WFM Awards $64,997 in Second Round of Rapid Response Grants

The Foundation awarded $55,000 in Rapid Response Awards in April bringing our total investment to $119,997 since the pandemic began. The funds will be used for critical needs like food, personal hygiene products and protective gear, technology, and direct financial assistance.

The Women’s Foundation of Mississippi, a public grantmaking foundation focused on improving conditions for women and girls across the state, announced rapid response grant awards totaling $64,997 for seventeen Mississippi-based nonprofit agencies and programs directly serving some of our state’s most vulnerable women and families in wake of the public health crisis caused by COVID-19. Awards will support organizations across the state that serve women and families, many at or below the poverty level who are already struggling, and find themselves even more severely impacted now. We know that this public health crisis is disproportionately affecting women and people of color. Not only are more women getting the virus more than men in Mississippi, but they are facing the brunt of the economic burden caused COVID-19 as well. These funds are available for immediate use by the granted organizations and will help them continue serving their communities.

Executive Director Tracy DeVries stated: “The Women’s Foundation of Mississippi is grateful to the donors who supported our efforts and quickly responded with us to the very real and immediate needs of women and girls in our state during this time of crisis. We must continue to support Mississippi’s women and girls so that families and communities can be sustained now – and in the months to come.”

The organizations and needs the grants will support include:

• Cary Christian Center; Cary, MS; $5,000 – in support of at-home visits for expecting moms
• Magnolia Medical Foundation; Gulf Coast, MS; $4,000 – funding for care packages including personal protective equipment and hygiene supplies for Gulf Coast families
• Spring Initiative; Clarksdale, MS; $5,000 – 25 personal, internet-connected devices for girls enrolled in Spring’s programs
• We2Gether Creating Change; Drew, MS; $5,000 – funding to support direct assistance to families in form of grocery money, rent and utility payments
• MS Black Women’s Roundtable; Jackson, MS; $5,000 – funding to support childcare stipends for up to 50 children
• MS Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Statewide; $5,000 – supporting short-term financial assistance for victims of domestic violence in the state’s 12 shelters
• Love Me Unlimited 4 Life; Jackson, MS; $5,000 – supporting direct financial assistance for Black, trans women
• Delta Health Center; Leland, Ruleville, Moorhead, MS; $5,000 – funding for care packages including fresh fruit and vegetables in rural Delta communities
• Lanier Clinic; Jackson, MS: $4,997.50 – funding for fresh produce, shelf-stable food items, masks, hygiene resources and senior resources for more than 500 Lanier and Jackson area students and families
• Disability Rights Mississippi; Jackson, MS; $4,000 – funding to help families with children with disabilities during pandemic such as childcare and transportation needs
• UMMC – Office of Diversity and Inclusion; Jackson, MS; $2,500 – supporting emergency relief for low-wage workers and students on the frontlines of the pandemic
• Tutwiler Community Education Center; Tutwiler, MS; $2,500 – funding for supplies and labor to make masks for community-area children and families
• Mississippi Center for Justice; Jackson, MS; $2,500 – support for a legal advocacy program to assist renters facing eviction during the pandemic
• Methodist Children’s Home; Jackson, MS; $2,500 – supporting direct financial assistance in the form of grocery money, transportation assistance, and rent assistance
• Institute for the Advancement of Minority Health; Ridgeland, MS; $2,500 – funding to supply personal protective equipment for Black and Hispanic communities in Hinds County
• Children’s Defense Fund-Southern Regional Office; Jackson, MS; $2,500 – supporting the Unita Blackwell Young Women’s Leadership Institute (YWLI)
• Mississippi State University – Meridian Campus; Meridian, MS; $2,000 – supporting emergency food items for the campus’s Bully Pantry

The mission of the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi is economic security for women.  Learn more about the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi by visiting our website at www.womensfoundationms.org.