Women Working to Dismantle Poverty

Dear [contact-firstname],

World Poverty Day is an international event designed to reset the alarm to dismantle poverty and bring attention to those who are marginalized by poverty. It is no small task, evident by the continued increase in need shown in the 2008 Census report published last month. Women and their families are disproportionately affected by poverty, and the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis, with your help, is in a unique position to communicate the gap in resources and work to expand economic opportunities for all.

Read Congressman Steve Cohen’s Letter of Endorsement.

Record Setting $630,000 Awarded
in Core Grant-making

Lori Guy (left) and Meg Jones (right) accept their grant award on behalf of Community Legal Center from Mary Wolff (centered)

On October 8, the Women’s Foundation hosted the 2009 Annual Grants Showcase and Volunteer Recognition at the Memphis Botanic Gardens. The event was sponsored by Morgan Keegan for the fifth consecutive year. Anita Vaughn, WFGM Board Chair, and Mary Wolff, WFGM Grants Committee Chair, welcomed over 400 guests to this stellar event celebrating the Foundation’s 14 years of core grant-making. Grants Showcase Co-Chairs Beverly Cross and Jennifer Oswalt, WFGM Board of Directors, announced that the Women’s Foundation awarded $630,000 to 28 programs serving 11,650 participants. Honorary 2009 Grants Showcase Co-Chairs Ellen Cooper Klyce and Gladys A. Sawyer, former WFGM Board of Directors, highlighted another milestone for the Women’s Foundation – granting a total of $4.7 million to 296 programs over the past 14 years. WFGM also celebrated the nearly $6.3 million invested in the Memphis HOPE partnership, now in its fifth year. Those funds are being used to eliminate poverty and eradicate the multi-generational dependence on public housing.

Learn more about the 2009-2010 Grantee partners.

Click here to view 200-2009 Women’s Foundation volunteers.

PROGRAMMING

Women’s Economic Security Campaign Launched

Grants Showcase attendees learn more about WESC

At the 2009 Grants Showcase, the Women’s Economic Security Campaign (WESC) launched on a local level. The purpose of the WESC is to link the collective power and resources of women’s funds to ensure that the struggles single, female-headed households and their families face are at the center of efforts to rebuild our nation’s economy. The campaign is a communication and action engine galvanizing those who desire social change. On a local level, WFGM has partnered with The Memphis Area Women’s Council and The Center for Research on Women, which analyzed local research to uncover the impact of poverty and policy on local women. Sign on to be a partner in the WESC Memphis as WFGM executes a plan of action for upcoming national legislation and policies. WESC Memphis is initially focusing on the following three areas of action:

• Women and Green Jobs
• Reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families law
• Workforce Investment Act

Memphis HOPE Receives
$117,000 Scholarship Grant

In order to build a better tomorrow, Urban Strategies Memphis HOPE has designed and implemented programs to assist families in achieving economic and housing self-sufficiency. The diverse network of community partners, led by the philanthropic efforts of the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis, has enabled Urban Strategies Memphis HOPE to establish initiatives that improve day-to-day living for clients. Now through a $117,000 grant, youth ages 15-20 can earn money for post-secondary education and training following high school graduation through the Memphis HOPE Youth Assets For Independence (AFI) Program, funded by the Women’s Foundation. The program is designed to serve 100 employed youth by matching every $1 the students deposit into their Individual Development Account (IDA) through First Tennessee Bank, with $8 of Memphis HOPE funding. The program will also provide an opportunity for youth to receive first-hand knowledge about banking, life-skills training, career and education counseling and tax preparation assistance.

LEADERSHIP

Celebrating Women’s Leadership

WFGM is proud to recognize supporters and friends who are recipients of the 2009 Memphis Business Journal Top 40 Under 40 award:

• Shante K. Avant, Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis
• Kimberly Dancy, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
• Angie Davis, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz
• Johnel Angel Evans, Medtronic
• Gwyn R. Fisher, MPACT Memphis
• Gretchen Wollert McLennon, Hyde Family Foundations
• Dr. Kia Young Tate, STAR Academy
• Pat Mitchell Worley, Memphis Music Foundation

PHILANTHROPY

What It Will Take

We have nurtured families and communities since before the dawn of memory – it takes planning, determination and nerves of steel. And time ... lots of time.

We have raised children and cared for the elderly, defined and maintained the household, pitched in at the schools, maintained the family faith, orchestrated its celebrations and facilitated careers while having our own. We’ve organized and archived, moved and resettled, worked with and done without and borrowed from those who went before us, taking in or letting out where necessary. We’ve kissed boo-boos and arbitrated spats, taught ABCs and steered conversations, costumed and carpooled … stood behind, sat through, held back, hovered over and smoothed out, and made it all look just like life unfolding apace.

And we see that a city’s requirements are not so different from that of a family—problems are persistent and entwined; solutions that absolutely solve one issue will likely exacerbate another. The age of technology cannot hide our children from us unless we close our eyes and count to 10, and virtual answers will never adequately address physical need.

In our day, impressive amounts of money have been directed toward inequities, with social programs assembled and initiatives mounted. Why then does the need seem always to eclipse our progress?

The problem is that society concentrates on making money and hoping someone manages to find the time.

Somehow, borrowing from our wealth of experience, we must resolve to make the time, and then to find the money.

Calendar of Events

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

On Cable Tonight with the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis
Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 6:30 p.m.

Tune into the live broadcast of On Cable Tonight with the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis on Channel 17 at 6:30 p.m. In recognition of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and October 17 as World Poverty Day, community leaders will discuss the connection between violence and poverty.

Southeastern Council on Foundations Annual Meeting
November 11–13, 2009

Peabody Hotel, Memphis
For more information, visit www.secf.org.

National Philanthropy Day
November 15, 2009

Legends Award Art Exhibition
November 18, 2009

Opening at the National Civil Rights Museum, 450 Mulberry St., Memphis, TN 38103

Call for Volunteers!
Monday, November 16, 2009, 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

We need your help at our WFGM Phon-a-thon. Please contact Brenna Ragghianti at brennaragghianti@wfgm.org to volunteer. The Phon-a-thon will be at Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women.