13 Hartford Neighborhood Projects Receive Significant Funding

HARTFORD, CT — Thirteen resident- and community-led projects in Hartford will receive nearly $180,000 for murals, gardens, landscaping and other neighborhood improvements through the city's 2026 Love Your Block program.

The City of Hartford and Greater Hartford Gives Foundation announced the grants as the Love Your Block initiative enters its seventh year.

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The program is designed to give residents and community organizations resources to improve neighborhoods one block at a time.

Nearly 43 proposals were submitted this year by residents, nonprofits, faith organizations and Neighborhood Revitalization Zones.

Recipients were selected by a panel that included Hartford residents and representatives from the city and Greater Hartford Gives.

Ten community projects will share $170,880 in Greater Hartford Gives grants, while three resident projects will receive a combined $8,496 through Hartford Next.

"We are so grateful for the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation's continued support of the City of Hartford's Love your Block program," Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said. "Love Your Block allows the people who know our city best, our residents, the chance to be leaders of change in their own neighborhoods."

Greater Hartford Gives President and CEO Jay Williams said the program's success comes from allowing residents to identify their neighborhoods' needs and develop their own solutions.

"Love Your Block ensures that they have the tools and resources they need to make their vision a reality," Williams said.

The 2026 community grant recipients are:

• Clay Arsenal Community Development Corporation — $25,000: The Clay Arsenal Community Café & Mural Project will transform the exterior of the organization's 135 Walnut St. office with café-style seating, greenery, shade and a resident-designed mural.
• Coalition to Strengthen the Sheldon/Charter Oak Neighborhood — $9,500: The organization plans about 12 cleanup and beautification days, along with landscaping, lighting, a community garden, tree gardens, planters, public art, and benches.
• Colt Park Foundation — $23,180: The project calls for 17 planters in and around Colt Park and five trees near the soccer and football fields, along with outreach promoting swimming lessons and swim team participation.
• Community Renewal Team, Inc. — $20,045: Connecticut muralist Micaela Levesque will design the "Spirit of Recovery" mural addressing substance use and overdose while honoring people, families, and communities affected by addiction.
• Friends of Barnard Park— $15,155: Funding will address infrastructure and blight at Barnard Park in the South Green and support a neighborhood event focused on the park's long-term needs.
• Hartford Next, Inc. — $9,500: Residents will create planters during three workshops for a pollinator pathway and community spaces, accompanied by education about native plants and civic participation.
• Just Be BIG — $15,000: The Legacy Park Project will turn an underused outdoor area into a community space with picnic benches, landscaping, a garden and mural. Some benches will honor longtime Hartford educator Rosa Lucas.
• Parkville Sounds — $11,500: A Park Street beautification and safety project will include graffiti removal, façade work, improved lighting and landscaping, murals and public art.
• Sheldon Oak Central, Inc. — $22,000: The Martin Growth Project will convert vacant lots into temporary green spaces and gardens offering educational workshops, fresh produce, and community harvest and giveaway events.
• Women's League, Inc.— $20,000: Levesque will create a large mural depicting the joy and long-term benefits of early education, with children reflecting Hartford's cultural diversity.

Three smaller resident grants were also awarded.

Hyacinth Yennie, working with MARG NRZ, received $3,000 for a project involving Trinity College art students in designing and painting a median along Maple Avenue.

The Immanuel Congregational Church received $2,675 to expand and restore pollinator gardens at Farmington Avenue and Woodland Street, with the project also providing an educational opportunity for Trinity Academy students.

Jackie Nadal received $2,821 for planters at several intersections along New Britain and Maple avenues, including locations near Goodwin Park.

Love Your Block is part of a broader neighborhood beautification and resilience effort known as "Love Hartford," which also includes anti-litter initiatives, bus shelter art, beautification recognition, and the Adopt Your Block trailer.

For more information on the program and recipients, click on this link.