organizations in the 55 CIF communities.

Municipality: Bridgeport
Grant Recipient: Green Village Initiatives Inc.
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Bridgeport Regional Food Hub” – Green Village Initiative is a nonprofit organization serving Bridgeport focused on addressing systemic inequities in the local food system through urban agriculture, education, and community empowerment. The Bridgeport Regional Food Hub and Community Empowerment Initiative is a planning project to develop a county-wide food hub in Bridgeport.

Municipality: Bridgeport
Grant Recipient: Mercy Learning Center
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Capital Improvement Planning” – Mercy Learning Center provides basic literacy and life skills training to women with low income using a holistic approach within a compassionate, supportive environment. CIF funding would finance specific assessments and plans to address elements that arise from the Organizational Strategic Plan and process prioritizing capital renovations and expansion.

Municipality: Bridgeport
Grant Recipient: Barnum Museum Foundation
Award Amount: $2,000,000
Description: “Barnum Museum Revitalization” – The Barnum Museum, a historic cultural institution in Bridgeport since 1893, provides educational programs, community events, and accessibility initiatives for diverse audiences. It engages thousands of students, families, and seniors through partnerships with schools and local organizations. The proposed project will continue the museum’s restoration, focusing on safety, accessibility, and energy efficiency.

Municipality: Danbury
Grant Recipient: City of Danbury
Award Amount: $5,000,000
Description: “Downtown Revitalization: Streetscapes for the Future” – The City of Danbury proposes to complete Phase II of the Downtown Danbury’s Revitalization: Streetscapes for the Future Project. The project would enhance pedestrian and streetscape features along key streets: Main Street (Route 53) from Boughton Street to Crosby Street, Liberty Street from Main Street to Patriot Drive, Independence Way, White Street from Ives Street to Main Street, a portion of Elm Street, Post Office Walk, and Kennedy Avenue.

Municipality: East Haven
Grant Recipient: Town of East Haven
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Family Resource Center Expansion” – The Town of East Haven proposes to plan for the renovation and expansion of the Family Resource Center to transform it into a comprehensive community hub, including a dynamic recreational area, designed to support local youth and families.

Municipality: East Windsor
Grant Recipient: Housing Corporation of East Windsor
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Park Hill 2 & 3” – The Housing Corporation of East Windsor, a non-profit dedicated to expanding quality affordable housing for low and moderate-income individuals in the East Windsor area, plans to develop two vacant parcels adjacent to Park Hill, a senior and disabled apartment community. This project seeks to advance the planning process to prepare the 13-acre site for complimentary development.

Municipality: Enfield
Grant Recipient: Town of Enfield
Award Amount: $10,000,000
Description: “Enfield Marketplace Infrastructure” – The Town of Enfield, in partnership with Woodsonia Acquisitions LLC, will utilize CIF funding to install critical new infrastructure necessary to create a mixed-use development called the Enfield Marketplace.

Municipality: Hamden
Grant Recipient: Transcend the Trend, Inc.
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Hamden Arts & Learning Oasis (HALO)” – Transcend The Trend (TTT) has a mission to achieve equity in the local education system in and through the arts. The planning grant request is community engagement and a feasibility study to inform architectural and design plans to renovate space on the former Paier College of Art campus into an arts and cultural hub.

Municipality: Hartford
Grant Recipient: Asylum Hill Congregational Church
Award Amount: $3,789,482
Description: “Earl Exum Community Resource Center” – Asylum Hill Congregational Church offers a range of community programs, including food assistance, youth outreach, educational programs, and resources for low-income individuals and families. AHCC plans to remediate, remodel, and re-purpose the garden level to address identified needs by providing space for existing service providers seeking to establish a more accessible presence in the Asylum Hill neighborhood.

Municipality: Hartford
Grant Recipient: City of Hartford
Award Amount: $1,600,000
Description: “Homestead Acquisition” – The City of Hartford proposes to acquire three properties within the Homestead Redevelopment Corridor between Sigourney and Garden Streets. The city is currently developing a redevelopment plan for the Homestead Corridor. The Homestead Avenue Redevelopment Plan aims to employ a mix of land use strategies to transform this key thoroughfare in the Upper Albany neighborhood.

Municipality: Hartford
Grant Recipient: City of Hartford
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Talcott Plaza” – The City of Hartford will plan a major redevelopment project to revitalize Downtown Hartford at the Talcott Street Plaza to include mixed-use development that will include the opportunity for a large commercial tenant and expansion to include residential units.

Municipality: Hartford
Grant Recipient: YWCA Hartford Region, Inc.
Award Amount: $1,500,000
Description: “Center for Racial Justice and Gender Equity” – YWCA is committed to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting justice, freedom, and dignity for all. YWCA proposes HVAC system enhancements as part of renovating its 50-year-old Hartford building to establish The Center for Racial Justice and Gender Equity.

Municipality: Hartford
Grant Recipient: Clay Arsenal Community Development Corporation
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Beacon & Walnut Planning” – The Clay Arsenal Community Development Corporation focuses on economic development and poverty reduction in Hartford’s Clay Arsenal neighborhood. Its mission is to improve the economic and social conditions of low and moderate-income residents through sustainable initiatives. The CIF Planning Grant will fund predevelopment activities towards transforming two blighted sites into sustainable, mixed-use, transit-oriented developments.

Municipality: Killingly
Grant Recipient: Access Community Action Agency
Award Amount: $4,928,243
Description: “Transforming 254 Broad” – The ACCESS Agency’s mission is to empower under-resourced individuals, families, and communities by improving food security, providing affordable housing, and creating pathways to economic stability. With CIF funding, ACCESS plans to renovate the St. Alban Church at 254 Broad Street to expand offices, upgrade the food pantry, offer the Killingly Community Store, improve access to the emergency shelter and repurpose space into affordable housing.

Municipality: Meriden
Grant Recipient: City of Meriden
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “One Stop HHS Building” – The City of Meriden proposes to perform planning for the renovation and modernization of the Stoddard Municipal Building at 165 Miller Street, transforming it into a “one stop” facility for human services.

Municipality: Naugatuck
Grant Recipient: Borough of Naugatuck
Award Amount: $3,000,000
Description: “Industrial Park Phase 2” – Located in the Naugatuck Industrial Park III, Phase 2 will construct temporary and permanent access roads, including streetscaping and utilities in the public-right-of-way, allowing lot access for end users, as well as connection to utilities.

Municipality: New Britain
Grant Recipient: City of New Britain
Award Amount: $1,796,974
Description: “Mount Pleasant – Myrtle Street Corridor” – The City of New Britain proposes a multi-phased project that will replace 251 obsolete public housing units with approximately 330 mixed-income housing of choice units and appurtenant community space. The project will contain new roads and infrastructure that will connect the isolated community back to the broader neighborhood, as well as fostering connectivity to the greater metropolitan area.

Municipality: New Britain
Grant Recipient: Friendship Service Center
Award Amount: $2,000,000
Description: “Emergency Shelter Expansion” – Friendship Service Center provides services to individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness in Central Connecticut. Friendship Service Center seeks funding to renovate its facility including reconfiguring bedrooms to increase emergency shelter capacity from 5 to 16 rooms, upgrading the community kitchen and dining room, and expanding the parking lot.

Municipality: New Haven
Grant Recipient: United Way of Greater New Haven
Award Amount: $2,000,000
Description: “State and Chapel” – United Way of Greater New Haven works to address pressing local challenges in education, safe housing, food security, career development, financial education, and other essential services. United Way of Greater New Haven, in partnership with Beacon Communities and Columbus House, will utilize CIF support State and Chapel, a mixed-income, mixed-use, transit-oriented housing project in downtown New Haven.

Municipality: New Haven
Grant Recipient: Mary Wade Foundation
Award Amount: $700,000
Description: “Residential Care Home Modernization” – The Mary Wade Home is a senior care organization serving low-income seniors (65+) in Greater New Haven, providing a full continuum of medical and social support. Mary Wade Home will utilize CIF funding to further plans for a major renovation and expansion of the Boardman Residential Care Home to address safety concerns and improve living conditions.

Municipality: New Haven
Grant Recipient: Greater Dwight Development
Award Amount: $6,121,390
Description: “Community Building Initiative” – Greater Dwight Development Corporation works to lead projects that address drugs, gang violence, economic development, employment, housing, and education. Greater Dwight Development will use CIF funds to implement Phase 2 of its Greater Dwight Community Building Initiative, creating 11 units of affordable housing and community space for the local nonprofit and community-based organizations across two properties in the Dwight neighborhood.

Municipality: New Haven
Grant Recipient: Mount Hope Temple
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Mount Hope Temple Renovation Planning” – The Mount Hope Temple Church currently operates the Mount Hope Recovery Center Food Pantry. The grant will allow the church/food pantry to take steps towards increasing the number of families it serves per month, expanding to more of Greater New Haven, and operating a cooling/warming shelter for the homeless.

Municipality: New London
Grant Recipient: City of New London
Award Amount: $4,000,000
Description: “Mercer Community Hall” – The City of New London, in partnership with the Garde Arts Center, Inc., seeks to enhance community engagement and accessibility through the arts. The project includes renovation and expansion of the Mercer Community Hall, located at a downtown intersection near New London’s transit hub, to offer affordable event space, support arts and workforce opportunities, and retain activities within the city.

Municipality: New London
Grant Recipient: Planned Parenthood of Southern New England
Award Amount: $2,020,096
Description: “New London Relocation” – PPSNE health centers promote the availability of high-quality family planning and reproductive services. PPSNE proposes to use CIF funds to renovate and expand the property at 467 Ocean Avenue in New London to become the new home of PPSNE’s New London health center.

Municipality: Norwalk
Grant Recipient: Open Door Shelter, Inc.
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Campus Expansion Project” – The mission of Open Doors is to end homelessness in the greater Norwalk region by guiding every person in the cycle of homelessness toward housing stability. Open Doors intends to develop a plan to expand its operations within the South Norwalk neighborhood by assessing its existing housing portfolio and exploring the acquisition of abutting properties.

Municipality: Norwalk
Grant Recipient: Friends of the Norwalk River Valley Trail
Award Amount: $1,500,000
Description: “Glover Ave Spur” – The Norwalk River Valley Trail is a recreational and transportation amenity in Norwalk and once completed will run from Danbury to Norwalk. This project proposes the completion of the Norwalk section of the Norwalk River Valley Trail.

Municipality: Norwich
Grant Recipient: City of Norwich
Award Amount: $4,899,600
Description: “Fontaine Field & Senior Center” – The City of Norwich will reconstruct Fontaine Field including replacing the existing field with a synthetic turf option, adding spectator stands, enlarging the parking area, and improving accessibility from the Rose City Senior Center.

Municipality: Norwich
Grant Recipient: City of Norwich
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Gateway Norwich” – The City of Norwich proposes to reimagine the city’s portion of the former Norwich State Hospital, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As a gateway to the city from the south, the potential exists to create a community-driven place that works in synergy with the proposed Preston Riverwalk development to be constructed by the Mohegan Tribe on the Preston section of the Norwich State Hospital.

Municipality: Plainfield
Grant Recipient: Town of Plainfield
Award Amount: $8,000,000
Description: “InterRoyal Remediation” – The Town of Plainfield proposes remediation of the former InterRoyal mill site, an abandoned brownfield site. The project will be approached in phases, including selective building demolition, abatement, and remediation. The town and partners plan to redevelop the site into a mixed-use community.

Municipality: Stamford
Grant Recipient: Rippowam Corporation
Award Amount: $2,000,000
Description: “Oak Park Phase II” – Rippowam Corporation is the nonprofit development and asset management affiliate of the Housing Authority of the City of Stamford. Rippowam Corporation is requesting funding for the second of three planned phases to redevelop Oak Park, located on the East Side of Stamford, to rebuild to avoid areas of chronic flooding and to ensure accessibility for residents.

Municipality: Waterbury
Grant Recipient: City of Waterbury
Award Amount: $4,000,000
Description: “Phase 3 Downtown Utilities” – The City of Waterbury proposes to further the Downtown Streetscape and Utility Improvements Project on West Main Street. This project aims to address Waterbury’s aging infrastructure, fostering long-term economic growth and promoting energy and environmental justice.

Municipality: West Haven
Grant Recipient: City of West Haven
Award Amount: $1,800,000
Description: “VA Neighborhood Upgrades” – The City of West Haven proposes to revitalize the neighborhood surrounding the Veteran Affairs Medical Center. Upgrades will be transit-oriented and include traffic calming, pedestrian safety and accessibility, and paving several roads/sidewalks in disrepair.

Municipality: Windham
Grant Recipient: Windham Preservation, Inc.
Award Amount: $250,000
Description: “Windham Inn Adaptive Re-use” – The Windham Preservation Initiative is focused on restoring and repurposing the historic Windham Inn as housing with potential first-floor community flex space, addressing Connecticut’s housing shortage while preserving a cultural landmark. CIF funding will support pre-construction planning.

Municipality: Windsor
Grant Recipient: Capital Region Education Council
Award Amount: $1,244,152
Description: “River Street School” – The Capitol Region Education Council is one of six Regional Educational Service Centers in Connecticut. RESC are designed to support the instructional and operational needs of Connecticut's public school. CREC will renovate the River Street School in Windsor, a specialized educational and therapeutic facility serving students with autism spectrum disorder.

For more information about the Community Investment Fund, visit portal.ct.gov/communityinvestmentfund.