Park City Community Foundation’s Women’s Giving Fund makes an annual high-impact grant to an organization that serves Summit County women and children. The Women’s Giving Fund is an endowment, founded by over 1,000 members who each gave a $1,000 gift to become lifetime members. In July of 2017, the Women’s Giving Fund granted Peace House $30,000 to support construction of transitional housing for victims of domestic violence, just days after Peace House publicly announced their capital campaign.
Members of the Women’s Giving Fund Grant Committee met with Peace House at the end of February 2018 to hear about the progress they have made on the construction of the Community Campus that will combine all of their services in one location, including providing transitional housing for the first time.
“The Women’s Giving Fund Grant was like a stamp of approval saying that the women of Park City stand behind this project,” said Kendra Wyckoff, Executive Director of Peace House. This has helped the team at Peace House be successful in raising money to fund the new community campus building.
The recent site visit took place in the People’s Health Clinic break room, overlooking the Peace House building site. Groundbreaking occurred in in September of 2017, earthwork is currently under way, and the foundation will soon be poured. They hope to complete the facility in the first quarter of 2019.
Among other features, the new facility will address a key issue for domestic violence survivors: a safe, affordable place to stay, beyond the emergency shelter. Helping survivors be safe and stable is critical. The Women’s Giving Fund Grant has helped underscore the importance of solving this issue. Current wait lists for affordable housing in this area are 6-18 months or longer. This will be the first transitional housing program for domestic violence survivors and their children to support the service areas of Summit and Wasatch Counties.
This grant is about more than a new building. It is about the life-saving, life-changing support that Peace House provides for our community.