The Women’s Fund Awards Landmark Grants
Posted/updated on: February 20, 2015 at 11:13 am
TYLER — The Women’s Fund of Smith County Thursday awarded its highest grant to date – $100,000 to Habitat for Humanity – at its 2015 Grants Announcement Reception. Approximately 100 Women’s Fund members and guests attended the event at The Tyler Woman’s Building, which also included a grant of $44,100 presented to PATH (People Attempting To Help), according to a Women’s Fund news release. “In only a few years, the members of the Women’s Fund have given from their hearts to bring us to today’s cumulative total of $800,000 in grant funding,” noted Marty Wiggins, 2015 chair of The Women’s Fund. “These grants have already impacted 18 agencies and countless lives of women and children in Smith County.”
The $100,000 grant to Habitat for Humanity of Smith County is designated for the organization’s Rural ReHabitat program that assists rural residents in need of critical home repairs. The funding will specifically provide ReHabitat services for 24 women homeowners, who may be elderly women living alone or single moms. Habitat for Humanity currently has an extensive waiting list of women in rural Smith County who do not have the financial means to make vital home repairs or to outfit their home for disabilities, according to the news release.
The $44,100 grant to PATH will provide the means for 30 children and teens to improve their math skills through the innovative Mathnasium at PATH tutorial program, according to the release. Women’s Fund officials say the young people are from Tyler/Smith County disadvantaged families that could not otherwise afford for their children to have this educational opportunity.
The Women’s Fund of Smith County was created in 2007 as a collective giving circle, whereby members annually pledge financial contributions. The great majority of members’ giving goes to the annual grants process, providing high-impact grants that bring positive change to the lives of women and children. Visit http://www.womensfundsc.org for more information on The Women’s Fund.
