Purpose of the Women’s Giving Fund
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. Today, there are over 1400 members.
Impact of Past Grantees
In addition to the impressive, grantee service delivery data, Women’s Giving Fund Members and the community at large are invited to read further about what happens when over 1300 women step up to help other women and children. Women in Summit County should know that the Women’s Giving Fund Endowment, its membership, and its grants committee are here to invest in and cheerlead local organizations working to eliminate struggles faced by women and children along their journeys.
Women’s Giving Fund grantee organizations exist to solve challenges unique to women and children. In the past 6 years, these organizations have 1) built space (actual buildings!) designed specifically for women and children in their darkest hours; 2) accounted for the needs of women and children of the future; 3) pivoted to address physical and mental health service gaps; and 4) arguably have evolved from service providers to thought leaders within their respective fields. Women’s Giving Fund membership support and their active participation in the grantee award process, is cherished and immeasurably impactful.
Holy Cross Ministries (2020 grantee)
Award: $40,000 to increase their signature wrap-around services for underserved women. Services include counseling, health coaching, health system navigation, translation, food security, transportation, and legal services. Clients may be referred to the Summit County Holy Cross Ministries Team based at Peace House and People’s Health Clinic. A post-grant site visit with HCM (Holy Cross Ministries) is scheduled for Q1 of 2021. Stay tuned!
People’s Health Clinic (2019 grantee)
Award: $35,000 to expand women’s and children’s healthcare services. In the 6 months following the grant (July to December 2019), PHC had over 3,100 female visits and over 500 child visits. 485 of those were prenatal visits. Prenatal visits numbers increased in 2019. PCH was able to stock more birth control options including the Depo-Provera shot and IUD options, making up for the loss of Planned Parenthood’s birth control efforts in our community. The Clinic established a satellite clinic monthly at McPolin Elementary and through that effort administered 112 flu shots and facilitated specialized dental and vision services for 83 children. AS well as provided much needed Asthma education to parents. Without the expanded efforts of Dalia Gonzalez, made possible through this grant, these are services we would have never been able to deliver to the most vulnerable among us. For the first 6 months of 2020 we have been dealing heavily with Covid and this position has been utilized heavily in setting up our tele-health services and the training of staff and volunteers, again proving to be invaluable to those most in need.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah / Wasatch & Summit Counties (2018 grantee)
Award: $33,000 toward increasing staff capacity in Summit County for the purposes of matching at-risk youth with Big Brother and Sister mentors. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah (Summit & Wasatch counties) relies on a thorough and data-informed background, intake and matching process for volunteer mentors, parents/guardians, and children. Since the 2018 award, BBBSU’s impact in Summit County includes 157 matches in 2019 and 117 matches in 2020. These include 1st – 12th grade Littles, among whom 91% were from low-to-moderate-income households, 30% live with a single mother, 5% had an incarcerated parent. Bigs, Littles, and caregivers are asked to commit for a minimum of one year; average match length in 2020 is 36 months (about 3 years). Annual pre- and post-assessments are collected to measure: attitudes toward risky behaviors; juvenile justice involvement; school attendance; social acceptance; and important adult in life outside of parents. In 2019, outcomes revealed 100% of youth improved or maintained in at least 2 areas and 93% improved in 4 areas.
Peace House (2017 grantee)
Award: $30,000 toward construction of 12 transitional housing suites within Peace House’s recently built facility on Round Valley Drive. In Utah, 1 in 3 women will face domestic violence in her lifetime. At the time of the award follow up visit (early 2018), participants witnessed the site work phase of the new campus construction. Peace House opened its wrap-around service facility in September of 2019, one year after our site visit. By the end of 2019, Peace House’s annual report stated it provided shelter for 101 adults and children in transition, over 3,000 nights of safety, and nearly 2300 hours of therapy and case management. The 12 transitional housing suites afford survivors of domestic abuse a place to begin healing and successfully planning for a new chapter, free of violence and more economic and emotional stability.
Summit County Children’s Justice Center (2016 grantee)
Award: $30,000 toward the implementation of an on-site medical team for children referred to Children’s Justice Center (CJC) by law enforcement, including medical exam equipment, professional training for staff and educational material for parents. Since 2016, the Community for Summit County Children’s Justice Center, a non-profit (501c3) organization, has been operating to help strengthen the overall support system of the CJC and has successfully opened the doors of a repurposed residential home for the sole purpose of supporting children of abuse and their families. The medical equipment acquired with support of the Women’s Giving Fund grant is now fully operational in the CJC’s forensic pediatrician’s office. The new facility offers all essential child abuse services under one roof, including forensic investigation, medical and legal support along with multi-disciplinary services to start the victim’s recovery process. This is all accomplished in a comfortable setting designed to limit a child’s trauma and prevent re-traumatization as much as possible. It is no longer necessary for families experiencing child abuse in Summit County to travel to multiple locations for numerous services since a multi-disciplinary team of nearly 25 professionals coordinates all services at this facility. The new facility is owned by the Community for Summit County Children’s Justice Center and leased back to Summit County in perpetuity.
PC Tots (2015 grantee)
Award: $30,000 toward construction of PC Tots’ first facility buildout. PC Tots was the first grantee chosen by Women’s Giving Fund members. Today, PC Tots operates 2 centers with an enrollment of 114 children at full capacity from ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. They offer high quality affordable childcare to the workforce of Park City and Summit County including an All-day Learning Program, Preschool services, and additional subsidies to low-income families. PC Tots has grown from service provider to childcare industry thought leader. PC Tots houses the Early Childhood Alliance Coordinator, whose role is to convene providers, nonprofits, donors, government, and business in a coalition to ensure every child in the Wasatch Back is kindergarten ready by kindergarten age and/or fully invested in given their abilities. This includes strategic planning around financing and operating early childhood care at the highest possible standards and impact. With over 25 members already, this group has formed initial action plans revolving around services, advocacy/community education, and data/tracking.
Posted in: Uncategorized, Women's Giving Fund
Tagged: impact, Women's Giving Fund, WGF