Grant Recipients Womens Fund of Green Bay

Grant Recipients 2007

Applicant: *ASPIRO, Inc. Project: Respite Care for Single Mothers with Special Needs Children
Summary: Taking care of a child with special needs is extremely demanding, especially as a single parent. Single parents carry the entire responsibility of caring for their children with special needs and do not have the luxury of a spouse who can provide them with a break. Concurrently the waitlist for permanent respite care for families with special needs children can be as long as 10 years through Brown County Human Services. ASPIRO's respite care program provides temporary care for children and adults with development disabilities in order to alleviate family stress and to strengthen the families' ability to provide care. About one-third of referrals for respite care are for situations involving a child or children with special needs being raised by a single mother. Nearly all of them live in low-income households. A Women's Fund grant will provide 8 to 10 single mothers and 8 to 10 female children each with a weekend of respite care.

Applicant: Encompass Early Education and Care, Inc.
Project: 4K for children of single mothers
Summary: Four-year old kindergarten (4K) emphasizes early reading and writing activities, pre-math skills, kindergarten readiness, and parent involvement. Encompass requests funds for single mothers who do not have the financial resources to provide their children with the 4K fee. Four-year old kindergarten is not currently offered by the Green Bay area public schools. A Women's Fund grant will underwrite the 4K fee for more than 20 low-income children of single mothers who are already enrolled in Encompass.

Applicant: Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin Project: Sexual Assault Center Legal Advocate
Summary: The Sexual Assault Center provides legal advocacy services to victims of sexual assault, including accompanying victims to court when they must be present to testify at court hearings. Because of the increase of victims requesting legal advocacy, the Sexual Assault Center requested funds to increase the hours of their Legal Advocate in order to continue to provide emotional support to victims through the judicial process. A GGBCF grant would cover additional staff time so an advocate can attend court hearings with more sexual assault victims.

Applicant: Golden House
Project: Transportation Needs
Summary: Golden House provides a dignified sanctuary, supportive intervention, and advocacy services to victims of domestic violence in the Brown County area. Most women staying at the center are low-income, and one of the obstacles to these women's self-sufficiency is lack of transportation to go to their jobs, or to access other social services, such as job skills training, interviews, rental assistance programs, W2 programs, etc. A grant from the Women's Fund will provide bus tokens and gas cards to women and children at Golden House needing transportation.

Applicant: *Greater Green Bay Habitat for Humanity
Project: Women's Build
Summary: Habitat for Humanity has provided 35 low-income families with simple, decent and affordable homeownership since 1986. Habitat requests funding for a Women Build that will involved approximately 250 women and teenage girl volunteers to build a house (save services of licensed contractors). The objectives of the build are to construct a home for one of Habitat's partner families, and to increase the self-esteem of women and teenage girls on an individual and group basis. The house would be completed by the end of 2007. The last Women Build was in 2005. A Women's Fund grant will help with construction and material costs.

Applicant: Literacy Council of Brown County
Project: Childcare for ELL classes
Summary: The Literacy Council provides English Language Learner classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings (as well as at other times) at the Learning Center. Childcare is integral to the success of the program and its participants. Targeted parents cannot afford childcare or have spouses that work separate shifts, and would be unable to attend class without childcare services. A Women's Fund grant will provide some of the wages for a childcare provider for the children of participants enrolled in the Adult ELL classes for a total of 42 weeks.

Applicant: New Community Shelter
Project: Barrier Reduction for Women
Summary: The New Community Shelter serves homeless men and women by providing supportive services and housing. A grant from the Women's Fund will provide for GED/HSED educational expenses and for programming specifically for women at the shelter.

Applicant: *St. Vincent Hospital
Project: Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners program
Summary: The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program offers survivors of sexual assault with prompt, compassionate care and comprehensive forensic evidence collection. Approximately 200 sexual assault survivors are seen by SANEs annually. Victims are not charged for forensic evidence and this service is not reimbursed by law enforcement. (Neither does law enforcement provide this service). Often the photos and other evidence collected play an important role in the conviction of those committing sexual assault. A Women's Fund grant will purchase a digital camera and necessary supplies to allow the SANE program to provide forensic evidence to law enforcement.

Applicant: *Wellspring
Project: Celebrate Self Esteem
Summary: Wellspring, an on-going project of the Sister's of St. Francis, meets the needs of homeless and disenfranchised women (at no cost) in the downtown Green Bay area by providing a welcoming, safe environment where women mentor other women to empower themselves. In 2006, 3,000 women used Wellspring services, including many homeless women and women in crisis. Many Wellspring visitors lack positive self image and self-confidence and this can be an obstacle to sustaining a job and residence. Wellspring would like to offer. A Women's Fund grant will cover the costs of a program in which women will be guided to enhance and celebrate their self-esteem. 2006
9/15/2006 YWCA of Green Bay-De Pere Women's Closet
The YWCA's Women's Closet provides free, work-appropriate clothing to nearly 700 low-income women. Because the composition of clients has changed, a part-time bi-lingual staff person has been employed. The YWCA's objective is to continually expand the number of low-income women served and to develop related support services to enhance a client's success at work. A grant from the Women's Fund underwrote a portion of program operations in 2006.

9/15/2006 Girl Scouts of Lac Baie Council, Inc. Making America Home program
The Girl Scouts of Lac Baie Council serves approximately 5,000 girls ages 5-17 and 1,500 women in Northeast Wisconsin. Due to the increase in diversity and immigration in the region, the Girl Scouts would like to increase awareness of and sensitivity to other cultures. Funding from the Women's Fund supported the development of the "Making America Home" packaged program about immigration.

9/15/2006 ASPIRO, Inc. Positive Parenting Program curriculum ASPIRO seeks to pilot a validated parenting curriculum entitled "Health and Wellness Program" for its Positive Parenting Program clients. This curriculum is specifically developed for families where the mothers have cognitive disabilities and are at risk of child neglect. A grant from the Women's Fund supported the use of the curriculum for 9 single-parent families. If the pilot is successful, the agency will expand the effort by incorporating it into its home visiting program used with all its client families.

9/15/2006 Encompass Early Education & Care, Inc.
Scholarship assistance to homeless children. This past year 21 children enrolled in Encompass were from families staying in area homeless and transitional shelters. Encompass works with its low-income families to locate all available funding assistance but is not able to support all families that need help. A grant from the Women's Fund subsidized the care for children of homeless families while the mother obtains a job, enrolls in school, or takes care of other business necessary to get out of homelessness.

9/15/2006 Integrated Community Services, Inc.
Retreat for clients of the Family Self-Sufficiency program Integrated Community Services' Family Self-Sufficiency program (FSS) helps low-income families become self-sufficient (and less dependent on government assistant programs) through education, training, case management, and supportive services. Currently the program serves 100 women who follow 5-year individualized plans that may include learning critical life skills, pursuing basic education, or developing financial plans. Participation in the FSS program has tripled since 2004. A grant from the Women's Fund supported a one-day retreat for 40 clients to work on emotional and self-confidence barriers to self-sufficiency.

9/15/2006 Golden House Transportation Assistance
Golden House (formerly the Family Violence Center) provides sanctuary, supportive intervention, and advocacy for victims of domestic violence in the Brown County area. Most women staying at the center are low-income, and one of the obstacles to these women's self-sufficiency is lack of transportation to their jobs or other services, such as job skills training, interviews, rental assistance programs, W2 programs, and others. A grant from the Women's Fund of Greater Green Bay will impact the lives of 240 women and girls by providing bus tokens and gas cards to clients at Golden House who need transportation.

9/15/2006 Greater Green Bay YMCA, Inc.
Girls' Night Out The YMCA's Girls' Night Out is a 10-week program designed to help 200 girls sort out the various pressures they face, such as sex, drugs, violence, and media influences. The program, for sixth graders, provides tools to help the girls build self-confidence, to make smart decisions, and to develop a positive self-identity. The program began in 2000 at Franklin Middle School and expanded to include 8 area middle schools (two of which are economically disadvantaged schools in downtown Green Bay). A grant from the Women's Fund supported a portion of this program.

9/15/2006 Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, Inc.
Youth Orchestra Program scholarships The Green Bay Youth Symphony Orchestra provides an environment for young musicians to gain confidence, dedication, and skill. The Youth Symphony also offers education, performances, and outreach to area schools . It currently serves 170 youth, of whom 70% are female. A grant from the Women's Fund supported scholarships for girls with demonstrated financial need to be able to participate in the Youth Symphony. Students were identified with the help of local teachers.

9/15/2006 St. Vincent de Paul House of Hope Car Safety House of Hope is a "live-in life skills training center" operated by St. Vincent DePaul for homeless pregnant or parenting youth (ages 18-24). The Brown County Car Seat Program teaches House of Hope clients how to use a car or toddler seat safely. However, the majority of the 30 young women served by the program each year do not own or have access to car seats for their children. If House of Hope were to use donated car seats, the agency is liable if the child is in a car accident. A grant from the Women's Fund of Greater Green Bay provided car seats to these young at-risk mothers.

9/15/2006 NEWIST/CESA #7 Video Distribution, "The Game's Over, Women in prison" NEWIST's objective is to provide a copy of the documentary to every public and private middle and high school in Door, Kewaunee, and Oconto County, reaching an estimated 10,000 girls. The 30 minute documentary, premiering Fall, 2006, looks at life inside of a women's prison, choices the inmates made that brought them there, and personal advice given by inmates on how girls can stay out of prison. Along with the documentary, NEWIST provides teacher resources and guides for related activities. A Women's Fund Grant helped support these outreach activities.

Grant Recipents 2005:

Boys & Girls Club of Green Bay
GoGirlGo!
The Boys & Girls Club is establishing the GoGirlGo! program to promote physical activity and good health for females between the ages of 7 and 18 years. Younger girls will participate in daily physical activities including group challenges, teambuilding activities, and journaling. Girls over 12 years of age will meet bi-weekly to improve their skills in activities such as biking, running, or yogilates. The Women’s Fund of Greater Green Bay grant of $800 will fund a portion of the activities of the GoGirlGo! program. This program has secured matching funds from the Triple Play program of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Encompass Child Care, Inc .
School-Age Mother Child Care Program
Encompass provides quality child care and early education for children in Brown County with a commitment to compassion, quality, and advocacy. The School-Age Mother Child Care Program provides care for children of financially needy teen parents at a reduced rate so mothers are able to complete one more year of high school. With the high rates of teen pregnancy in our area and the severe funding cuts in other programs serving this population, the education of these parents gives them a chance to become self-sufficient and better providers for their children. A grant of $1,700 from The Women’s Fund of Greater Green Bay will provide up to 10 children of teen parents with child care while their mothers attend school.

Family Violence Center - Golden House
Transportation assistance
The Family Violence Center - Golden House provides a dignified sanctuary, supportive intervention, and advocacy services to victims of domestic violence in the Brown County area. Most women staying at the center are low income, and one of the obstacles to these women’s self-sufficiency is lack of transportation to go to their jobs, or to access other social services, such as job skills training, interviews, rental assistance programs,W2 programs, etc. A grant of $800 from The Women’s Fund of Greater Green Bay will provide bus tokens and gas cards to women and children at Golden House needing transportation.

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
“Starting Over” project
The Nursing Assistant Program is the first step of a career ladder in the nursing field, and many women who are experiencing such situations as divorce, separation, widowhood, the disability of a spouse, or military duty of a significant other use this program to “start over” and to become the major earner in their family. A grant of $1,700 from The Women’s Fund of Greater Green Bay will provide Nursing Assistant program costs to five women from Brown, Door, Kewaunee, or Oconto counties who are experiencing a life-changing event and who show an interest in pursuing a career in the nursing profession.