Ensuring Women Survive and Thrive

The WCA Foundation, a Signature Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation, recently awarded $447,784 in grants to 18 organizations focused on meeting the fundamental needs of women through economic stability, education, shelter, safety, and health programs and initiatives.

“Community needs that surged during the pandemic have remained high, and today many nonprofits are navigating big changes as they emerge from the historic disruptions of the past three years,” said Amy Fistler, Advisory Board Chair of the WCA Foundation. “These grants demonstrate our trust in and appreciation for these local organizations that are providing critical services to women.”

One grant will support Women’s Advocates, a local organization dedicated to breaking the cycle of domestic violence through an emergency shelter, community outreach, and housing stabilization services.

The WCA Foundation is led by a group of volunteers, all women, who come together to learn about issues affecting women in the Twin Cities and review grant proposals from organizations addressing those needs. They steward an endowment of approximately $18 million and accept online grant applications twice a year, with deadlines in the spring and fall. The awards announced today will support organizations that applied for funding in the WCA Foundation’s Fall 2022 grant round.

“These women are a great example of how a small group of people can make a huge impact on an issue they care about,” said Julia Ruther, the Minneapolis Foundation’s Program Coordinator for Impact and Collective Giving. “The organizations represented in this grant round reflect their commitment to resourcing powerful women throughout our community.”

Photos provided by Women’s Advocates

• Alight received $30,000 for its Welcome Home Program, a sewing circle and safe space for women in the Afghan diaspora to connect with one another and learn about resources available across the community.
• COMPAS, Inc. received $20,000 to support its Women’s Writing & Arts Program, which brings poetry and visual art classes to women in metro-area jails and court-ordered programs.
• Connections to Independence received $25,000 for its Rondo Housing and Housing Stability Program, providing a residential home and support to navigate independent living for women who have aged out of foster care.
• ConnectUP Institute received $30,000 for its Integrated Capital Fund, which provides capital investment, business technical support, and coaching to women entrepreneurs from underestimated communities.
• Dakota Child and Family Clinic received $30,000 to resource its family planning services with long-acting reversible contraception for patients who are at high risk of unintended pregnancy.
• Emma Norton Services received $25,000 for Emma Norton Residence, its permanent supportive housing program for women who have recently experienced homelessness and are managing mental illness, substance use, or both.
• Family Tree Clinic received $22,000 for its clinic program to provide quality women’s healthcare services, including preventive health exams, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, and birth control information and supplies, to patients impacted by health inequities.
• Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery received $15,000 in general operating support for its primary services, giving mothers a break and providing critical resources for strong, healthy families.
• People’s Center Health Services received $10,740 for its Hooyo Program, which utilizes a group prenatal care model to support East African immigrant women in Minneapolis during pregnancy and childbirth.
• Pillsbury United Communities received $25,000 for its Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Program, which provides culturally relevant supports primarily to East African immigrant and refugee women experiencing intimate partner or sexual violence.
• Raise the Barr received $20,000 to provide compensation to its participant advisors who are critically involved in developing and optimizing its programming for low-income single-parent scholars and their children.
• St. Paul & Ramsey County Domestic Abuse Intervention Project received $30,000 in general operating support to provide increased protection and comprehensive legal, crisis, and transitional services for victims of domestic abuse and their children.
• Veteran Resilience Project received $18,044 to expand critical mental health services to victims of military sexual trauma.
• Women’s Advocates received $30,000 in general operating support for its services for victim-survivors of domestic violence, including providing crisis shelter and housing stability services.
• Walker West Music Academy received $30,000 for its Amazing Grace Chorus, a group that provides African American elders living with dementia and their caregivers an opportunity to sing gospel music, build community, and benefit from “wellness moments” like music and memory exercises.
• WellShare International received $30,000 to support a pilot program offering a peer support group and culturally specific education for Somali mothers.
• YouthLink received $27,000 to connect young mothers to its Family Case Manager, who provides critical help resourcing immediate needs, navigating systems, and accessing opportunities for education, housing, and employment.
• YWCA St. Paul received $30,000 to support YW Stride, a homelessness prevention program for young women of color transitioning out of the foster care system.

Learn more about the WCA Foundation. Information about the group’s next grant round will be released in late September. Nonprofits can sign up for updates about funding opportunities here.