Women’s Fund 2015 Grant Recipients

Fall 2015

Community Impact Grants

PHOTO BY DEBRA S. KAPLAN

The Women’s Fund awards Community Impact Grants in the priority areas of domestic violence, economic self-sufficiency, sexual literacy and leadership development.

This year we are awarding $116,000 to nine organizations:

Catholic Charities, U-Visa program – $11,000 – Provide immigrant women in Omaha who have been victimized by domestic violence and/or sexual assault with services to help them escape violence.
Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, Ways to Work program – $20,000 – Increase financial literacy, economic self-sufficiency, and employment stability by providing small, short-term, low interest loans to working families.
Legal Aid of Nebraska, ElderAccessLine – $10,000 – Funds will provide relief to elderly women facing crisis due to consumer issues by providing advice, representation and peace of mind.
Youth Emergency Services, Financial Literacy Classes – $10,000 – Teach youth to manage their money, learn how to budget and save and manage debt.
Girls, Inc., Sexpertise program – $15,000 – Provide girls with medically accurate reproductive health information as well as the availability of healthcare and counseling, while they receive non-judgmental answers to their questions.
Nebraska Children’s Home Society, Teen Chat program – $15,000 – Offer youth educational classes and support focusing on STD education, sexual literacy, and pregnancy prevention and the development of a healthy sense of personal well-being.
One World Community Health Centers, Promotoras program – $10,000 – Training of Promotoras to provide testing and education in South Omaha on STDs, HIV/AIDS, and sexual literacy.
College of Saint Mary, SMART program – $12,700 – Provide after school opportunities to girls ages 6-12 to gain confidence in science and math through relationships with college students.
Nebraskans for Civic Reform, CIRCLES – $12,300 – Train young women to advocate through various mediums by partnering them with coaches to teach them how to engage with policy makers.

Excellence in Service to Women Grants

The Excellence in Service to Women Grant is in-tended to recognize and encourage excellence in programming for women that aims to achieve our shared vision of a community where every woman and girl can reach her full potential.

This year we are awarding $25,000 to Justice for our Neighbors for their Domestic Violence Access to Justice program to strengthen collaborations with law enforcement agencies and service providers on best practices when working with immigrant victims of domestic violence.

Emerging Issues Grants

Emerging Issues Grants provide funding for innovative solutions to emerging issues that face women and girls in our community. The goal is to provide agencies with funding for issues that face women and girls that the Women’s Fund might not yet know about or have not identified as one of its priority areas.

This year we are awarding $42,000 to four organizations:

Intercultural Senior Center, Shoulder to Shoulder program – $5,000 – Provide a support group for women over the age of 50 to share the challenges and triumphs that come with aging.
Nebraska Children’s Home Society, Raising Your Grandchildren – $15,000 – Provides an environment where for grandparents can express their blessings and struggles with others experiencing similar challenges as well as gain knowledge of child development.
Notre Dame Sisters, Ho-tel Motel program – $17,000 – Training of hotel and motel staff to identify and report sex trafficking in their facilities.
Lutheran Family Services, Ambassadors ESL Mentoring program – $5,000 – Provide individualized ESL services to female refugees.

Legacy League Grant

Three organizations applying for funding—Inclusive Communities, Nebraskans for Civic Reform, College of Saint Mary—were invited to present to our Legacy League, comprised of local girls, ages 8-18. After all three presented, Legacy League members voted to determine the recipient of this $5,000 grant.

Inclusive Communities, IncluCity program, a four-day, residential leadership and skill building workshop that brings together a diverse group of high school students to increase awareness about bias and stereotypes.

Be The Change Grant

Three organizations applying for funding—Nebraska Children’s Home Society, Catholic Charities, and Intercultural Senior Center—have been invited to present their program in a video vignette at the 25th Anniversary Celebration. Attendees will vote to determine the recipient of an additional $10,000 in funding.