Chester County Fund for Women and Girls’
Grants Allocation Committee Awards $219,000 in Grants
The Chester County Fund for Women and Girls (CCFWG) has awarded $219,000 in grants to 24 non-profit organizations working to improve the lives of women and girls in Chester County.
Nearly 100 community members, grantee partners, and CCFWG Board and committee members gathered at the Marshalton Inn on June 5 for CCFWG’s 2018 Grants Celebration honoring the hard work and dedication of this year’s grantees. Denise Mahal, Vice President of Development of Community Volunteers in Medicine (CVIM), shared a heartwarming story from an uninsured patient who received free medical, dental and behavioral health services for herself and her family; Dwayne and Amy Walton, the Executive Director and Volunteer Coordinator of Parkesburg Point, shared the successes of their Girls Program in providing a free and safe environment for girls experiencing homelessness, hunger and other challenges at home; and Cathryn Miller-Wilson, Executive Director of HIAS Pennsylvania, spoke about its Violence Initiative program that provides resources for female immigrants who have experienced domestic violence and sexual assault.
Cheryl Miles of Black Women of Chester County in Action (BWCCA) and Joyce Chester of BWCC and Chester County Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) connect at the Grants Celebration.
This year, CCFWG introduced a new two-year funding program, pledging to award three Chester County organizations with sustained funding for two years. The two-year grants were awarded to Alianzas de Phoenixville, North Star of Chester County (formerly known as Interfaith Housing) and Parkesburg Point.
CCFWG also launched ‘Moving Her Forward’ Impact Grants, a grantmaking program focused on swift responses to pressing needs in the community. The inaugural Impact Grants were awarded to Black Women of Chester County in Action (BWCCA) and A Call to Men. BWCCA received $6,000 to launch the Aya Health Project, a network of Black women to connect and support each other so that, collectively, they can address issues affecting Black women in Chester County. The group formed in response to CCFWG’s 2016 Blueprint Report which revealed alarming data regarding challenges to the well-being of Black women. A Call to Men, a leading violence prevention organization, received $10,000 for its work to build the capacity of local non-profit organizations to address gender-based violence and promote healthy masculinity.
Members of the Grants Allocation Committee (GAC) Rob Jefferson, Jennifer Duff and Carrie Zito celebrate this year’s grantees.
“As CCFWG enters our third decade of serving Chester County’s women and girls, there is no better time to roll out new grantmaking initiatives that will enable us to be even more responsive to community needs and supportive of the challenges of non-profit organizations in a shifting climate,” said Michelle Legaspi Sánchez, Executive Director.
To date, CCFWG has directed over $3 million to 72 non-profit agencies to strategically address persisting needs, including homelessness, domestic violence and women’s health. Through its inclusive and community-driven process, the Grants Allocation Committee (GAC) ensures that CCFWG continues to lead and unite the community through philanthropy and advocacy to ensure that women and girls have resources and opportunities to thrive.
We want to thank our grantees and the members of GAC – Laura Chisholm, Ray Collins, Olivia Dimmig, Jennifer Duff, Debbie Gawrylowicz, Dyneco Gibson, Colleen Hanna, Elizabeth Hodgson, Rob Jefferson, Annjela John, Wendy Leeper, Bill Morrow, Nina Occhiolini, Mitra Saffarian Toosi, Jeesely Soto, Tiffany Scott, Roberta Torian, Michelle Wade, Jocelyn Young and Carrie Zito – for their dedication to improving the lives of women and girls in Chester County. See a full list of our grantees to date here.