Community Foundation Tampa Bay awards eight grants designed to empower women and girls

2022 competitive grants cycle provided more than $1 million to 46 local nonprofits

Tampa, Fla. (July 28, 2022) — The Community Foundation Tampa Bay has awarded $209,555 in funding to eight nonprofits for projects designed to empower women and girls. The grants are part of more than $1 million in provided to 46 Tampa Bay-area nonprofit organizations during the Community Foundation Tampa Bay’s 2022 competitive grants cycle.

Empowering Women and Girls is one of five targeted focus area for the competitive grant process this year. Under this targeted focus area, the Community Foundation Tampa Bay focuses on projects that address safety and security; health and well-being; and economic opportunity for at-risk women, girls and their families. Funded projects may include support for domestic violence victims, access to health and mental wellness resources; and programs designed to improve economic status of women and girls.

“Women face unique economic and societal pressures, along with gender-based health and safety concerns, that often require additional support to reach their full potential,” said Marlene Spalten, President and CEO of the Community Foundation Tampa Bay. “We’re proud to support area nonprofits that are working to provide opportunities and build support for our community’s women and girls.”

The eight organizations receiving grants for projects under the Empowering Women and Girls Targeted Focus area are:

• ALPHA House of Pinellas County was granted $20,000 for ALPHA House’s Critical Services and Residential Maternity Housing for Homeless and At-Risk Teen Girls and Women project to provide a safe and nurturing ‘home-like’ environment for pregnant women and girls who are healing from domestic violence and homelessness, or are at-risk of becoming homeless.
• CASA – Community Action Stops Abuse, Inc. received $45,000 for CASA’s Family Justice Center to co-locate community professionals to provide the services needed by victims of domestic violence, such as law enforcement, attorneys, specially trained advocates, child welfare workers, mental health professionals, and more for the benefit of survivors of domestic violence, community resource partners, and the local community.
• Enterprising Latinas, Inc. received $50,000 for Project 2025: Preparing Women for the Workforce & Self-Sufficiency, a project designed to increase the economic prosperity of 100 low- to moderate-income women in the South Hillsborough County communities of Wimauma, Ruskin, Riverview and Gibsonton, particularly Black and Latina women who face multiple barriers to economic prosperity and wealth building.
• Girls on the Run Greater Tampa Bay was granted $10,000 to expand the Girls on the Run program to at least 10 low-income Title I schools in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties to accentuate running and other physical activities as a platform for teaching life skills that drive transformative and lasting change in girls’
• Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services was granted $14,555 for the Reimagine the Future: Scaling Up Teen-Mother Education and Engagement project, an initiative that equips in-school teen mothers and pregnant girls, who are at high risk for academic failure and repeat pregnancies, strategies to pursue a better and healthy future.
• Mary & Martha House, Inc. was awarded $50,000 to fund the Mary & Martha House 4 Hope – Shelter, Support, Success Program to help Hillsborough County women and their children to re-invent their lives, re-direct their ambitions, and re-create their families in a safe and thriving environment through personalized social services and shelter.
• PACE Center for Girls – Citrus County received $10,000 for Pace Works at Citrus, which will help girls aged 11-18 who have experienced trauma and often have challenges in successfully navigating school to plan their personal and academic goals.
• Petersburg Free Clinic, Inc. was granted $10,000 for its Baldwin Women’s Residence, which provides safe transitional housing for women who are homeless and recovering from substance use.

“Women are our mothers, our sisters, and our daughters. It is our turn to support them through these efforts.” said Jesse Coraggio, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Community Impact at Community Foundation Tampa Bay. “By investing in their empowerment, we are making a lasting impact on our region’s future.”

The funds are part of this year’s competitive grant cycle, which provided $1,041,646 to 46 local nonprofits, a record number. Nonprofits selected for grants focus on five targeted areas—community vibrancy, economic mobility, empowering women and girls, mental well-being, and positive education.

To learn more about the competitive grant process and how to apply visit: https://cftampabay.org/grants/

About the Community Foundation Tampa Bay

Founded in 1990, the Community Foundation Tampa Bay connects donors, nonprofits, community and business leaders, professional advisors, volunteers and residents to make the maximum positive impact in the Tampa Bay region. For more than 30 years, the Community Foundation Tampa Bay has been dedicated to making giving easy and meaningful for donors as a way to strengthen nonprofit organizations and build a better, more vibrant community. Since its inception, its donors have enabled the Community Foundation Tampa Bay to award more than $354 million in grants to nonprofit organizations across the country.