Applications for the Safe Harbor Fund, a state-administered but privately-funded account that will issue grants covering travel-related expenses for individuals seeking reproductive and gender-affirming care, will open on July 1, according to Treasurer Erick Russell.
Russell announced his office is launching access to the fund after receiving a $25,000 donation from the Leonard-Litz Foundation, which provides funding to organizations that serve the needs and interests of the LGBTQ+ community.
The fund was created by a 2025 law that directs the treasurer’s office to create a nonlapsing account funded entirely by “private contributions, gifts, grants, donations, bequests or devises to the account and all earnings on such funds” and invest and administer the account.
Funds from the account are to be spent on grants to nonprofits “that provide funding for reproductive health care services or gender-affirming health care services or the collateral costs incurred by individuals in receiving such services in the state” or that serve LGBTQ+ youth and families “for the purpose of reimbursing or paying directly to such youth or family members for the collaeral costs incurred” by receiving either reproductive or gender-affirming healthcare.
The law further stipulates that a board of trustees, made up of members appointed by the treasurer, create policies for administering the fund and disbursing grants, along with the treasurer.
At the June 25 press conference announcing applications for grants from the fund would soon be open, Russell said the goal of the fund is to reduce financial barriers for individuals in states without access to either reproductive or gender-affirming care and that grants, which will be distributed to existing providers, can be used to travel to Connecticut to receive the “safe and compassionate care they deserve.”
While the treasurer’s office currently has not secured funding beyond the $25,000 donation from the Leonard-Litz Foundation, Russell said they are in talks to secure additional funding with private organizations and have also been working with other state treasurers to create a network that would provide similar funding across the country.
Russell said the goal of the program was to “do whatever we can to be a state that prioritizes access to health care” until the federal government steps up.
Asked how many individuals the fund is expected to assist, Russell said the board does not know what need or demand is going to be yet but that the ultimate goal in raising money across the country was to be strategic in deploying resources across different states, especially other states that are geographically closer to areas where abortion and gender-affirming care has been restricted.
According to Russell, states Connecticut has discussed similar funds with include Maryland, Vermont, Massachusetts, California, and Colorado.
Those who receive grants will be required to periodically report on how funds are used, what services are delivered, and the number of individuals served.
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