Educational Access and Success Grants
Bay Path College
“Lead to Succeed: A Leadership Program for Girls Who Want to Change the World,” helps 30 low-income girls from Springfield, grades 8-10, bridge the gap between middle and high school. The program raises college aspirations of participants and raises their academic skills by providing academic support, opportunities for personal and career exploration, leadership development, and involvement in service learning.
Program Grant, $4,000 (second year of multi-year funding)
Hampden County
Berkshire United Way
The “Berkshire County Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative” is a county-wide coalition made up of businesses, health care organizations, school districts, youth providers and citizens with the goal of supporting education and prevention efforts to reduce teen pregnancy and increase healthy decision making among youth.
Policy Grant, $7,000
Berkshire County
Brayton Elementary School
“Girl Power at Brayton” will endow girls from Brayton Elementary School in North Adams with the strength, confidence and skills through an 8-week after school program focusing on emotional and physical health and career exploration.
Program Grant, $3,500
Berkshire County
Community Action
“Mothers on the Move-The Family Learning Center” aims to promote economic self-sufficiency of mothers with low education levels and incomes by helping them advance their education, develop work skills, and improve their financial literacy.
Program Grant, $5,000
Franklin County
Flying Cloud Institute
The “Young Women in Science” program will expand into Pittsfield and collaborate with Berkshire STEM Pipeline/MA College of Liberal Arts to expand into North Adams to reach a more diverse population of girls. The elementary school programs are run by middle and high school mentors who are trained and supervised by professional women in the STEM field.
Program Grant, $5,000 (second year of multi-year funding)
Berkshire County
Girls Inc. of Holyoke
Girls Incorporated of Holyoke inspires all girls to be strong, smart and bold by providing them the opportunity to develop and achieve their full potential through a wide array of programs ranging from school-based and after-school education and activities.
Multi-Year Operating Support Grant, $5,000 (second year of multi-year funding)
Hampden County
The Care Center
The Care Center’s mission is to provide resources and support to empower young women and their families so that they may continue their education, increase self-confidence, develop leadership skills and make healthy life choices leading toward self-sufficiency.
Operating Support Grant, $5,000 (second year of multi-year funding)
Hampden County
The Gray House
“Community Education Support Program” provides literacy education and English for Speakers of Other Languages services to refugee women from Africa so they can gain language skills and increase their ability to navigate the systems around them and provide for their families.
Program Grant, $5,000
Hampden County.
Greenfield Community College Foundation
The “Franklin County Women’s Success Project” will work with GCC and community partners t design, pilot and evaluate a emnw program to serve women in transition and recovery by offering a new course and integrated services including personal and academic counseling, and peer mentoring provided by successful women student leaders. The project will also change college policy to adopt this model of a specialized course and support services.
Policy Grant, $7,000
Franklin County
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College’s Community-Based Learning Program equips the college’s students to engage with the world as leaders, citizens and advocates. The “CAMBIAS” mentoring program will support 8th-9th grade transitions and student success through high school through twice-weekly academic tutoring sessions involving 9th graders tutoring 8th graders and MHC students supporting both. In addition, workshops will be offered on health, life and career planning by students, staff and community partners, and a college-oriented program will be offered on the MHC campus.
Program Grant, $7,000
Hampden County
Multicultural BRIDGE
The “Bridge Women to Women (W2W) Project and Mujeres Latinas support group” will offer support and mentoring for women from diverse populations as they pursue their leadership, work and personal goals by promoting leadership and cultural integration in Berkshire County.
Program Grant, $7,000
Berkshire County
NEARI Jump-Start
New England Adolescent Research Institute (NEARI) Jump-Start works with high-risk youth in the Holyoke Flats area. The “Women’s Group” offers young Latina women who attend NEARI Jump-Start a comprehensive support system that enables them to attain their educational, economic, social
and emotional goals while building strong relationships with each other all under the framework of what it means to be a strong Latina.
Program Grant, $3,500 (all three focus areas)
Women’s Fund/Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Partner Grant
Primarily Hampden County
Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
“Seamos Honestos: Educating and Supporting Latino Parents as the Primary Sexuality Educators of their Children” will educate more than 1,300 parents, providing them with the knowledge, comfort and motivation they need to talk with their children about sex and sexuality. The program will also develop and implement a long term evaluation model to track changes in parent behavior over time.
Program Grant, $7,000
Primarily Hampden County
Railroad Street Youth Project
The "Sexuality Education Program" of Railroad Street Youth Project offers sexuality education at the local schools in grades 9-12. Peer educators have been trained as sexual health educators and co-facilitate along with seasoned professionals in the areas of pregnancy and STI prevention.
Program Grant, $7,000 (second year of multi-year funding)
Berkshire County
Treehouse Foundation
“Hear Our Voices III” grows from the Treehouse Foundation mission to ensure that children in foster care find their places in life-long family relationships and supportive communities. The Re-Envisioning Foster Care initiative uses strategic partnerships and approaches to support positive futures for women and children in foster care, and Hear Our Voices III cultivates leadership and empowerment among women in the Treehouse Community and Pioneer Valley in order to affect policy change in the foster care system.
Policy Grant, $6,000
Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin Counties
Voices From Inside
Voices From Inside increases educational and economic opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women through creative writing workshops, including workshops for girls in a locked facility and a halfway house. Three new programs include a writing skills initiative at an after incarceration support services program in Springfield, a children’s book project for mothers at the Chicopee women’s jail, and the production of a play written and performed by VFI women.
Operating Support Grant, $5,000
Predominantly Hampden County
Youth Action Coalition
"GirlsEyeView" is an empowerment project for young women which incorporates photography, creative writing, leadership development, and social action. Participants create public exhibitions in galleries and downtown locations where they facilitate discussions on the issues raised in their work, and sell their photographs.
Program Grant, $6,000 (second year of multi-year funding)
Hampshire and Franklin counties
Economic Justice Grants
Casa Latina
Casa Latina promotes community connections and self-sufficiency among the Hampshire County Latino population, and through the Mujer Project, women and teens will take charge of their personal, family and community finances through workshops on financial management.
Program Grant, $6,000
Hampshire County
LGBT Coalition of Western Massachusetts
The LGBT Coalition seeks to improve and preserve the well-being of LGBT and Queer-identified people through education, advocacy and outreach programs, and the “Diversity Heroes Project” will strive to change the perception of transgender women among employers and the community at large.
Policy Grant, $8,000
All four counties
Lutheran Social Services of New England
The “Economic Advancement for Refugee Women Project” will improve the economic well-being, entrepreneurial opportunities and financial literacy of refugee women from Burma, Bhutan, Iraq and the former Soviet Union through group and individual instruction and the development of a craft collective.
Program Grant, $7,000
Women’s Fund/MicroTek Inc. Partner
Hampden County
Neighbor to Neighbor
The “Leadership Development Program” is a two-year intensive leadership development program for low-income women of color seeking to increase their leadership in community organizing and public advocacy. Members will lead campaigns to keep public jobs and training in Holyoke and to improve public safety in Springfield through door to door recruitment, individual and group leadership development and political education, and local and statewide advocacy activities.
Policy Grant, $7,000 (second year of multi-year funding)
(Education and Economic Justice)
Hampden County
Safety and Freedom from Violence
Elizabeth Freeman Center
The “Advocacy, Relief and Empowerment Program” provides safety, support and assistance to women and their children fleeing imminent danger due to domestic violence and who are working to regain control of their lives. Services include 24-hour hotline with emergency services, shelter, courtroom advocacy, individual and group counseling, and community outreach and engagement.
Program and Policy Grant, $7,000
All four counties (primarily Berkshire)
Hilltown Safety at Home
“Advocacy Services to Domestic Violence Victims” offers advocacy services to victims of domestic violence by checking state police logs and calling all victims who have contacted police to offer safety planning, advocacy, transportation and court accompaniment. The program also accepts referrals from community agencies and residents.
Program and Policy Grant, $6,000 (second year of multi-year funding)
Hampden, Hampshire and Berkshire counties
Prison Birth Project
The Prison Birth Project focuses on reproductive justice, working to provide support, education and advocacy to women and girls at the intersection of the criminal justice system and motherhood. The “Coalition to Pass Bill HB2234” will help form a statewide coalition with leadership from formerly incarcerated women to pass the bill which will ensure that pregnant women in prison receive adequate healthcare and are not shackled during birth.
Policy Grant, $8,000 (Economic Justice and Educational Access and Success)
All four counties
Womanshelter/Compañeras
Womanshelter/Compañeras assists, supports and empowers those whose lives are affected by battering or abuse by offering intervention and stabilization services including emergency shelter, 24-hour hotline, counseling, support groups, and advocacy.
Operating Support Grant, $5,000 (second year of multi-year funding)
Primarily Hampden County
|
