Texas Women’s Foundation Gives $12.9 Million with 400 New Grants

Texas Women’s Foundation invests with over 400 grants and more than $12 million dollars to community programs in the state.

Empowering women and girls to build stronger and more equitable communities is the chief goal of the Texas Women’s Foundation (TXWF). This dedication has continued recently as they have invested $12.9 million dollars in the community over the past year.

Girls Embracing Mothers was one of the grantees of The Resilience Fund, one of the grant-making vehicles of the Texas Women’s Foundation (Image Credit: Girls Embracing Mothers)

This sum was donated over the course of the organization’s fiscal year: July 1st, 2020 to June 30th, 2021. Of this total, $10.8 million was invested in the form of 416 grants. $2.1 million was given to specific programs with goals that align with the Texas Women’s Foundation’s work.

$12.9 Million Distributed Across Multiple Issue Areas

The total of the donations made by the organization can be divided into a number of categories and dollars dedicated to each. Of the total, 48%, or more than $5 million went toward empowering women in different ways. A small slice, 1 million, went to growing women’s philanthropy as a way to empower communities. 

Nineteen percent of Texas Women’s Foundation funding went for organizations focused on health and safety. Sixteen percent,or more than $1.5 million was allocated for economic security. About 12% of the funds went toward leadership and education. Three percent, or a little over $3 million, was given to other enterprises, and 2%, or nearly $2 million went to the general area of women’s issues.

Many of the individual donations TXWF made were in direct response to the impact of COVID-19 and the 2021 winter storm. This portion of grantmaking happened through the organization’s Resilience Fund, and was especially dedicated to addressing the disproportional effect these events have had on women of color. 

Resilience Fund is Major Giving Vehicle

The Resilience Fund of the Texas Women’s Foundation made significant grants to grow women’s power and leadership in the state, as well as to support health and safety for the community. (Image credit: TXWF)

The Resilience Fund is a special grant-making vehicle of the Texas Women’s Foundation. In the recent fiscal year, the foundation has employed it be able to respond rapidly to areas of need in the community.

In particular this past year, the Resilience Fund tackled the spotty access to health care that was further exacerbated by COVID. They sought to alleviate pre-existing barriers for women and girls of marginalized communities, along with the COVID-specific barriers. One grant supported an innovative combination of telehealth and on-site health appointments in order to ensure that marginalized women and families had the chance to access healthcare.

The Resilience Fund also seeks to increase the economic stability of women and their families. The needs of the community were addressed this year by the fund providing access to loans and other financial help, the kind of financial help from which marginalized women are often excluded by traditional banks. 

Food insecurity was also addressed in this year’s Resilience Fund grantmaking. One grant was given to support a paperless meal delivery system dedicated to bringing food to those who could not go to the store themselves. Part of the intended impact of this grant was to decrease response times for emergency food situations, especially for elderly or homebound women.

Women of color were another particular demographic being focused on by the Resilience Fund. Specifically, The Resilience Fund made significant grants to support women of color-owned businesses.

Here’s a sample of the organizations led by women of color receiving TXWF Resilience Grants:

·     A TXWF Resilience Grant supported the LiftFund Dallas/Fort Worth Women’s Business Center. These funds will serve women of color-owned businesses, particularly with obtaining financial assistance.  

·     Girls Embracing Mothers Inc. works with incarcerated women and their daughters. A new grant supports the transition to a mail-based program to maintain the connection between incarcerated mothers and their daughters. Funding will also provide stipends to the guardians to cover the cost of meals and collect calls to the girls’ mothers. Many guardians were financially stressed due to loss of jobs or work hours due to their guardianship.

·     At Zan Wesley Holmes Jr. Community Outreach Center, TXWF supported the Financial Wellness Village, which includes the Increments of Success Coaching Program. The funding also supported case management and therapeutic wellness classes to help women deal with the trauma and loss of income due to COVID-19.

Roslyn Dawson Thompson, Texas Women’s Foundation President and CEO, commented on this round of giving by saying, “We made significant investments through grants that supported the immediate needs of women, girls and their families to address the impact of COVID-19, as well as those that would have a longer-term impact on their lives and the community.”

The donations made by Texas Women’s Foundation have far-reaching implications for the supported organizations, as well as those who benefit from the programs that they run.

Related:

Darren Walker: It’s Time to Support Black Women and Girls As They Lead

Global Resilience Fund Offers Flex Funding for Women and Girls

Texas Women’s Fdn Makes $320K in Grants for Women and Girls

Author: Kimberly Pike

Kimberly Pike is a writer, artist and self proclaimed cat lady living in Rhode Island. She is passionately writing about women's issues and helping to teach others about it.

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