The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle has made the most recent group of community grants from its Women's Endowment Fund. Grants from this fund are focused on programming that support the empowerment and improves the lives of women and girls in Western Washington and Israel.
This year's grants, totaling $16,000, were made to the following organizations:
- Youth Clinic in Kiryat Malachi, the Federation's partnership community in Israel. The funds will go to the Development Fund for Young Women in Distress. The clinic provides free treatment of medical, psychological and emotional disorders for young women in the region.
- Center for Women's Justice to support an online resource center for women and the professionals who support them, to help in their interactions with the rabbinic justice system. The grant will help support a sophisticated 'help center' that will provide easily accessible knowledge on the intricacies of the system, offer advice and referrals and a library of 'how to' materials.
- Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center to develop online testimonies of two local women Holocaust survivors together with artifacts and photographs so that their stores are accessible from the WSHERC website. The stories from women survivors will enable students to see the special challenges that Jewish women faced during the Holocaust.
- Stroum Jewish Community Center, to support the "Finding Kind" program that tackles the issue of girl-on-girl bullying and works toward finding a common ground of kindness and mutual respect.
- Leket Israel: Nutrition for Life: Empowering Mothers Project, a new initiative that aims to train at-risk young single mothers about the benefits of healthy eating habits and proper nutrition on a limited budget. The project will deliver workshops to young mothers in Israel about preparing basic meals that children will like, offering practical tips on ways to budget for healthy low-cost food and providing advice about how to shop efficiently.
- Yachdav Association of Beer Sheva and the South: Emotional Empowerment for Girls and their Moms: to support a course of therapeutic workshops for 15 teenage girls at risk and their mothers to address complex issues that emerge in adolescence.
- Jewish Family Service: Project DVORA: Using Yoga to Transcend the Effects of Domestic Violence, to support a pilot project of yoga classes for survivors of domestic violence that will embrace Jewish rituals, themes of healing and meditative practices along with yoga.
"We are very pleased to make these grants that support the needs of women and girls in the Jewish community," said Dan Lowen, Chair of the Special Initiative Fund that oversees the Women's Endowment Fund. "Our community understands that the health and safety of women and girls is key to sustaining a healthy, vibrant Jewish community. The needs are great, and these grants will support vital programs both locally and in Israel."
The Women's Endowment Fund was created by women from the Seattle Jewish community who recognized the unique needs of women and girls and wanted to ensure funding was available for programs locally and in Israel that would enhance their lives. Grants are made from a portion of the fund each year based on a detailed evaluation process conducted by the Special Initiatives Fund Committee of the Jewish Federation.
Any Jewish nonprofit organization, or secular nonprofit organization that offers a particular Jewish-themed project in Western Washington or Israel that serves women and girls, may apply for a grant.
For more information, or to make a contribution to the Women's Endowment Fund, call 206-443-5400.
