Women's Fund invests in Canton-area nonprofits serving women and children

Canton Repository
·2 min read
Heart of Stark
Heart of Stark

In partnership with The Repository, every Monday, Stark Community Foundation highlights positive happenings in our community. Here’s to Good News Mondays!

The Women’s Fund, an endowment fund of Stark Community Foundation, recently announced the recipients of its 2024 grant cycle, with 10 nonprofits receiving more than $35,000 to support local programs addressing the needs of underserved women and children in Stark County.

Chosen programs serve at least one of the fund’s three priority focus areas: economic stability and advancement, mental and emotional health support and neighborhood-based programming.

This year’s grantees are:

  • Akron Children’s Hospital: $5,000 to support a pilot program aimed at training and educating new and expectant mothers on the importance of safe sleeping environments for infants.

  • Alliance Area Domestic Violence Shelter: $3,000 to purchase vouchers for Alliance YWCA’s clothing boutique and Alliance Area Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore for clients to purchase clothes and home items as they transition from shelter to new living arrangements.

  • Child & Adolescent Behavioral Health: $1,500 to purchase equipment and supplies to enhance the effectiveness of treatments for both children and adults in coping, processing and resolving their past traumatic situations.

  • Early Childhood Resource Center: $5,000 to support its neighborhood-based family engagement programming.

  • EN-RICH-MENT: $5,000 to expand its leadership and mentoring program that equips students with the skills, knowledge and support to reach their goals.

  • Feed Kids First: $3,000 to provide nutritious meal boxes for children in the Canton City School District during the long holiday break from school.

  • Hammer & Nails: $4,000 to help provide minor home repairs for low-income, elderly, disabled or widowed women homeowners.

  • Stark County Black Nurses Association: $4,000 to empower, support and motivate people who may be struggling with mental health issues.

  • The Legacy Project of Stark: $2,113 to purchase supplies its REMIX mentoring program for fourth through eighth grade students.

  • YMCA of Central Stark County: $2,500 to support its college and career readiness program that exposes minority teens to career options in building trades and STEM fields.

The Women’s Fund was created in 2006 by 12 visionary women out of concern for the growing poverty status of women and children in the community. They pooled their resources to create a charitable fund that would advance the status of Stark County women and children in perpetuity.

What started as an initial investment of $120,000 in 2006 has grown to more than $800,000 through the support of donations from individuals, families and businesses coupled with wise investing. Since its founding, The Women’s Fund has awarded almost $240,000 to 50 area nonprofits supporting underserved women and children.

Learn more about The Women’s Fund at www.starkcf.org/womensfund.

Stark Community Foundation helps individuals, families, businesses and nonprofits achieve their philanthropic goals through a variety of charitable funds and strategic initiatives. Ranked in the top 10% of community foundations in the country, the foundation and its family of donors have granted more than $250 million to nonprofits since 1963. Learn more at www.starkcf.org.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Women's Fund helps nonprofits in Canton area | Heart of Stark