Washington Area Women's Foundation

Washington Area Women’s Foundation Awards $240,000 in Grants to Local Nonprofits

Earlier today, the Associated Press reported that a record number of Americans have fallen into poverty or are barely scraping by.  1 in 2 people are poor or low-income, the AP found, and safety net programs have kept poverty from rising even higher.  It is facts like these that prompted Washington Area Women’s Foundation to focus its work on economic security for women and girls and to make strategic investments in programs that have an impact.

At its quarterly meeting this week Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s board of directors approved $240,000 in grants to eight area nonprofits whose work is transforming the lives of women and girls.

“Our grants to these outstanding organizations represent an investment in the potential of every woman and girl in our community,” said Nicky Goren, president of Washington Area Women’s Foundation. “When women and girls prosper, our entire region benefits.”

Five of the nonprofits received funding from the Foundation’s Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative (ECEFC), a partnership between national and local private foundations, corporate funders and family foundations to increase access to quality early care and education in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

“It is especially important for young children from low- and moderate-income families to have the social, emotional and intellectual foundation they need to be successful in school and beyond,” said Stacey Collins, manager of Client & Community Relations at The PNC Financial Services Group and member of the ECEFC steering committee. “These five grant recipients are doing innovative and effective work that is transforming the lives of children and their families.”

The ECEFC Grantee Partners are:

  • CentroNía ($50,000)
  • Empower DC ($50,000)
  • Fairfax Futures ($50,000)
  • Hopkins House ($25,000)
  • Voices for Virginia’s Children ($50,000)

Three nonprofits received funding from the African American Women’s Giving Circle.  The giving circle supports African American women-led organizations that improve the lives of African American women and girls in the Washington region.

The African American Women’s Giving Circle Grantee Partners are:

  • New Community for Children ($6,070)
  • Our Place DC ($6,070)
  • Petals of Primrose ($2,000)

A poverty fact sheet released earlier this year by The Women’s Foundation and The Urban Institute showed that the number of women and girls living in poverty in the region rose to more than 200,000.  For more trends and statistics on the rising local poverty rate, please click here.

And for more information on Washington Area Women’s Foundation, the ECEFC, the African American Women’s Giving Circle or the nonprofits receiving grants, please go to www.TheWomensFoundation.org or contact Mariah Craven at mcraven@wawf.org or (202)347-7737 x207.