Santa Barbara, CA – On Wednesday, May 1, 2019, the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara awarded grants totaling $585,000 to nine local nonprofit agencies at its 15th annual Celebration of Grants reception. This event marks the end of the annual Women’s Fund grant cycle and honors its newest grantees, voted on by the membership of nearly 1,000 women.

In celebrating the organization’s 15th anniversary, Steering Chair Shelley Hurst also announced the Women’s Fund will begin operations as an independent nonprofit on January 1, 2020.  Since it began in 2004, the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara has been a Field of Interest Fund of the Santa Barbara Foundation. 

To listen to the interview with Women's Fund Chair, Jamie Dufek, and Vice Chair, Carolyn Jabs on "Education Today"

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These are difficult times. The coronavirus has impacted us all in so many different ways. Our hearts break for those who are enduring the virus, those exposed, and those living in areas where the numbers keep rising exponentially.

For 15 years we have been committed to helping the most vulnerable in our community—women, children and families struggling to get by. Today that work is more important than ever. So, what do we do in a crisis when critical needs change on a daily basis?

The project is part of a bigger plan to get people off the streets and into transitional housing with services, and then find them permanent homes.
 

Note: 

The Women's Fund was recognized from the podium at the grant opening of Vera Cruz Village and also in the program:

"Thanks to a generous grant from the Women's Fund to the Housing Authority's nonprofit affiliate 2nd Story Associates, all 28 Vera Cruz's studio units were completely furnished, including beds, side and dining tables, chairs and dressers."

KCLU news story:

LIfe has been tough for Jesus Alfaro.

We asked Captains Caryl Bowman and Judi Brooks to explain why and how they started the new W2D2 group last fall.
What prompted you to start a group?
We both have been Women's' Fund group members for over five years. We wanted to invite additional friends to join us, but we prefer a smaller group that can meet in a member's home, get to know each other well and bond. Ultimately we decided to leave the group we were in and start a new one before the year-end deadline so we could vote in the spring as our new group.

It’s been proven: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can lead to serious health problems and shortened lives.
On October 29, Women’s Fund members and guests gathered at the New Vic Theater to hear a riveting forum about a ground-breaking ACE study. We also heard how a collaboration between Women’s Fund grantees CALM, SB Neighborhood Clinics (SBNC) and Isla Vista Youth Projects (IVYP) is creating a childhood safety net for ACEs victims and their families. 

An AHA! initiative called Peace Builders was recently expanded into four junior high schools—Santa Barbara, La Colina, La Cumbre, and Goleta Valley—after receiving a grant from the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara. The Peace Builders program consists of interactive workshops and bimonthly meetings that promote camaraderie in the classroom as well as empathy and curiosity among students and their peers, said Melissa Lowenstein, Programs Coordinator and Facilitator. “The idea is that we really want to empower the kids and have it be their program."

The Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara will host a site visit kick-off from 3–6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015, at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Barbara.

This annual event features progress reports from the seven local nonprofits that received Women’s Fund grants this past spring. For the first time, there will be a keynote speaker at the event: County of Santa Barbara District Attorney Joyce Dudley.

“Joyce knows that prevention and early intervention strategies are key to changing lives,” said Women’s Fund Chair Nancy Harter. “For more than a decade, the Women’s Fund has researched and funded local programs with those same strategies.”