When the novel coronavirus hit last year, we barely knew then how much our work and the work of our grantees would change. During those first months we were sheltering at home from the global contagion, we saw a shadow pandemic growing — violence against women and girls. We heard our longtime partners flag a significant increase of domestic violence and sexual assault reports, heightened demand for helplines and emergency shelters, and meager resources to support survivors, who were experiencing trauma like never before.
We knew we had to rapidly adjust our plans to respond to both crises—COVID-19 and gender-based violence—with a race and gender framework, prioritizing support to survivors through our emergency relief fund “Stand Together.”
The core of our grantmaking is flexible funding that gives our grantee partners choices and the ability to allocate funds where they are needed the most and where they will make a real difference. We believe in supporting and trusting our partners, and making things easy, so they can focus on changing the world rather than drowning in paperwork. And we invest in women and girls of color, not only because philanthropy has historically underinvested in women and girls of color, undervaluing them as the powerful community and movement leaders they are (less than one percent of the total 66.9 billion given by foundations in the US goes towards Black and Brown women and gender-expansive people, largely remaining out of sight in public discourses and funding), but also because we know they make change happen.
As we reflect on a year of grantmaking through unprecedented challenges, we are delighted to share with our community where our resources went, as none of this would be possible without your support.
Thank you for being a part of The Women’s Foundation story.
Our Safety and Violence Prevention Grants
- Are unrestricted funding that allows our partners flexibility.
- Center the voices of survivors!
- Go to organizations led by women or gender-expansive people of color.
- Support organizations providing culturally specific and trauma-informed services to survivors.
With your help during 2020, through our Safety and Violence Prevention portfolio we gave $230,000 to 15 grantee partners across the DMV region.
- 60 percent of grants went to first-time grantees to The Women’s Foundation.
- 65 percent of grants went to groups with operating budgets of $1M or less.
- 29 percent of grants went to organizations with one or no full-time staff.
- 100 percent of leaders at the helm are women or gender expansive people of color.
All of our Grantee Partners received unrestricted funding to advance their mission! Visit their website and learn more about their work.
- Asha for Women $20,000
Provide support to South Asian women living in abusive marriages and homes.
Address, prevent, and end domestic violence and sexual assault in Asian/Pacific Islander communities while empowering survivors to rebuild their lives after abuse.
- Ayuda $15,000
Provide legal, social, and language services to help low-income immigrants access justice and transform their lives.
- Building Bridges Foundation $5,000
Erase the stigma associated with domestic violence and trauma, providing alternatives, and incorporating trauma informed care.
Embrace, educate and empower those impacted, affected, or harmed by crime or trauma on their journey to justice and healing.
Provide access to safe housing and services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence and their families as they rebuild their lives on their own terms.
- DC Rape Crisis Center $15,000
Advocate for, and provide services to, survivors of sexual violence.
- DEAF DAWN $20,000
Promote healthy relationships and reduce abuse in the Deaf community of the Washington DC area, emphasizing that all forms of violence are intersectional.
- House of Ruth $10,000
Empower women, children, and families to rebuild their lives and heal from trauma, abuse, and homelessness.
- Ikram Foundation $15,000
To enhance the dignity of Muslim women by empowering them through education.
- Rights4Girls $20,000
Advocates for the dignity and rights of young women and girls so that every girl can be safe and live a life free of violence and exploitation.
Protect courageous immigrant women and girls who refuse to be victims of violence. By elevating their voices in communities, courts, and Congress, Tahirih creates a world where all women and girls enjoy equality, and live in safety and with dignity.
- The Safe Sisters Circle $20,000
Provide free culturally specific, holistic, and trauma-based services to Black women survivors of domestic violence and/or sexual assault primarily living in Washington, DC’s Wards 7 and 8.
- Silence Kills $5,000
Silence Kills is a collective that fosters the ability of their members to turn their pain into power, encouraging people to speak on the unspoken via artistic expression.
- Virginia Antiviolence Project $20,000
Create safe spaces and combat violence against our communities.
With your support, thousand of survivors will receive interpretation, advocacy, and free legal services. Thousands more will be connected to vital social services, including emergency shelter, healthcare, food, and clothing.
By making an investment in the Stand Together Fund, you are joining forces with the collective generosity of your neighbors, colleagues, friends, and family to ensure that women and girls of color are not forgotten.
Stand Together, So She Can Stand on Her Own.
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