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.
Multi-Year Program Grant, $4,000 FY11 and $4,000 FY12
Hampden County
Berkshire Community College
Through the “E3 Project (Education, Empowerment, and Encouragement),” BCC will design, pilot and evaluate a support program to serve its at-risk female population and offer two new course modules: life coaching services for at risk women, and co-curricular acitivies to support a personal and professional mentoring program. E3 will also develop a systemic change in the way support services at the college are offered to women and girls.
Capacity Building Grant, $3,000
Berkshire 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.
Capacity Building Grant, $3,000
Berkshire County
Community Action
“The Family Learning Center” aims to break intergenerational cycles of poverty and low literacy by helping women and their children reach their education, employment and other family goals through a comprehensive family literacy program for mothers and their children.
Program Grant, $7,000
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.
Multi-Year Program Grant, $5,000 FY11 and $5,000 FY12
Berkshire County
Girls Incorporated of the Berkshires
Girls Incorporated of the Berkshires, a program of the Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center, inspires all girls to be strong, smart and bold through its camp, community center, and outreach programs in gender equity and empowerment for school-age girls and teens.
Operating Support, (second year grantee) $10,000
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, $5,000 FY11 and $5,000 FY12
Hampden County
NEARI Jump-Start
Women’s Fund/Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Partner Grant
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 Support, $5,000 (all three focus areas)
Primarily 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.
$10,000 (second year of 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, (second year grant) $8,000
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.
Multi-Year Program Grant, $6,000 FY11 and $7,000 FY12
Berkshire County
Square One
The “Putnam Program,” a collaboration between Square One, Springfield Public Schools, the Regional Employment Board, American International College and Springfield Partnership for Community Action, prepares low-income Putnam Vocational Technical High School students for careers in the early education and care field through job readiness skill development.
Program Grant, $5,000
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.
Multi-Year Program Grant, $7,000 FY11 and $6,000 FY12
Hampshire and Franklin counties
Economic Justice Grants
Academy of Music
The “Women’s Work” initiative aims to combat the under representation of women playwrights, directors, designers and other theater professionals by increasing women’s employment in creative and technical capacity in local and regional theater, including productions, readings, lectures and other public engagement activities.
Program and Policy Grant, $5,000
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, $7,500
Hampden County
MotherWoman, Inc.
“MomsRising of the Pioneer Valley,” the bipartisan political arm of the organization, organizes a coalition of mothers and their allies to take political action on social and economic justice issues impacting mothers and their families through education, training, outreach and public events.
Program and Policy Grant, (second year grantee) $8,000
Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin Counties
Neighbor to Neighbor
(Education and Economic Justice)
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.
Multi-Year Program and Policy Grant, $7,000 FY11 and $7,000 FY12
Hampden County
Weston Rehabilitation Associates, Inc.,
Weston’s Employment and Training Program supports women in transition from jail and/or in-patient drug treatment by offering them on-site employment, employment skills development, economic literacy, and career planning and transition.
Program Grant (second-year grantee) $8,000
All four counties
Safety and Freedom from Violence Grants
Elizabeth Freeman Center
The “Battered Women’s Shelter 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. It also engages the community in the struggle to end violence against women.
Program Grant, (second year grantee) $8,000
All four counties
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.
Multi-Year Program and Policy Grant, $6,500 FY11 and $6,000 FY12
Hampden, Hampshire and Berkshire counties
Montague Catholic Social Ministries
“Live Smart, Live Safe (LS2)-Intergenerational Workshops, Building Skills for Independent Living” will expand women’s options in education, work and safety by linking older women with younger women through reciprocal mentoring.
Program Grant, $7,000
Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties
Safe Passage
Safe Passage serves women and children who have experienced physical or emotional abuse by offering services and engaging the community, and strives to create a community that does not tolerate violence against women and children.
Operating Support, (second year grantee) $8,000
All four counties
Top Floor Learning
Women’s Fund/ MicroTek Partner Grant
“Survivor’s Bridge” offers education, GED, ESL, citizenship and college entry level education along with one-to-one support to ensure that victims of domestic or dating violence reach their education and employment goals.
Program Grant, $7,000 (Safety and Freedom from Violence and Educational Access)
Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin 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.
Multi-Year Operating Support, $5,000 FY11 and $5,000 FY12
Primarily Hampden County
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