Patricia Hermes Fund

Patricia Hermes. Photo courtesy of Paul Hermes.

The Patricia Hermes Fund was established at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven in 2018 by Paul Hermes in memory of his mother Patricia.

Patricia Hermes was an accomplished author of books for children and young adults whose writing career spanned four decades. She once credited a childhood case of rheumatic fever, which landed her in bed for months, as the stimulus for her love of reading and music.

Patricia was a graduate of St. John's University with a degree in speech and English. After graduation, she taught junior high school, raised five children and authored 50 books. Her writing career began when she submitted an op-ed to the New York Times, which got published and attracted the attention of publishers who told her 'you need to start writing.' The subjects Patricia explored through her books were sometimes heavy: death, youth suicide, war, disability, famine, incest and slavery among them.

In 2018 after Patricia's death, her son Paul established a donor–advised fund at The Foundation that bears his mother's name. When Paul is no longer willing or able to make grant recommendations, the fund will become a preference fund for programs that promote reading for children and young adults.