POWER THROUGH COLLECTIVE GIVING

The grantmaking focus of WFW is to:

• Help economically-disadvantaged women become more self-sufficient

• Promote access to quality health care and advance healthy lifestyles

• Ensure women and girls live free from intimidation and abuse

• Ensure educational opportunities that help women and girls reach their full potential

• Eliminate discrimination against women and disparate treatment based on gender

• Promote access for women to legal services and equity within the justice system

In 2023, six grants totaling $278,950 were awarded:

$64,650 to All Souls Counseling Center over two years to expand trauma-informed mental health services to 240 women survivors primarily in Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, Haywood and Transylvania counties.

$15,000 to International Friendship Center over two years to support the two staff members facilitating Grupos de Mujeres, a safe place for Latinx immigrant women living in the Highlands/Cashiers area to support each other and their communities.

$49,350 to KARE to hire a part-time victim advocate and a part-time forensic interviewer to support its evidence-based, community-coordinated response to child abuse, neglect and exploitation in Haywood County.

$35,000 to NAMI Western Carolina to hire a parttime staff person to recruit and train bilingual support group facilitators, offer groups in Spanish, and serve Spanish-speaking individuals, primarily in Henderson and Buncombe counties.

$65,000 to OnTrack Financial Education & Counseling over two years to expand the Women’s Financial Empowerment Center’s programming to BIPOC communities, primarily in Buncombe and Henderson counties.

$49,950 to Sistas Caring 4 Sistas over two years to support a move into an accessible and functional office that will help reduce adverse birth-related outcomes among individuals of color by providing doula services, advocacy and education.

Get Involved

Join the Giving Circle - members make a tax-deductible contribution of $1,200 each year for at least three years; $1,000 is granted out and $200 supports operations. Membership currently exceeds 215 women.

Give to The Women’s Fund – endowment proceeds help to fund the Women for Women grant program. In FY 2023, the Fund added $70,640 to the grant pool.

Give to the WFW Endowment Fund that provides for the Giving Circle’s activities and sustainability.

WFW is a leading voice on women’s issues in the region, educating and advocating for social change. The 2023 advocacy agenda includes:

· Support equitable access to affordable, high-quality early care and education

· Support policies that address and mitigate health disparities and that promote access to quality health care and advance healthy lifestyles

· Support policies that protect informed individual choice and access to reproductive health care

· Support voting access and fair representation in the democratic process, especially for those who have been targets of voter suppression

REGIONAL Affiliate FUNDS

STARTING IN 1992, CFWNC ENCOURAGED THE GROWTH OF AFFILIATE FUNDS TO BUILD CHARITABLE CAPITAL ACROSS THE REGION TO ADDRESS LOCAL NEEDS. IN 2023, CFWNC’S NINE AFFILIATES CONDUCTED GRANT CYCLES TOTALING $860,070 THAT DISTRIBUTED FUNDS TO EVERYDAY HEROES DOING GOOD WORK CLOSE TO HOME.

Black Mountain – Swannanoa Valley Endowment Fund

Established in 1999; June 30 assets* surpassed $2.6 million

Advisory Board Members: Sylvia Bassett, Kannah L. Begley Walker (Chair), Jose Bello, Mary Anna Belz, Amy Berry, Jon D. Brooks, Esteve Coll-Larrosa, Margaret Fuller Hurt, Rodney L. Lytle, Bradley McMahan, Sheila H. Showers, Joseph Standaert, and Betsy Warren.

*The Advisory Board also makes grants from the Buckner Family Endowment Fund, Helen S. and Jerry M. Newbold, Jr. Endowment Fund, Forbes Fund for Black Mountain-Swannanoa Valley, and Standaert Family Endowment Fund.

Cashiers Community Fund

Established in 1992; June 30 assets* surpassed $3.6 million

Advisory Board Members: Trace H. Baker, Lisa Bates, Christopher Dyer, Joyce Wellman Fisk, Paiden Hite, Leah Horton, Melissa Warren Hudson (Chair), Carol Hunter, Harriet Karro, Kati Miller, Laura Moser, and Susan Yow.

*The Advisory Board also makes grants from the Lyn K. Holloway Memorial Fund.

The Fund for Haywood County

Established in 1994; June 30 assets* surpassed $1.5 million

Advisory Board Members: Angela Bleckley, Adam Bridges (Chair), Kim Ferguson, Jeff Haynes, Susan Hooper, Joan Kennedy, Chris Kuhlman, Jeff Lee, Terri Manning, Steve McNeil, Kristina Proctor, Jonathan Song, Amy C. Spivey, Mathew Underwood, and Eric Yarrington.

*The Advisory Board also makes grants from the J. Aaron and Adora H. Prevost Endowment Fund and Mib and Phil Medford Endowment Fund.

Highlands Community Fund

Established in 1996; June 30 assets* surpassed $2.3 million

Advisory Board Members: Lisa Armstrong, Anne Bailey, Gerry Doubleday, Florence Holmes, Colleen Kerrigan, Jim Landon, Libby Lanier, George Manning (Chair), John Mitchener, Jeff Nixon, Amanda Reames, Diane Riddle, Cindy Trevathan, and Jeff Weller.

*The Advisory Board also makes grants from the Mildred Miller Fort Charitable Fund.

The McDowell Endowment

Established in 1995; June 30 assets* surpassed $1.2 million

Advisory Board Members: Jim Burgin, Vicki Burton, Nakia Carson, Marsh Dark, Kimberly Effler, Courtney Morris

Gardner, Steve Jones, Ryan Kelley (Chair), Michael Lavender, Patt Medders, Rob Noyes, Sharon Parker, Arthur Parks, Sandra Precoma, and Bobbie Young.

*The Advisory Board also makes grants from the Margaret Westmoreland Gibson Memorial Fund, Greenlee Family Fund, A.C. Hogan Family Fund, and Daniel I. and Joy Q. Shuford Fund.

The Fund for Mitchell County

Established in 1999; June 30 assets surpassed $1.1 million

Advisory Board Members: Beverly Ayscue (Chair), Robin Buchanan, Christopher Day, Kathey Hollifield, Stuart Jensen, Nicholas Joerling, Andy Palmer, Geraldine Plato, Suzanne B. Russell, Zan Sistare, Brenda H. Sparks, and Diane W. Walker O.D.

Rutherford County Endowment

Established in 1996; June 30 assets surpassed $2 million

Advisory Board Members: David Eaker (Chair), Nancy Giles, Jean Gordon, Jackie Hampton, Eddie Holland, Sally Lesher, Marla Machado-Arce, Wilfred McDowell, Tom Miller, Jill W. Miracle, Pell Tanner, Dennis Tarlton, Robin Van Jura, and Michelle Yelton.

Transylvania Endowment

Established in 1998; June 30 assets* surpassed $2.1 million

Advisory Board Members: Nick Bearden, Don Bieger, Beth Lastinger (Chair), Scott Latell, Rob Lee, Caroline McKenzie, Michael Pratt, Jason Ramsey, Nancee Salyer, Mark Shevory, John Shoemaker, Bruce A. Snyder, and Judy Welch.

*The Advisory Board also makes grants from the Aleen Steinberg Endowment Fund, Richard G. Adamson Memorial Fund, DuncanBicknell Endowment Fund, Burlingame Charitable Fund, Lake Toxaway Charities Endowment Fund, Bobby Orr Memorial Fund for Transylvania County Sheriff’s Department, Karen Wilde Memorial Fund for Brevard Police Department, Holbrook-Nichols Transylvania Housing Assistance Fund, My Brother’s Keeper Fund, and Connie Boylan Fund.

The Yancey Fund

Established in 1998; June 30 assets* surpassed $2.7 million

Advisory Board Members: Jim Ashton, Jill Austin, Gretchen Banks, Amber Westall Briggs, Olivier Calas, Dr. Monica Carpenter, Jim Gentry Jr. (Chair), Jayne Ellen Hunt, Mark Mitchell, Calvin Rash, Julia Silvers, and Gregory Stella.

*The Advisory Board also makes grants from the Bailey-Hilliard Fund.

Photos, clockwise from top, courtesy of Folkmoot, Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau, Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, St. Gabriel Jericho Soup Kitchen and The Literacy and Learning Center

$34 MILLION