Grantee Updates
2023 Grants Awarded Supporting Women & Girls
Fond du Lac Area Women’s Fund has awarded its 2023 grants. The programs selected are a mix of new programs and existing ones having a demonstrated record of impact. Many 2023 awards address an aspect of the Women’s Fund’s current initiative, Fond du Lac Says No More: Preventing Violence Against Fond du Lac Area Women and Children.
Congrats to 2023 Grant Recipients
Prevention Education Enhancement | ASTOP Inc.
Funding Priority: Education, Health and Well-Being, Safety, Dignity and Freedom from Violence
ASTOP received $900 for their Protective Behaviors curriculum, facilitated by ASTOP’s Prevention Educator. The protective behaviors curriculum teaches students 4k through elementary age that everyone has the right to feel safe, and that they can talk with anyone they trust. ASTOP will purchase teaching aids, growing the program’s reach and increasing inclusivity to BIPOC students, and those with differing abilities.
Parent Life | Badgerland Youth for Christ (YFC)
Funding Priority: Education, Economic Self-Sufficiency, Safety, Dignity and Freedom from Violence,
Health and Well-Being
YFC “Parent Life” is an at-risk initiative in the Fond du Lac area reaching pregnant and parenting teens and their children through intentional relationships with trained adults and community partnerships. The $1,000 grant will support the program’s work to manage the crisis of pregnant and parenting teens; help position pregnant and parenting teens for long-term success, giving them access to opportunities to grow in healthy ways; and increase parental support to aid in the development of children and their parents.
Teen Group | Big Brothers Big Sisters of FDL County:
Funding Priority: Economic Self-Sufficiency, Education, Health and Well-Being, Leadership Development, Safety, Dignity & Freedom from Violence
Started in 2019, the Teen Group is made up of diverse teen girls and boys who meet weekly from September face-to-face. The $1000 grant will support the program’s focus on improving self-esteem and healthy relationships. Topics include grief, race, self-control, hygiene, anxiety/stress, post-secondary education or workforce after school.
SMART Girls | Boys & Girls Club of Fond du Lac
Funding Priority: Education, Health and Well-Being, Safety, Dignity and Freedom from Violence
A grant of $1,500 will enable the Boys & Girls Club to effectively continue its impactful SMART Girls program, allowing 75 girls ages 10-17 to develop positive attitudes, build effective life skills, and feel empowered to become responsible adult women through health, prevention/education and self-esteem enhancement activities
Gymnastic Scholarships | Fond du Lac Family YMCA:
Funding Priority: Education, Health and Well-Being, Leadership Development
Gymnastics helps youth value hard work, reach for excellence and enjoy spirited competition, all while making new friends, improving skills and being active. Through the $1,000 grant, they are able to ensure that the gymnastics program is available to all regardless of their financial capabilities.
Tutoring Services | Fond du Lac Adult Literacy Services
Funding Priority: Education, Economic Self-Sufficiency, Health and Well-Being
The $2,500 grant funds will strengthen free tutoring provided by FLS to approximately 175 adults in reading, writing speaking and math. Funds will support training volunteer tutors, administering assessments, enrolling learners/tutors, and providing community support and outreach with the FDL Library and United Way.
Girls on the Run | Fond du Lac County
Funding Priority: Education, Health and Well-Being
Girls on the Run received $2,500 to continue their programming that inspires girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident using fun, experience-based curricula that creatively integrate running. It is a physical activity-based positive youth development (PYD) program designed to enhance third through eighth-grade girls social, psychological, and physical skills and behaviors to successfully navigate life experiences. The program’s intentional curriculum places an emphasis on the development of competence, confidence, connection, character, caring, and contribution in young girls. Trained, caring, and qualified coaches deliver the life skills curriculum during out-of-school times by guiding small teams of girls through twice-a-week lessons that promote social-emotional learning concurrently with physical activity. The program culminates with girls positively impacting their communities through a service project and completing a celebratory, non-competitive 5K event.
Healing Through Reiki | Mahala’s Hope at Riley’s Ranch of Recovery
Funding Priority: Education, Health and Well-Being
Mahala’s Hope transforms lives through nature-based healing programs of recovery. Through the $2370 grant received, Mahala’s Hope will continue Reiki therapy as a part of the holistic, whole-person approach to long-term recovery. They plan to continue contracting with a certified Reiki practitioner to provide services. Through this program, clients will become certified level I Reiki Practitioners.
Working Families Grant | Marian University
Funding Priority: Economic Self-Sufficiency, Education
The $2500 grant supports the Working Families Grant (WFG) Program which assists economically, disadvantaged single parents to achieve a four-year undergraduate degree by providing: coaching, mentoring and life skills development; financial assistance for tuition, housing, childcare, food, basic living and hardship needs; budget counseling; personal counseling; academic advising and support; career assessment and development.
Student Emergency Fund | Moraine Park Technical College:
Funding Priority: Education, Economic Self Sufficiency
The FDL Area Women’s Fund $2,500 Emergency Fund provides financial assistance to FDL County women enrolled at MPTC who are at risk of dropping out due to unforeseen financial emergencies. The Fund provides grants for assistance with car repairs, rent, utility bills, dependent care, or other types of financial assistance.
Mattress Purchases | Sleep in Heavenly Peace
Funding Priority: Health and Well-Being, Safety, Dignity and Freedom From Violence
Supporting the mission of “no child sleeping on the floor in our town,” the $1,600 grant will support the purchase of mattresses to complete 30 bed sets in order to have them ready in storage to meet demand.
Getting Ahead Safety Workshops: Safety for All of Us | Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Fond du Lac Council
Funding Priority: Safety, Dignity and Freedom From Violence
St. Vincent de Paul-Fond du Lac received $2180 to support a project to develop and present a Safety Workshop applicable to our Getting Ahead staff and volunteers working with the vulnerable populations, children, women, men and the marginalized poor of SKDHS. The project will adapt the Safe Environment (Milwaukee Archdiocese) curriculum and include the Green Dot program.
Emergency Financial Assistance | Solutions Center Shelter & Support Services, Inc.:
Funding Priority: Economic Self Sufficiency, Safety, Dignity and Freedom from Violence, Health and Well-Being
Solutions Center received $1250 for emergency financial assistance which focuses on enhancing the physical and emotional safety of women and girls in our community by closing the gap between surviving and thriving through one-time financial assistance. Through this financial assistance, we have the opportunity to help girls and women meet their goals and full potential by removing financial barriers to safety and stability for women affected by domestic violence; and connect homeless women to employment and housing resources.
Youth Leadership of Fond du Lac | Sophia Transformative Leadership Partners Inc.:
Funding Priority: Leadership Development
Sophia Partners received $2,200 for the Youth Leadership Fond du Lac program created in 2006 to give emerging young leaders, both girls and boys, the opportunity to see how the community works, where its opportunities lie and how they can fit into future solutions. The program aims to provide emerging young leaders with knowledge and experiences that provide insight to their own leadership potential by encouraging self-awareness, collaboration, and personal well-being; increasing the student participants’ awareness and understanding of their communities – its opportunities, challenges, and ways to get involved; introducing students to career opportunities and work sectors in local businesses, government, education, non-profit, and other entities, within the greater Fond du Lac community.
