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2011 Grants
Girls Exclusive/YWCA $5000
In its fourth year, the focus of the Girls Exclusive program will continue to be on educational access and success for young women ages 12 to 14, a critical age period during the middle school years, to increase their self confidence and expand their personal goals and dreams with educational attainment as a means to those ends. Leading partners for this after-school program will be the Boys & Girls Club of Greater New Bedford and the YWCA of Southeastern Massachusetts.
Brick by Brick $5000
Brick by Brick offers 8-week after-school sessions teaching students writing, design, photography and the magazine business, guitar, lyrics and songwriting, computer music, music business, acting, script-writing and performance. Each session will produce a piece for the publication, CD or theatrical performance. This grant will enable girls in the Girls Rule program to participate in these classes.
Schools on Wheels (SOWMA) $2500
The mission of SOWMA is to educate children impacted by homelessness by providing academic support and one-on-one mentoring. Funds from this grant will be used to support SOWMA services for approximately 25 students a year living at the Harbor House family shelter in New Bedford.
CEDC – Community Economic Development Center
of Southeastern Mass. $2500
CEDC will use the funds from this grant to incorporate Financial Education Workshops targeted to low-income women who have received assistance at the VITA free tax preparation program. Two cycles of workshops will be offered to 40 low-income women who will create a personal financial plan including a family budget and a plan to reduce debt and increase savings for an asset building goal.
New Bedford Community Rowing (NBCR) $5000
NBCR will engage girls with an intensive program that supports their physical, mental and emotional development. Practices for the girls (ages 13-18) take place four to five times per week with on-water rowing and racing in the spring and fall and winter training from November through March. NBCR staff and volunteers offer academic support to the athletes as well as assistance with college applications. Experience has taught us that rowing opens doors for youth from under-resourced communities – allowing social mobility, opening doors to college, and breaking barriers of economic segregation.
United Interfaith Action (UIA) $2000
UIA is a congregational based community organization in Fall River and New Bedford that works to promote justice and improve the quality of life in Southeastern Massachusetts. This grant will be used for a “parent engagement – education organizing” project to improve public education in the New Bedford school system. UIA will be recruiting and training parents and students in community organizing to be able to effectively advocate for systemic change in the New Bedford School District.
Whaling Museum $5000
In the spring of 2010, the Museum began an Apprenticeship Program that matched women on the Museum staff as mentors to young women who are at risk for not completing high school, not continuing on to college, or not completing college. The program provides competitive wages and work experience as well as the less tangible “life skills” that are critical to long-term economic success. This is the second grant that has been made for the Apprenticeship program.
Girl Scouts of Eastern Mass (GSEM) $5000
This grant will aid 18 FaB Factor programs throughout Plymouth and Bristol Counties. The FaB Factor program is an early intervention and prevention program for at-risk, low-income, inner-city girls ranging in age from 5 to 18. The three long term goals are to encourage and empower girls to 1) graduate high school and pursue academic or professional careers; 2) develop a strong sense of self and the ability to make better decisions and positive choices; and 3) become positive contributors to their community. To meet these goals, four learning modules are presented in meetings once per week for two hours from October to June. Programmatic learning modules include financial literacy, leadership development, health/wellness, and ESTEEM (environment, science, technology, ecology, engineering and math).
Youth Investment Foundation Inc. (YIF) $1500
(under sponsorship of the Boys and Girls Club)
YIF seeks to provide resources for at risk youth up to age seventeen that will help to stabilize families while providing social development opportunities, educational opportunities and recreational activities. YIF supports youth development programs for at risk children in New Bedford, Acushnet, Dartmouth and Fairhaven, MA. This grant will enable YIF to provide training to service providers and community members who work with justice involved youth in the above geographical area. The training is entitled Sustainability Summit II: Building A Safe & Supportive Community. The Summit will focus on addressing the unique needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) youth and/or their families or support system.
LGBT Y.E.S. Committee $1500
Funds will allow this group to work with youth to plan and facilitate up to three regional social gatherings for LGBTQ youth over the next year. The youth would reach out to the Gay/Straight Alliances (GSA’s) of local high schools, and invite them to events which would be hosted by our own Community Based Gay/Straight Alliance. These gatherings allow us to reach out to young women, and provide them with the following opportunities: a means to build a supportive community with other young women who share similar interests and experiences; opportunities for leadership development and skill building; the ability for young women to create, and then act upon, their own agenda for social change; and the reduction of isolation among young women who identify as members of the LGBTQ community.
City of New Bedford – Department of Community Services $500
The Butterfly Project is an after-school program for girls aged 10 – 14. This new project, which will operate through the department’s Invest-in-Kids program, will be aimed at fostering social confidence and building leadership skills among fourth- and fifth-grade girls. Students will meet every Friday afternoon for 10 weeks at the New Bedford First Unitarian Church from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. to participate in relationship-building activities, fun and educational workshops, and a student-driven service-learning project aimed at increasing access to books and literature for economically disadvantaged children. This grant will specifically support two age-appropriate workshops on the topic of racial and economic justice.
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