Community Women's Fund Spring 2013 Grantees Announced

Background

Since its Spring 2006 inception, the Fund has awarded 190 grants, totaling $1,984,021.00, to organizations in the Philadelphia region who are committed to helping improve the lives and future of women and girls.

Spring 2013 Community Women’s Fund Grantees

The following organizations received grants from our Community Women’s Fund during the Spring 2013 cycle. Though many organizations received funding to support a particular project, several received general operating support to continue to fulfill their overall missions.

Being Fitted Right is Necessary - $3,000
Being Fitted Right is Necessary will use its grant funding to design and print educational materials on post-care and social services associated with breast cancer for survivors and healthcare professionals in medically underserved areas of Philadelphia and Delaware Counties.

Black Women in Sport Foundation - $10,000

Black Women in Sport Foundation provides sports training, mentoring and educational programs and services to at-risk girls with outcomes focused on healthy self-image and leadership skills. This grant will support its general operations.

Center for Literacy - $5,000

This project grant will help women learners prepare for and underwrite the costs associated with the GED ahead of increased testing fees in 2014.

CHOICE - $10,000

Concern for Health Options: Information, Care and Education (CHOICE) will use its project grant to create a public awareness campaign and test-message based hotline offering free, immediate and confidential information and referrals regarding sexual and reproductive health.

Girls Rock Philly - $12,000

Girls Rock Philly provides girls from the greater Philadelphia region with a positive all-female musical environment. Overall goals include:  musical development, self-esteem enhancement, friendship and community building, and nurturing individual talents within a cooperative atmosphere. This grant will support its general operations.

Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Foundation - $5,000

The Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund provides financial assistance to families with seriously ill or severely injured children who are overwhelmed with financial burdens of caring for a medically involved child. Grant funding will support its Single Strength Program which assists families headed by a single female parent with vital uninsured medical needs.

Linda Creed Breast Cancer.org - $5,000

Linda Creed Breast Cancer.org promotes breast cancer and breast health awareness and also connects uninsured and underinsured women with free mammography screening. This grant will support its general operations.

Pennsylvania Prison Society - $14,000

Pennsylvania Prison Society is the leading advocate for a humane, just and restorative correctional system. This grant will support courses for formerly incarcerated women in Philadelphia to participate in intensive workshops focused on job readiness training which will better position participants for a crime-free and self-sufficient life outside prison.

The Center Foundation - $12,000

The Center Foundation (TCF) empowers people to be all they want to be, and builds caring communities through mentoring, education, and support. Among TCF’s services are the WomenCare which connects women in transition into structured and supported mentoring relationships with women volunteers who are experienced in life and work; and the Young Parents Support Network which links adult mentors to teen parents to empower them to realize their potential and become more self-sufficient. This grant will support its general operations.

Why Not Prosper - $10,000

Why Not Prosper’s mission is to help female ex-offenders discover their own strength by providing them with the support and resources that will empower them to become responsible, economically self-sufficiency and contributing members of the community. Why Not Prosper accomplishes its mission by helping women to upgrade their job skills and find employment, obtain decent housing, stay away from alcohol and illegal drugs, reunite with their children and avoid domestic abuse. Staff of Why Not Prosper advocate for women in the penal system and work to decrease recidivism and improve the quality of life for women ex-offenders and their children though pre-release mentoring and post-release services, including transitional housing and comprehensive case management.

Women’s Community Revitalization Project - $16,000

The Women’s Community Revitalization Project (WCRP) is committed to social and economic equity for low-income women and their families. Through its work of developing housing and neighborhood facilities; providing supportive services; advocating for policy change; and honoring leadership, dignity, and justice in our communities, WCRP offers hope and possibilities to the women that they serve. This grant will help support its Affordable Housing Program.

Women’s Medical Fund - $20,000

The Women's Medical Fund (WMF) provides direct financial assistance and other support to low-income women and girls in Southeastern Pennsylvania who wish to terminate an unwanted pregnancy but cannot afford a safe legal abortion. Additionally, WMF educates health care professionals about the use of Medicaid to fund abortion, and raises public awareness of the devastating impact of denying access to safe, legal abortions. As WMF states on their homepage: “Without access to safe, legal abortion, ‘choice’ is meaningless.”

Fall 2012 Community Women’s Fund Grantees

The following organizations received grants from our Community Women’s Fund during the Fall 2012 cycle. Though many organizations received funding to support a particular project, several received general operating support to continue to fulfill their overall missions.

Back On My Feet - $5,000

Back On My Feet (BoMF) promotes the self-sufficiency of homeless individuals by engaging them in running as a vehicle to build confidence, strength and self-esteem. This grant will support the organization’s new all-women’s team at Gaudenzia House of Passage. The establishment of an all-women’s team allows for BoMF to provide support and encouragement to address the unique challenges and barriers faced by homeless women.

Career Wardrobe - $10,000

The Career Wardrobe's mission is to empower women in transition by providing programs which inspire the confidence necessary to achieve self-sufficiency and pursue a productive career. They do this by providing professional work attire, educational programs and networking tools and opportunities. Career Wardrobe will use its grant to collaborate with Asociacion Puertorriquenos en Marcha (APM) to expand its serves to Spanish-speaking women in Philadelphia.

Child Advocacy Center of Montgomery County (Mission Kids) - $10,000

Child Advocacy Center of Montgomery County is a non-profit organization that offers a comprehensive, centrally located, multidisciplinary team response to allegations of child abuse to achieve justice for child victims and promote their physical and emotional well-being. The Center is a place of healing for abused children and their non-offending caregivers and also provides appropriate referrals to those under care at the Center. WOMEN’S WAY’s grant will support its general operations.

Endow-A-Home - $5,000

Endow-A-Home, a program of Resources for Human Development, is an on-going, comprehensive housing program providing head of household women in Philadelphia County with single-family housing coupled with intensive case management and an ultimate goal of purchasing homes from the program. This grant will support case management and life skills education for women.

Gearing Up - $10,000

Gearing Up is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide women in transition from drug and alcohol addiction, domestic violence, and/or homelessness with the skills, equipment, and guidance to safely ride a bicycle for exercise, transportation, and personal growth. Gearing Up will use its grant to collaborate with Neighborhood Bike Works on its ‘Earn a Bike’ program.

HIAS Pennsylvania - $10,000

HIAS Pennsylvania resettles, reunites and represents migrants who are of limited means residing in Philadelphia and surrounding counties. It seeks the fair treatment and full integration of immigrants from all backgrounds into American society. HIAS PA will use this grant to collaborate with the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County (DVCCC) to provide linguistically and culturally appropriate immigration services to immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence in Chester County.

Interim House - $12,500

Interim House, the oldest substance abuse program for women in Pennsylvania, empowers women to recover from drug and alcohol addiction, pursue healthy lifestyles and find purpose and meaning in their lives. Partnering with the Pennsylvania Recovery Organization-Achieving Community Together (PRO-ACT), Interim House will use this grant to prepare 10-12 women for livable, living wage careers as Certified Peer Recovery Specialists (PRS).

New Directions for Women - $10,000

New Directions for Women offers women ex-offenders an alternative to traditional incarceration along with gender-responsive rehabilitative services that help them reenter their homes and communities. This grant will support its general operations of empowering female ex-offenders to become independent and responsible members of the community with the capacity and confidence to care for themselves and their families.

Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response Center - $7,500

The Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response Center (PSARC) was established in 2011 through collaboration of Drexel College of Medicine’s Emergency Medicine Department, Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit, the District Attorney’s Office, and Women Organized Against Rape to create one centralized location where victims of sexual violence can receive comprehensive services. Over 12 months, this grant will provide up to 375 sexual assault victims with basic comfort and personal care items.

Planned Parenthood of Southern New Jersey - $10,000

Planned Parenthood of Southern New Jersey provides health care, sex education, family planning and reproductive health information to thousands of women throughout southern New Jersey. This grant will assist the organization’s general operations in providing over 90 women with family planning gynecological health care services over the next 12 months.

SeniorLAW Center - $10,000

The SeniorLAW Center protects the legal rights and interests of Pennsylvania’s seniors by providing advocacy, individual representation, access to justice and focused education, information and resources. This grant will support its Homeowners Assistance Program which provides representation to older women facing homeownership issues, including threatened mortgage foreclosure, fraudulent deed transfers, utility problems and fraud by home contractors.

The Katie at the Bat Team - $8,000

The Katie at the Bat Team uses organized athletics as a means of bringing positive and lasting life opportunities to inner-city youth in Philadelphia with a special focus on girls. Currently serving girls throughout after-school hours, the organization seeks to expand its programming to include Saturdays in the upcoming year. This grant will support its general operations.

Women’s Therapy Center - $12,000

Women’s Therapy Center is a private, non-profit psychotherapy center providing affordable, high-quality therapeutic services for adult women.  Women’s Therapy Center’s goal is to empower women to live their best, healthiest and most powerful lives by providing services from a feminist perspective and ensuring that women find the therapist and services that best meet their needs. Grant funds will help provide access to mental health care for low-income women.