(May 2024) – The Women for Women (WFW) giving circle awarded six grants totaling $288,000 at a recent awards celebration. WFW has exceeded $5.2 million in grants to more than 60 programs serving WNC women and girls since 2006. Women for Women’s mission is to improve the lives of women and girls through collective giving.
“We are thrilled that our 2024 grants are reaching small grassroots organizations as well as established, larger nonprofits,” said WFW Grants Committee Chair Jill Preyer. “Our focus on economic empowerment will help lift up hundreds of women and girls in western North Carolina over the year.”
The 2024 grants are:
Aura Home Women Vets – $36,000 to provide safe, stable housing to help women Veterans readjust to civilian life. Funding will support administrative, marketing and office expenses, and the procurement of a new donor management software program. It will also provide direct assistance to female Veterans in Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, and Transylvania counties.
Just Economics – $20,000 to educate, advocate, and organize for a just and sustainable local economy that works for all in WNC. Funding will support general operations, primarily staff expenses, and the expansion of its living wage and paid family leave advocacy work in Buncombe County, Transylvania County and other rural WNC counties.
Mountain BizWorks – $30,000 over two years to serve 80 aspiring and existing Latina small business owners in actively growing their business skills and knowledge through Spanish language business courses, one on one coaching, and access to technology. The project will serve 18 counties in the WNC region, with a specific focus on expanding reach into rural communities.
Mountain Housing Opportunities – $125,000 to expand its Down Payment Assistance program. Leveraged with matched funds, individual household support will range from $5,000 to $40,000. This project will support up to 100 low-income households, 60-70% of which will be women-headed households, in Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson and Madison counties.
THRIVE Appalachia – $17,000 to create opportunities, connections, and hands-on learning experiences for youth who will benefit from a welcoming community. Funding will support microenterprise ventures that teach financial literacy and small business skills and provide apprenticeship opportunities to young women in Yancey, Mitchell and Avery counties.
YWCA of Asheville – $60,000 to support four key programs – Empowerment Childcare, MotherLove, Getting Ahead and Light a Path – that provide the practical assistance women in Buncombe County need to pursue economic or educational opportunities that enhance their access to socioeconomic mobility.
The Women’s Fund, a CFWNC endowment addressing the unmet needs of women and girls, contributed $73,510 to the grants.