Grants Celebration of Impact

Member Blog

On May 21st, Women Give San Diego membership and guests came together for our 2018 Grants Ceremony. This was a celebration—a celebration of our mission in action, a celebration of the past and forthcoming accomplishments of our newest grant partners, a celebration of the strength and resilience of the women and girls they serve, and a celebration of the power that women have when we work together.

Together, we were able to support the incredible work of four local organizations whose programs promote the economic self-sufficiency of women and girls: Casa Cornelia Law Center, Casa de Amparo, MANA de San Diego, and the UCSD Center for Community Health, Refugee Unit.

This amounts to an investment of $110,000 over the next two years. We couldn’t do this without your membership and support – thank you!

 Over 80 women, both current members and guests, came out to celebrate with us at the ceremony. We heard from women who have overcome incredible obstacles to build independent lives for themselves, as well as young women already making waves and helping shape San Diego for the better; and we got the chance to meet the fearless leaders who are behind the great work of our partner agencies.

The grant partners were selected through a careful process by our Grants Team that started at the end of last year. The Grants Ceremony was graciously hosted by 2-1-1 San Diego at their headquarters and put on by our amazing Events Team with support from Judy Bee. Many thanks to all who attended and helped make this magical evening possible.

 

Casa Cornelia Law Center

Casa Cornelia Law Center is a non-profit law firm that provides quality, free legal services to immigrants and refugees eligible for humanitarian relief, including women and girls who have survived domestic violence, human trafficking, and other types of gender-based violence. Casa Cornelia’s ability to provide pro bono legal immigration services provides a beacon of hope to women and children who find themselves in this uncertain environment. Women Give San Diego is proud to provide Casa Cornelia with a grant to support its Victim of Crimes program, which empowers victimized women and their children to stand up against their abusers and legalize their immigration status.

Casa de Amparo

Casa de Amparo provides unique and innovative services in order to heal, stop child mistreatment of any kind, and end generational cycles of abuse. Casa de Amparo has locations in Oceanside and San Marcos and is recognized as a major force in the field of child abuse prevention for the region. Women Give San Diego’s grant will be directed to Casa de Amparo’s Residential Services and New Directions programs, which support female foster youth and transition age youth as they age out of the system and make their way towards independence. These programs support young women to achieve economic security by equipping them with the tools necessary to gain and maintain employment, define and accomplish education goals, and obtain financial security.

MANA de San Diego

MANA, short for “Hermana,” the Spanish word for sister, is a dynamic sisterhood of Latinas.  MANA aims to create a platform for a unifying force – a strong Latina voice advocating for a deeper Latina involvement in the educational, economic, political, and social arenas in San Diego. Women Give is proud to provide a grant to support two MANA programs: The Hermanitas Mentorship Program, which guides Latina youth from at-risk backgrounds to earn a high school degree and pursue higher education; and the Latina Success Leadership Program, which helps Latina professionals advance in their careers through workshops that are designed to increase civic engagement, empower participants to define and achieve their professional goals, expand their professional networks, and build their personal brands.

UCSD Center for Community Health, Refugee Unit

The Center for Community Health, Refugee Health Unit, a part of UCSD Foundation, works to protect, promote and improve the physical, mental and financial well-being of the refugee population in San Diego County.  Through collaboration with refugee-led organizations and agencies, the UCSD Center of Community Health strives to achieve their vision: for there to be no health inequalities, to see our young women in positions of leadership, graduating high school with honors, attending college, and experiencing success in their careers. Women Give San Diego is proud to provide a grant to support an innovative and much needed community-based participatory research study through which refugee women and girls, ethnic community-based organizations, mainstream partners and project researchers will work together to build collective understanding of how gender (and other factors) has impacted economic, educational and leadership opportunities for refugee women and girls.