HERitage Giving Fund Awards More Than $56,000 to Seven Nonprofits
HERitage Giving Fund at Texas Women’s Foundation recently awarded more than $56,000 in grants to seven North Texas nonprofit organizations that are led by Black women serving Black women and girls.
The grants were determined based on a variety of criteria, including the needs of Black communities in the North Texas area, and the level of alignment between the recipient organizations and the HERitage mission. Additionally, HERitage created a program for grant recipients to gain access to leadership development with the hope its partnership will help leverage additional funding from other sources.
The 2021 HERitage grant recipients are Abide to provide financial and social support to Black student midwives through the Abide scholarship fund, the GEMS camp, which supports a two-week summer virtual camp for 120 middle school girls of color from four Texas cities with hands-on STEM learning, leadership and character development, Soul Rep Theatre Company to help implement online and audio productions, and support a new strategic plan with consulting and production costs to underwrite the 25th anniversary season, Hopeful Solutions to provide rental and utilities assistance for women and children, along with case management, recovery support and living assistance, Southern Dallas Link to underwrite the Ride to Work Program, specifically for Black women, to help them maintain employment by providing dependable transportation, TR Hoover CDC to support the Hoover Tech Center, which provides individuals with computer and internet access to further education, employment opportunities and community outreach, and Viola’s House to fund the new Baby Benefit Store, which provides free and low-cost baby clothing/accessories to the South Dallas community, while generating income for the organization that houses homeless teen moms.
“I never imagined the magnitude giving circles of color would have on North Texas when I first discovered this incredible way to increase the engagement of women of color in philanthropy,” said HERitage chair Akilah S. Wallace said. “Now, in partnership with the co-founders, members and friends of HERitage Giving Fund, I am ecstatic we doubled our collective giving from last year, awarding $56,272 to Black female-led nonprofits. We did this despite the challenges impacting the world by this pandemic. I sincerely thank Drs. Halima Leak Francis and Froswa’ Booker-Drew for their leadership and contributions to this powerful movement.”
HERitage Giving Fund was founded in August 2017 during Black Philanthropy Month. The mission of HERitage is to encourage philanthropy in the Black community, and to bring a new source of funding to nonprofit organizations serving Black women and girls throughout the North Texas area.
“We congratulate the leaders and members of HERitage Giving Fund for their tremendous impact in support of Black female-led nonprofits serving Black women and girls,” said Texas Women’s Foundation president and CEO Roslyn Dawson Thompson. “It has been our great honor to host HERitage Giving Fund at Texas Women’s Foundation since their founding in 2017, and we wish them every success going forward. We know HERitage will continue to be an ever-expanding force for good for Black women and girls.”
