MANSFIELD - The Women’s Fund of the Richland County Foundation awarded $68,738 in grants and announced the JoAnn Dutton Award honoree during a recent luncheon.
For the seventh year in a row, the Women’s Fund awarded a grant to make quality child care affordable and accessible to women in Richland County. A $25,000 grant was awarded to the YWCA of Northwest Ohio. They will take applications from in-home child care providers and centers for grants of up to $2,500 for resources and continuing education. The Women’s Fund believes that child care is important to the economic security of women.
Another child care related grant was awarded to North Central State College Foundation for child care scholarships. The Women’s Fund and community partners have now invested $338,000 to reduce barriers for child care providers and improve the quality of care.
Other grants were awarded to Be Elite for a leadership program, Catalyst Life Services for a program to help women find jobs, Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring for a self-defense class, Ontario Local Schools for a STEM immersion day for girls, Richland Academy of the Arts for a mental and physical wellness program, Rubies Women’s Group for financial literacy classes, Shelby City Schools Girls Owning Lives of Dignity for a mentoring program, and Third Street Family Health Services for a mobile food pantry for expecting mothers.
Since 1998, the Women’s Fund has awarded $685,978 via 343 grants impacting thousands of lives.
The Women’s Fund also announced the JoAnn Dutton Volunteer Community Service Award winner. The award was named in honor of JoAnn Dutton, former executive director of the Mansfield YWCA. It celebrates women who devote a significant amount of time and energy in a meaningful way to local charitable organizations.
This year’s winner is Vivian Winters, the founder of a program called People Helping People which serves a meal to over 100 people a day, every day of the year. Winters has worked to collaborate with community partners to ensure that people in our community receive at least one meal a day.
"It takes a community to take care of their people. There is no income verification or paperwork process. If you are humble enough to stand in line, then we will give you love and a meal, " said Winters.
About the Women’s Fund of the Richland County Foundation:
· The Women's Fund was founded in 1996 as a permanent endowment to meet the unique needs of women and girls in our community
· The Women's Fund supports programs at nonprofit organizations that promote the physical, intellectual, emotional, social, economic, or cultural growth of women and girls in Richland County.
About the Richland County Foundation The Richland County Foundation, a not-for-profit 501c3, was established in 1945 as a way for individuals to pool and invest their gifts for the long-term good of Richland County and its residents.
The Foundation helps people in Richland County give back to their community by investing their gifts wisely so that grants can be made to improve the quality of life for all the county’s citizens. Collaborating with donors, the Foundation meets important needs today and plans for a strong future.