Prosperity Foundation Awards $900K In Cannabis-Legalization-Related Grants

In a music- and dance-filled celebration, the Prosperity Foundation distributed $900,000 in grant funds to 25 mostly Black-led organizations. 

The event took place on Wednesday, Nov. 15, in a packed room at the Orchid Café in Science Park.

The foundation received the seed funding to make these grants from the state’s Social Equity Council (SEC), as a part of a pilot project designed to address the harms caused by the war on drugs.

In total, six Disproportionately Impacted Areas (DIAs) will receive funds from the SEC, which created a re-granting program that allows organizations like the Prosperity Foundation to distribute the money locally through a competitive grant process. The SEC uses funding from revenues realized from cannabis legalization in the state. Its website states that it works to ​“make sure the adult-use cannabis program is grown equitably and ensures that funds from the adult-use cannabis program are brought back to the communities hit hardest by the ​‘war on drugs.’ ”

A followup press release sent out by the Prosperity Foundation stated that this latest distribution of $900,000 in such grants went to organizations that are ​“developing and expanding reentry/reintegration programs in the city that support formerly incarcerated individuals and their families, as well as youth education, recreation and arts programs that help promote physical and mental health wellness that will empower and prepare young people to enter the workforce.” Of the $1 million sent by the SEC to the Prosperity Foundation, $900,000 was distributed in grants and the remaining $100,000 funded the organization’s operations.

The evening opened with a set by The Rashan Langley Project, a local band whose lead singer and namesake grew up in Dixwell — one of the neighborhoods that will benefit from the investment. The band played old-school covers as attendees munched on hors d’oeuvres created by Orchid Café, which operates a culinary training program. Orsella Hughes, the foundation’s executive director, said that the foundation is unapologetic about leading with Blackness and supporting Black businesses to keep dollars circulating in the community.

Michael A. Jefferson, the senate president’s appointee to the SEC, shared his exuberant congratulations at the ceremony, which was attended by more than 60 community members.

Jefferson said, ​“This is a part of a larger investment in communities across the state [for] six areas that suffered egregious harm from the impacts of the war on drugs.”

This round of funding with the Black-led and focused Prosperity Foundation began last April, when they opened the process. By the submission deadline of Aug. 31, the foundation had received 100 applications with requests totaling $10,000,000 for the $1,000,000 they could award, according to Hughes and Larry Conaway, a vice president at the foundation who spearheaded the selection process. 

At Wednesday’s event, people mingled and congratulated awardees, such as Barry and Anne Abraham, the founders of Abraham’s Promise — an organization that serves up to 100 youth per year with access to STEM-based learning, life skills, and supports. Anne and Barry said the invaluable support will allow them to continue equipping youth with the tools they need for success in college, employment, and entrepreneurship. Having been a math teacher for over twenty years in the New Haven Public Schools system, Anne said she knows firsthand the challenges Black students face as they attempt to succeed in the classroom.

Orsella Hughes’ opening remarks noted the importance of Black philanthropy, especially now. It’s one of the reasons she decided to hold the event on National Philanthropy Day. She talked about why this investment is meaningful for New Haven and the organizations receiving funds. She said that the Prosperity Foundation speaks with and from the voice of the community and that the organization ​“is not a stranger to the community. We are the community.” She later distributed the $900,000 in checks to each of the organizations along with Conaway and Ginne-Rae Clay, the executive director of the SEC.

Kermit Carolina, supervisor of Youth Development and Engagement for New Haven Public Schools, was in attendance and commended the foundation’s efforts, saying, ​“We have populations with unique needs at the grassroots level and not enough resources and reach to all those doing the work. I applaud the foundation’s goal and vision to support vulnerable populations by investing in the organizations on the ground doing the work.”

The highlight of the evening was the distribution of funding that will impact thousands of New Haven’s youth and families. A wide range of organizations received funding. From the New Haven Firebirds to Street 2 Straight Programs, Inc., all 25 grant recipients serve varying segments of the community with a focus on re-entry and reintegration and youth development programs. One example is Proverbs, Inc., a community organization run by Carla and Christopher Tillery. Proverbs has a joint venture with the Hot Shots Basketball Camp, a long-standing organization that offers basketball camps and clinics, and their companion program No Books, No Ball that focuses on increasing literacy and reading.

Karen Tyson, the executive director and founder of Prosperity House, Inc., which runs community reintegration efforts that support men and women coming back into the community from different challenges in life, said, ​“We are the place for sustainable recovery and progressive transformation, and this funding will allow them to start their pilot program Re-entry Off Campus Housing. A housing effort that will give men and women coming back into the community an opportunity to focus on trades and education that lead to sustainability and self-sufficiency.”

Reginald Slade is the chief executive officer of Culturally Correct Creative, Inc., and his goal is to ​“provide culturally-based learning for Black youth in New Haven, teaching them about the court system through mock trial and crime scene investigation. We introduce young people to professions they don’t always consider as career paths.” Slade said they will use the funds to their crime scene investigation and mock trial programs.

Terrance Rountree, a retired New Haven assistant fire chief representing the New Haven Firebirds, said the funds will assist the advocacy group with their efforts to recruit Black firefighters and the work they do in the community, like the Feeding the Community event they hosted on Sunday at The Shack in West Rock and the toy and clothing drives they host each year.

Jefferson, Hughes, and Howard K. Hill, The Prosperity Foundation’s founder and board president, spoke about the power of the collective in creating opportunities for youth and the community. They encouraged groups to work together to build collective power and move change forward in Black communities. 

The evening’s program ended as it began, with the music of the Rashan Langley project and dancing, lots of dancing.

The 25 groups to receive funding last Wednesday included:

• Abraham’s Promise, Inc.

• Alpha to Omega Management Group, Inc. DBA Brown Girls Cooking and Conversations

• Beulah Heights First Pentecostal Church

• Communities for Generations, Inc.

• CPEN

• Culturally Correct Creative, Inc.

• D.E.S.T.I.N.E.D. to Succeed, Inc.

• EIR Boxing & Fitness Academy

• Elm City Go Karting Association

• EMERGE Connecticut Inc.

• FaithActs for Education

• Fixing Fathers, Inc. 

• Hot Shot Services / Hot Shot Basketball Camp

• Huneebee Project, Inc.

• New Haven Promise

• Firebird Society of Greater New Haven, Inc.

• Prosperity House, Inc.

• Ready Inc.

• Resurgence Now, Inc.

• Stop Solitary CT

• Street 2 Straight Program, Inc.

• Tha Bridge Corp

• UPON THIS ROCK MINISTRIES

• WLM MINISTRIES

• The Workplace