Women’s Endowment Foundation announces $200,000 in Grants to Jewish Women, Girls

Last week, the Women’s Endowment Foundation announced $200,000 worth of grants to innovative programs and organizations addressing the needs of Jewish women and girls locally and in Israel. WEF, a supporting organization at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, was founded in 1989 by the late Shirley Bridge and a core of women who believed strongly in philanthropy by women, for women - specifically Jewish women and children in crisis at home and in Israel.

Wanting to address the immediate impact of the current recession on some longtime grantees and some innovative new projects that have been threatened by budget cutbacks, WEF made a particularly large distribution of $200,000 to ten worthy organizations.

Here are a few grantees:

Project DVORA, Jewish Family Service’s groundbreaking program offering comprehensive assistance to victims of domestic violence. WEF’s first grant launched Project DVORA more than two decades ago, and since then, the program has successfully aided countless women in transforming themselves into survivors thanks to a wide array of services that emphasize confidentiality and self-esteem. The need for Project DVORA has never been greater, even as government cutbacks threatened its ability to keep the doors open. Last spring WEF scrambled to hold two memorable Passover seders to raise funds, and approved an emergency grant last fall, but the Board wanted to make a final statement by sending another check for $43,500.

“This grant could not have come at a more opportune time. It is imperative that Project DVORA maintain its level of service to domestic violence victims and survivors during the economic downturn so that they will not feel pressured to stay in abusive situations because of greater than normal fiscal vulnerability. We simply cannot thank you enough…” expressed Laura Stusser-McNeil and Ken Weinberg, president and executive director, respectively, of Jewish Family Service.

Project ELI, Israeli’s pioneering agency providing therapeutic child abuse intervention programs. Hanita Zimrin, ELI’s founder, visited Seattle last March and addressed the Jewish Federation’s Lion of Judah luncheon. A check from WEF for $10,000 will launch a new project in Seattle’s partnership community Kiryat Malachi, one of the country’s most underserved development towns.

Achoti, an agency focused on empowering Israeli women in underserved communities without threatening their cultural sensitivities. WEF gave a grant of $45,000 to fund two projects. The Ethiopian Embroidery Cooperative employs immigrant women who’ve become the family breadwinners, by default, to turn their unique styles traditionally utilized in handicrafts into a marketable ethnic fashion line, Comme Il Faut, in chic boutiques in Israel and Europe. The Women’s Cooperative Kitchen works with Mizrachi women in similar circumstances, this time by capitalizing on their culinary skills. Clients have been successfully placed in the hospitality industry as chefs and caterers.

Itach received $55,000 grant for its Woman Lawyers for Social Justice project, which provides a wide range of services throughout Israel: legal services for agunot and domestic violence victims, hotlines for victims of sex trafficking and advocacy for women’s rights in the courts and in the Knesset.

Other grantees include Hillel at UW, Jewish Day School, National Council of Jewish Women’s Shalom Bayit and Seattle Hebrew Academy.

Over the years, a succession of women joined and engaged in grantmaking through WEF, having a significant impact on women in our community and in Israel. In part due to changing IRS rules, WEF will be changing its governance and becoming the Women’s Endowment Fund of the Seattle Jewish Community. Some board members will be stepping down, while others will continue and be joined by several additional women in our community. Working closely through the Jewish Federation’s Center for Jewish Philanthropy, the new WEF will have an important and effective impact in our community for years to come.

Betsy Schneier, outgoing WEF President, explained, “I hope that the Women’s Endowment Foundation will be remembered as one of our community’s most innovative philanthropic organizations. Our passionate embrace of diversity combined with our grantmaking has raised the bar for women’s philanthropy. We look forward to the new fund achieving great success within the Federation family.”

WEF press release 09 FINAL.doc