The Community Foundation for Western Iowa (givewesterniowa.org) is pleased to announce that the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa’s latest grant cycle has awarded $100,000 in project funding to nine organizations. Grants to East Mills Child Care Solutions (Malvern), Family Crisis Centers, Kids Place Community Child Care (Glenwood), MICAH House, New Visions Homeless Services, Southwest Iowa Technical Career Hub (SWITCH), Stanton Child Resource Center, Vision Atlantic and YMCA of Greater Omaha will support programming and projects that are focused on improving the quality of life and well-being of women and their families in southwest Iowa.

In 2018, and after purposeful planning, strategic insight and a collaborative needs-assessment within the communities that make up southwest Iowa, the Community Foundation for Western Iowa created the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa, an endowed fund, to focus on areas of critical need where poverty, lack of childcare and issues around women’s safety and health are at a stage of crisis. Women’s Fund grants are awarded to nonprofits in the Community Foundation’s nine-county service area in four focus areas: education initiatives for women of all ages; access to affordable, quality childcare; women’s health, safety and well-being; and aging in place.

To-date, the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa has awarded over $280,000 to nonprofit organizations who provide services within the geographic area and can demonstrate need and ability to create change to the benefit, growth, education and welfare of women and their families. To learn more or donate, please visit givewesterniowa.org/funds/womens-fund.