The University of Rhode Island received a gift of $65 million from the estate of the late Helen Izzi Schilling, a 1954 graduate of the University.
This is a transformational gift that will support scholarships for high-achieving students. It is the largest in the University’s history. Through a commitment made with her late husband, the gift establishes the Helen Izzi Schilling ’54 and Francis Schilling Scholars Program.
The endowed scholarship will provide up to $20,000 per year for four years to high-achieving undergraduate students majoring in a science, technology, engineering, or math field.
“This transformational gift shows that alumni believe in our University and in our students,” said URI President Marc B. Parlange. “We are incredibly grateful for the Schillings’ support of our mission and our students. URI has never been in a better place, due, in no small measure, to our remarkable community—the students, faculty, and staff across our campuses and the extraordinary alumni who carry their URI experience with them wherever they go.”
The support adds to the momentum generated by URI’s recently completed comprehensive campaign, which exceeded its goal of $300 million for priorities across the University and raised over $73 million for financial aid.
One: The US Still Fails to Keep With Progress in the Rest of the World
Here in the US, we have had two women candidates for president. Both lost; the first to a man who played a game show host with a fake tagline in a fake “reality” show, and the second lost to a convicted felon.
Other countries manage to elect women leaders. The latest to do so is Mexico. In June 2024, Mexicans elected Claudia Sheinbaum as the first woman to hold the office of president. Ms Sheinbaum won in a landslide. She recently took office.
Sheinbaum is an environmental scientist who shared the Nobel Prize with former US Vice President Al Gore in 2007. She is not new to public office, having served as mayor of Mexico City and worked closely with outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The choice of a woman for president carries special significance given the very high incidence of violence against women in that country. Mexico has one of the highest rates of murder against women in the world.
Still, Sheinbaum has a positive attitude that change is possible. “It is time for women,” she said to applause from the governing party’s lawmakers. “Women have arrived to shape the destiny of our beautiful nation.”
But Sheinbaum has already taken concrete steps to make change not only possible, but likely.
President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday signed into law a constitutional amendment that enshrines a range of rights for Mexican women.
“Women are now in the constitution, our rights are guaranteed,” Sheinbaum said at her morning press conference after endorsing the Substantive Equality reform that was previously approved by both house of federal Congress and ratified by a majority of state legislatures.
“… There is recognition of historical inequality,” she said.
To read more about this historic event, see the following articles that have provided information for this post:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3z263453lo
Two: 3.7 Million gift will allow Parents as Teachers to expand vital home-visiting services in communities nationwide
It’s no secret that the bulk of child care in the early years falls on women. A group called Parents as Teachers(PAT) seeks to support parents to raise children who are healthy, safe, and learning.
The Parents as Teachers approach is to conduct in-home visits from Parent Educators. These individuals are employed by affiliated organizations right in the community and are highly trained in our curricula. The visits are conducted in person as possible, or virtually as circumstances require.
To facilitate this mission, the Ballmer Group has just awarded $3.7 million to the Parents as Teachers National Center (PATNC). The Ballmer Group has now supported PATNC for ten consecutive years.
“The Ballmer Group’s continued support shows they truly believe in how home visiting and family support can change lives and affirms the work of Parents as Teachers,” said Constance Gully, President and CEO of Parents as Teachers. “With this funding, we can improve our capacity to support the 1000 plus family-serving organizations we partner with across the country to make sure families get the support they need.”.
This funding will enable PATNC to expand its focus on delivering the vital technical support needed by parents. Money will also be used to forge community-based partnerships. The goal is to uplift families and address systemic inequities across the nation.
Parents as Teachers will also be able to enhance home visitor training and drive the adoption of resources tailored for families that face individual stress factors, such as substance use and interactions with child welfare services. The organization will also continue to expand resources to better engage fathers and support families during the prenatal and postpartum periods.
“Ballmer Group is excited about our partnership with Parents as Teachers. Their home visiting programs create lasting impact for families,” said Loren Harris, Executive Director, National Impact at Ballmer Group. “Parents as Teachers has long been at the forefront of ensuring that parents receive critical support from well-trained professionals. We’re proud to support their efforts to meet the diverse needs of families, address barriers head-on, and deliver resources that foster healthy child development and parental empowerment.”
For additional information Parents as teachers, follow the links below:
For information on the Ballmer Group, visit the website with this link:
Three: Coordinating Efforts to Protect 1500 Schoolgirls FGM
The December holiday is a dangerous time for many schoolgirls in Tanzania and Kenya. The weeks-long break from school provides an all-t00 convenient period to perform acts of Female Genital Mutilation. The duration of the holiday gives girls time to recover from the wounds inflicted before they have to return to school.
To prevent this, the Global Media Campaign To End FGM (GMC) has launched the “School Holliday End Female Genital Mutilation Appeal. GMC gathers funds that are funneled directly to grassroots rights organizations in 15 countries that are working to end FGM. GMC ensures that monies end up in the proper hands.
GMC operates through trusted, local pipelines to ensure that funds are delivered quickly, securely, and efficiently. Funds are channeled to local women’s rights organizations who are trained to run their own media campaigns.
The time is now critical. In border areas of Kenya and Tanzania, seven clans are actively making preparations to cut approximately 1500 girls. An undercover film was made documenting these efforts. The film can be seen at this address:
Local groups are attempting to remove as many girls as possible to safe houses to keep them safe from the operation. In addition to the countries named, girls are at risk in Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau.
Valerian Mgani, Chair of the Tanzanian Network To End FGM said: “If we can get the girls to safe houses and schools they will be safe, but we have to get out there and find them first – many have already been locked up in case they go on the run.”
So far, 102 girls have reached the safety of the Masanga Shelter run by Daughters of Charity, in Tarime, Tanzania. Mr Mgani, who runs the shelter said: “The 7 clans cut every two years so far we know about 500 are safe, either here, or safe houses”.
Four: Affordable housing nonprofit Enterprise receives $65M from MacKenzie Scott
Following up on a previous grant, MacKenzie Scott has given $65 million to Enterprise Community Partners. The previous grant was $50 million, bringing Scott’s total donation up to $115 million.
This latest donation builds on Scott’s initial donation in 2020. Enterprise becomes one of a select group of organizations to receive multiple contributions from Scott.
The nationwide lack of affordable housing has become a difficult challenge facing individual families and entire communities, and Enterprise is a leader in facing the challenge . The new grant arrives as Enterprise celebrates the creation and preservation of one million affordable homes for low and moderate-income Americans. This is a milestone achieved through its five decades of work.
This donation recognizes the impact and scale of Enterprise’s programs that create and preserve affordable housing. Enterprise plays a crucial role in efforts to solve the nation’s housing crisis, and validates their model that combines a nationwide investment platform with one of the largest housing advocacy operations in the country.
“Housing affordability is on the national radar in a way that it’s never been in my three decades of work in this field,” said Shaun Donovan, CEO and President of Enterprise Community Partners. “There is growing bipartisan consensus over the need to address this crisis, and MacKenzie Scott’s continued support reaffirms the importance of Enterprise’s mission. This gift will allow us to expand and accelerate our work, delivering community-based and sustainable housing solutions to the people and places that need them most.”
For more information on Enterprise Community Partners and the housing criis in general, please follow the links below:
https://www.enterprisecommunity.org
Five: As A Parting Message, Some Words of Encouragement from WE CAN and Tides
If you are still reeling from the election results, recent cabinet nominations, and other such news, Safe Space wants you to know that You are NOT alone.
But Stephanie McGencey, the Founder of WE CAN says it better than I can. The following is a verbatim quote from the Instagram message:
Sisters,
Still reeling from the election results and recent cabinet nominations? You are NOT alone. The next few years will be VERY challenging.
There is much that could be said about how we got here. Pointing fingers and assessing blame serves no one, especially when our opponents are already implementing their oppressive and regressive policy agenda. Anger, despair, fear, and frustration are most definitely appropriate emotions in these moments. Many of you are posting on social media sharing tools you use in challenging times like these. Some have also posted about your difficulty moving on from election day. In every situation, protecting our peace is in order. Taking the time to heal. Being in community with each other.
[End quote]
And to close, this message from Tides. It is printed verbatim.
[Quote:]
Statement from Tides on the Outcome of the Presidential Election
…Janiece Evans-Page, Chief Executive Officer of Tides, issued the following statement regarding the outcome of the presidential election.
“For generations, anti-democratic forces have been targeting people of color to make it harder for them to vote. Extremists have been given unchecked power to continue their assault on social progress and marginalized communities’ ability to have a voice in our democracy. In this difficult moment, we encourage ALL who choose to exercise their right to assemble, do so peacefully.
“I ask that we all elevate our commitment to shifting power toward communities of color and to advancing social justice. Tides is launching a new fund – Resist Project 2025 – which will leverage nimble, intersectional grantmaking to build power where we can make the greatest and most immediate impact—at the local level. In whatever ways possible, please hold the line to help protect communities of color under attack, mobilize resources, and unlock transformative change at every opportunity.”
[End quote]
For the link to the Safe Space Instagram:
For the link to Resist Project 2025:
