Women’s Fund Invests in Stark County Women and Children
The Women’s Fund – an endowment fund of Stark Community Foundation created by women for women and children – recently awarded nearly $40,000 in grants to nonprofits meeting the needs of underserved women and children in Stark County.
This year’s grant recipients include:
Canton Museum of Art: $5,000 to support Art for Health and Healing, a program that integrates mental health and human services into art therapy. This grant will be used for sessions with women and children.
CommQuest Services: $3,708 to purchase toys, board games and sensory items used for play therapy at five school-based counseling programs for children and adolescents. Counselors currently buy these items out of their own pockets.
COMPASS: $2,000 to provide SARTA bus vouchers as needed for equitable access to health, legal and wrap-around services for survivors of sexual assault or abuse.
Domestic Violence Project: $5,000 to fund a 10-week domestic violence education course and twice-per-week adult empower hour, both conducted by a peer support specialist at Domestic Violence Project’s Canton and Massillon shelters. These programs are designed to raise awareness of domestic violence issues and the impact on children.
Early Child Resource Center: $3,287 to support the establishment of a parent café program. The program provides a series of small-group meetings that bring parents and family members together to connect and learn from each other during a shared meal and conversations with a trained facilitator. The goal is to help parents strengthen their families.
Girls on the Run East Central Ohio: $3,184 to offer need-based financial assistance for girls 3-13 years old who participate in Girls on the Run’s 8-week program in partnership with Alliance City Schools.
Hartville Migrant Ministry: $1,809 to support mammogram scheduling and attendance for Hartville Migrant Ministry’s Hispanic female workers. This grant will provide money for incentive packages, including gift bags, Spanish-based awareness material and refreshments for 2022 and 2023.
Lighthouse Ministries of Canton: $1,716 to support Lighthouse students’ participation in the 13-week MindUp curriculum developed by the Hawn Foundation to help children develop the tools they need to manage stress, regulate emotions and face challenges. This grant will pay for the instructor and staff support.
Pegasus Farm: $4,000 to help fund The Cole Surmay Memorial Scholarship Program for those presently enrolled, or desiring to enroll, in the Take Flight Program and in need of financial support. Take Flight, a combination of therapeutic riding/horsemanship activities, has been the cornerstone program at Pegasus Farm since it opened in 1986.
Stark County District Library: $5,000 to support a book gifting program that mails free books to children from birth to age 5, targeting low-income and disadvantaged communities. The State of Ohio provides matching funds to counties that participate in this program. This grant will be used to purchase books.
Stark County Hunger Task Force: $5,000 to purchase food for backpacks in the latest expansion of Stark County Hunger Task Force’s Backpack for Kids Program that supplies crucial weekend meals to children aged 3-17. In collaboration with Stark Library, bookmobiles and backpacks will expand into Canton City and Northeast-end neighborhoods, Sandy Valley and East Canton.
The Women’s Fund awards grants on an annual basis, and since it was created in 2006, nearly $200,000 has been awarded to more than 40 local nonprofits to support women and children.
