Infant mortality was the focus of a recent forum hosted by the Women’s Endowment Fund of Akron Community Foundation. The fund’s current round of grants also will include an impact grant to help reduce infant mortality in Akron. (Photo: Shane Wynn)
Impact grant of up to $50,000 will focus on reducing the infant mortality rate in Summit County
— The Women’s Endowment Fund of Akron Community Foundation is accepting grant proposals for programs that enrich the lives of local women and girls in the following areas:
- Economic Empowerment, including entrepreneurship, asset-building and financial literacy programs; programs that create better jobs, better access to jobs and quality, affordable child care for women; and programs that enable women with children to work more productively.
- Safety from Violence, including programs that raise awareness about violence through education; programs that prevent the occurrence and reoccurrence of violence against women and girls; and programs that develop a consistent and coordinated response to violence against women and girls.
- Health and Wellness, including programs that raise awareness about healthy lifestyles through education and prevention; programs that support reproductive health and prevent teen pregnancies; and programs that help women and girls address depression and other mental health issues.
This year, the Women’s Endowment Fund will concentrate a large portion of its funding on programs that reduce the infant mortality rate in Summit County. An impact grant of up to $50,000 will be awarded to address the key issues identified during the fund’s recent community forum on infant mortality, including housing, transportation, insurance, employment, awareness of resources and personal health.
“We’re looking forward to using the information we gathered at our forum in September to move the needle on this important issue,” said Jackie McDermott, co-chair of the fund’s Grants Committee. “West Akron has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the state, and we want to do everything we can to make sure mothers in our community don’t lose their babies.”
The impact grant will represent an additional $50,000 in funding above and beyond the Women’s Endowment Fund’s annual grantmaking to programs that improve the health, safety and finances of women and girls. Last year, the fund awarded grants totaling $114,460 to provide financial counseling to women in poverty, purchase baby supplies for homeless teenage mothers, and support job readiness programs for women recovering from addiction, among other critical initiatives.
Qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations should apply for a grant online by Nov. 15, 2017. A link to the grant application is available at www.akroncf.org/applyWEF.
A committee of Women’s Endowment Fund board members, donors and community leaders will review the grant requests. The committee may require a site visit or in-person applicant interview during the grant-making process.
Grants will be announced in March. Preference is given to programs that involve collaboration with other agencies, and efforts to obtain matching funds are encouraged. Requests for trips, general operating expenses, computers and office equipment are not generally considered unless they are program-related. Funds are not to be used for endowment purposes or to support scholarships, individuals, religious organizations for religious purposes, or organizations outside of Summit County.
For more information about the application process, contact John Garofalo, Akron Community Foundation’s vice president of community investment, at (330) 436-5624 or [email protected].
The Women’s Endowment Fund of Akron Community Foundation was established in 1993 as a permanent endowment committed to encouraging the advancement of local women and girls and their growth as philanthropists. To date, the fund has grown to more than $3.2 million and awarded more than $960,000 in grants to programs that uplift and empower women and girls throughout Summit County. Contributions of any amount are welcome and can be made online at www.akroncf.org/give/WEF or mailed to Women’s Endowment Fund of Akron Community Foundation, 345 W. Cedar St., Akron, OH 44307. For more information, call 330-376-8522 or visit www.womensendowmentfund.org.
