In 2024, A Fund for Women awarded $138,000 in grants to 10 organizations that provide programs and support to empower people who identify as women and girls and strengthen their opportunities for success.
$20,000 for Cultivating Wealth. Expanding on its successful Latinas in Savings program, Centro’s Cultivating Wealth program will teach financial skills to girls and young women from middle school through college. Promoting financial literacy with younger participants not only provides them with the skills they need, but also benefits family members and others in the community as they share their knowledge.
$5,000 for general operations to help cover the government funding gap for services. As the population of Dane County has grown, so has the need for culturally appropriate services to support survivors of domestic abuse. At the same time, government funding has become more unpredictable. This grant will allow DAIS to maintain its critical services for the community.
$25,000 for Women in Natural Resource Management. Continuing its work to provide career pathways for women in conservation, the Women in Natural Resource Management program will provide training for more than 100 women in areas such as land restoration and tree management. Building on strong partnerships with organizations such as Operation Fresh Start, Centro Hispano, the Boys & Girls Clubs and the city’s community centers, this program aims to specifically reach women experiencing un/underemployment.
$15,000 to provide wraparound support for Odyssey families. As the UW Odyssey project works to address inequities in Dane County by empowering low-income students through education, they provide more than tutoring. Because these students live near the poverty line, the program offers them support with housing, transportation, food and childcare to prevent these obstacles from becoming insurmountable barriers to staying in school.
$10,000 for Community English. Serving a community primarily composed of English language learners, the Literacy Network’s Community English program supports ESL learners whose goals include supporting their children’s education and opening doors to new economic and social opportunities. This grant will help provide services to at least 175 women as they advance their language skills.
$15,000 for Transform – Transgender Women’s Employment Program. This grant continues AFFW’s support of the Transform program, allowing OutReach to continue building this supportive resource for transgender women looking for employment in Madison and Dane County. The program offers mentorship, career readiness training and financial management skills, providing holistic support for a population that faces regular discrimination in the workforce.
$8,000 for the Women’s Employment and Education Fund. The Fund supports people who identify as women in the Road Home’s housing programs who as they work to obtain or maintain employment. By defraying the costs of childcare, car repairs or gas, bus passes, or education and training fees, this program strives to eliminate barriers that might otherwise derail participants’ progress toward stable housing and employment.
$15,000 to create a Spanish-language curriculum for a community-based doula training. The immigrant-led Roots4Change Cooperative is working to fill a gap in training related to care for immigrant women immediately before, during and after childbirth. The training these women are developing will combine practical and theoretical learning with an understanding of the needs and traditions of Latina immigrants.
$15,000 for the Third Street housing program. The YWCA’s Third Street program provides affordable housing and support for single mothers in their last trimester of pregnancy or who have children under the age of five. This grant will support the Direct Assistance program, which supports the program’s participants as they move toward economic stability for themselves and their families.
$10,000 to support the organization’s advocacy efforts to improve childcare funding in Wisconsin. Early childhood education and care is the foundation for thriving children and families, but has seen only limited public investment for decades. WECA is leading a statewide advocacy effort to increase public funding to improve and transform Wisconsin’s early childhood education system.
2023 Grants
Bayview Foundation
$10,400 (year two of a two-year grant) to the Women’s Advancement Planning Pilot team to identify the greatest barriers facing Bayview’s women and girls as they strive for success.
Centro Hispano
$15,000 to the Latinas in Savings initiative, helping participants understand their finances and overcome barriers to saving through culturally competent financial education and one-on-one support.
Domestic Abuse Intervention Services
$5,000 to help cover the direct costs of operating the DAIS shelter, which provides support, information and resources to women fleeing domestic abuse.
Friends of the UW Odyssey Project
$13,000 to help provide wrap-around financial support for women in the UW Odyssey Project and their families so they can focus on continuing their education.
Latino Academy of Workforce Development
$10,000 toward mentorship of Latina young adults, providing Spanish-language GED courses, bilingual workforce training, college applications and job searches.
Literacy Network
$10,000 to the Community English program, teaching English language skills to women through online and in-person classes at partnering public schools and libraries throughout Dane County.
Madison Reading Project
$500 to the Empowering Girls Through Literacy program, connecting girls to books that affirm and reflect their identities.
Omega School
$15,000 to help provide personalized instruction, virtual learning platforms and wrap-around support services for women pursing a GED or HSED.
OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center
$15,000 to the Transgender Women Employment Program to offer mentoring, career and financial wellness coaching, and connections to LGBTQ+-friendly employers.
Road Home Dane County
$5,000 to the Women’s Employment and Training Fund, offering financial assistance to remove barriers for women in housing programs who are working toward obtaining and maintaining employment.
UNIDOS
$30,000 to the Mujeres Adelante (Women Moving Forward) Project, facilitating economic and financial independence for Latina survivors of domestic abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking.
Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation
$10,000 to help provide one-on-one mentoring, training and access to capital to improve economic growth and success for women entrepreneurs.
YWCA
$11,500 to the Third Street Program, providing affordable housing options and rental, transportation, employment, education and moving assistance to single mothers.
2022 Grants
Bayview Foundation A $15,000 grant to the Women’s Advancement Planning Pilot Year 1, for a team of female residents, already leaders in the community, to design a study focused on learning what is most needed by Bayview's women and girls to succeed.
Centro Hispano A $23,000 grant to the Latinas in Saving Initiative, to help participants understand their finances and achieve savings goals, and to work with local credit unions to support participants with access to low- or no-cost savings accounts and a savings match program.
Foundation for Dane County Parks A $21,711 grant for Chainsaw Workshops for Women, to provide women – specifically those of color, living in poverty and unstable economic conditions, and those with weak benefits and low/volatile hours – with the knowledge, confidence, and hands-on skills to pursue a career in natural resource management.
Latino Academy of Workforce Development A $20,000 grant to the Advancing Latina Career Pathways program, to expand education and job training services for Latinas in Dane County by providing more personalized, responsive mentoring and career coaching, and offering the region’s only Spanish-language GED and bilingual workforce training programs.
Friends of the UW Odyssey Project A $26,260 grant for wraparound support for Odyssey Women students and their families, to help them find pathways out of poverty through higher education, with an increased emphasis on providing financial assistance with basic needs such as housing, food, and transportation so they can remain focused on their studies.
OutReach A $3,500 grant to help transgender women feel more comfortable and better equipped to build a more stable future, by providing them with financial assistance to update identification documents and for purchasing gender-affirming clothing and accessories.
Progress Center for Black Women A $20,000 grant to the Under One Roof program, to provide both immediate interventions and long-term strategies for women and their families to receive counseling, education, coaching, and other resources in one place.
The Road Home Dane County A $10,000 grant to the Women’s Employment and Training Fund to help women and teen girls avoid the financial barriers surrounding accessing and maintaining quality employment, such as costs for childcare, car repair, testing, college application fees, work clothing, gas cards, and bus passes.
2021 Grants
Centro Hispano A $10,000 proactive grant will help Centro Hispano provide services to undocumented and immigrant members of Madison’s Latino community.
A $20,000 grant to Centro’s CAMINOS Career Pathways program will help provide employment training for Latinas in finance and nursing, and to overcome barriers to advancing their careers through the Progreso program.
Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS) This $10,000 proactive grant will be used to provide direct aid to women facing financial hurdles to leaving a domestic violence situation. This will help cover everything from housing stabilization and relocation expenses, lock changes, legal expenses, prescriptions and transportation.
Freedom, Inc. The $10,000 proactive grant will help Freedom, Inc. continue to provide culturally specific healing spaces and community building and strengthening work in the LGBTQI+, Black and Southeast Asian communities in Dane County.
Latino Academy A $15,000 grant to the Latina Workforce Advancement Project will help providing individualized mentoring, education and career support for at least 95 Dane County Latinas in 2022. The program includes bilingual career training, Spanish GED classes and a Women in the Workplace Mentorship Program.
Omega School This $20,000 grant for the BIPOC Mothers Virtual/Blended Program will help provide education support for young BIPOC mothers looking to pursue their GED or HSED by providing support, technical devices and connections to wrap-around services through their choice of either a virtual or in-person program.
The Road Home A $10,000 grant to the Women’s Employment & Training fund will help women and their teenage daughters in The Road Home’s housing programs cover expenses such as child care, car repair, testing fees, professional clothing and bus tickets that otherwise might stand in the way of their ability to work.
UW Odyssey Project This $20,000 grant will help provide wrap-around support to Odyssey families who have been hard-hit by the pandemic – both economically and emotionally. To help ensure their academic success, the Odyssey Project Success Coach helps students and alumni take care of their other needs by connecting them with rent assistance, organizations helping alleviate food insecurity, and other resources they need.
YWCA Madison This $20,000 grant will help support the YWCA Madison’s Empower Home program, which provides a safe transitional environment for people who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing homelessness due to domestic violence or sexual assault. By providing “housing first” support and resources, the Empower Home program helps participants transition into permanent housing and economic stability.
2020 Grants
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, A Fund for Women took immediate action with proactive grants to help women and girls faced with increasingly insecure access to shelter, food, and income due to COVID-19’s impact on Dane County.
Centro Hispano This $7,500 grant will help Centro Hispano provide support to the Latino community, which has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
DAIS The stresses of the state’s shelter in place order have an especially high impact on those experiencing or at risk for domestic violence. The $20,000 grant will help DAIS meet the increased need for all of its programs, including providing outreach to victims who may be sheltering in place with their abusers to redeploying staff to the Kid’s Space to give extra support to families trying to manage kids and schoolwork at home, to providing additional services at their shelter to keep both staff and residents safe.
Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness The unprecedented family and community destabilization caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have hit Black women particularly hard. The $20,000 grant from AFFW will help the Foundation provide emergency financial assistance to local women and families affected by the pandemic, and help for women trying to navigate to other critical life- and health-sustaining resources.
Latinx Consortium Emergency Relief Fund Latino workers in Dane County often are not eligible for federal stimulus and relief programs because of their immigration status. Many also are uninsured and working in the service industry, making them particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. AFFW's $30,000 grant will help the fund, established by the Latinx Consortium Action – a collective of Latino-led organizations under the lead of Centro Hispano – provide support to families to help cover rent or pay other bills, and to small business owners struggling to meet payroll.
Madison Reading Project With the libraries and schools closed, many children have lost access to books while at home during the pandemic. This $500 grant will help provide books to students so they can continue to experience the benefits and joy of reading.
The Odyssey Project Many Odyssey Project students face challenges accessing the program's online educational classes because they lack WiFi minutes on their phones. This $5,000 grant will provide reliable internet access for 10 Odyssey students and their families.
YWCA Madison Both the YWCA’s Single Women’s Housing program and Empower Home provide vital shelter and support to women and families who are homeless or are at high risk for homelessness. Many of the women have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic, increasing their already significant stress. Others are escaping domestic violence, which has been exacerbated by the shelter at home orders. This $20,000 grant will allow YWCA to provide support to these women and take additional steps to keep them safe from COVID-19.