The Women United Grant Committee is pleased to announce that Women United will be awarding up to a total of $50,000 in grant funding to two local human services organizations. We received eighteen compelling proposals, which we have carefully reviewed and narrowed down to the below list of 5 finalists.
To hear presentations from each of these applicant organizations, plan on attending the Grant Finalists Presentation on August 29th at 5:30 p.m. RSVP to WomenUnited@UnitedWayTJA.org by August 25th.
All members will receive an email with voting details and additional proposal information between August 30th – September 11th.
African American Teaching Fellows (AATF):
Increasing diversity and multicultural awareness in the local public school systems is the mission of this group. To help achieve this, AATF requests funds to provide college tuition assistance to five African American student fellows in exchange for a commitment to teaching in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area after graduation for the same number of years for which they received funding. Fellows are also given professional support and guidance on leadership development, as well as opportunities geared to connecting the fellows to our local community.
Georgia’s Healing House (GHH):
Georgia’s Healing House, a program of Georgia’s Friends, serves women during their initial stages of recovery from alcohol and drug dependency by providing a safe place to live, an individualized treatment plan, individual mentorship, and support as women reenter the workplace. In the first two years, 42 women resided at GHH, all of whom remained free of drugs and alcohol during their stay. Seventeen successfully completed the program and 12are still receiving care. There is no other supervised supportive residential program in the Charlottesville area for women in early recovery from addiction.
The Women United award would support the operation of the house, which can accommodate 12 women at a time, for approximately two and a half months, as the cost for each woman is about $1000.00 per month.
Piedmont Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA):
Piedmont CASA is an organization that trains Court Appointed Special Advocates, who work one-on-one with abused and endangered children in our community and assists the courts in determining the best environment to ensure each child’s safety and well-being. CASA seeks a grant to help with recruiting, screening and training 30 new volunteers, as well as supporting and supervising the approximately 100 volunteers who are active at any one time. The number of children needing advocates has increased; specifically, CASA served 235 children in the first seven months of 2017, and even so, has children needing advocates on its waiting list. Eighty-three percent of the children come from households surviving at or below the federal poverty line.
Women’s Center at UVA—Middle School Mentoring Program:
The Women’s Center requests support for two mentoring programs in Charlottesville and Albemarle middle schools, the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP) and the Men’s Leadership Project (MLP). Middle school students who struggle with self–confidence, peer relationships and other common stumbling blocks receive the help of a trusted mentor for individual support as well as group mentoring. About 75 UVA undergraduates make this commitment each year to 75 children. The $322 per child requested for these programs covers activities and the materials needed for those activities, such as snacks and curriculum supplies, t-shirts, and special gatherings as well as careful training of the mentors.
The Women’s Initiative (TWI):
TWI seeks support for the operation of critical mental health services to 3,200 women through its core programming. Women served come from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds; many have been the victims of abuse, suffer from trauma, and face a variety of challenges such as the death of a family member, divorce, poverty, and post-traumatic stress disorder. TWI offers mental health counseling, social support, education and outreach to those needing help coping with depression, anxiety and trauma through individual and group therapies.