We are very pleased to announce that WE will be renewing partnerships with the following organizations and awarding grant funds totaling $201,230 for the 2022-23 grant year. Programs providing resources and training for women experiencing poverty in San Diego, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, and Uganda will be funded because of generous donors like you!
Adelante Foundation – renewing our partnership for one year, granting $35,000. Adelante provides microloans and financial services to women living in poverty who lack access to funding and resources. The end goal is to break intergenerational cycles of poverty, provide inclusive opportunities that address gender inequality, and improve household resilience to external stressors. Adelante was one of the first organizations to provide microfinance in Honduras and continues to be one of the only microfinance nonprofits that prioritizes those experiencing the highest levels of poverty.
“Women’s Empowerment has been an incredible partner through thick and thin. I cannot tell you how much we appreciate and are motivated by your unwavering support. Thank you for being part of and supporting Adelante’s mission. On behalf of each of our beneficiaries and the entire Adelante staff, we show our sincere gratitude.”
Fonkoze – renewing our partnership for one year, granting $33,330. Fonkoze’s Boutik Sante (Community Health Store) program brings access to health products, services, and information to some of the most rural parts of Haiti through a network of trained women entrepreneurs, Community Health Entrepreneurs (CHEs). This year, Fonkoze will be expanding gender-based violence (GBV) trainings and high blood pressure monitoring services for its CHEs to bring to their communities. GBV rose over 300% from 2019 to 2020 in Haiti and hypertension accounts for 17% of all deaths in Haiti.
International Rescue Committee San Diego – renewing our partnership for three years, granting $50,000 for the first year. Through one-on-one technical assistance and responsive training, the IRC’s WE STAR Program addresses core barriers that low-income, immigrant women face when opening and operating a successful small business. The program provides microenterprise development training and technical assistance that is both culturally appropriate and in-language, geared to meet the specific needs of aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs.
The IRC’s holistic programming will add several new offerings this year including: a 14-session Steps to Success trainings (STEPS) for existing Afghan child care providers to ensure a true path to economic security and mobility, a Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation (MEHKO) Training that will support participants earning a permit from the County of San Diego and developing a profitable microenterprise, and a new training program to support women and women BIPOC entrepreneurs in certifying their business as woman-owned, minority-owned, and small disadvantaged-owned, which is helpful in marketing and obtaining government funding.
Nyaka – renewing our partnership for three years, granting $52,900 for the first year. WE supports the microfinance initiative as part of the Nyaka Grandmothers program, an innovative, scalable, home-based model of care that aids the healthy development of each child orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Grandmother groups meet monthly to share education, training (including business and vocational training), and support. WE funding will allow for this year’s expansion of the microfinance programming to 24 new grandmother groups (with 1,920 women participating) in the Rukungiri and Kanungu districts. Nyaka will also implement a new technology-driven monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system to better track their impact over the whole Grandmothers program.
“Thank you to the entire WE team! This is such an exciting partnership, and we are thrilled to see it continued, and to see such a transformational level of support for our grannies. WE, thank you for making sure that more than 20,000 women have had economic freedom and empowerment.”
Via International – renewing our partnership for three years, granting $30,000 for the first year. WE supports two Via programs, ESTIMA and Via Migrante, which aim to enhance social and economic empowerment among women in Tijuana, Mexico. Women in ESTIMA are working in the sex trade or at risk of entering it, some having been initially trafficked. Many came to Tijuana hoping for better economic opportunities to care for themselves and their children. In Via Migrante, women have fled violence and poverty in southern Mexico and Central America. Some of the new arrivals are deported mothers from the United States.
Most of them are the sole financial caretakers for their children, but have had few opportunities for education and employment. Via program components focus on the basic needs of these women–family health and food security, as well as financial security for longer-term sustainable lives.
Stay tuned for more exciting grant news over the coming months! We currently have grant applications open to new partners and have allocated a minimum of $40,000 for these partnerships.
Read more about all of our Partners here.