WFCO Makes 42 More Grants from Relief Fund
Rapid Response Grants Made Since March Total More Than 100
WFCO made 42 additional grants in June and July 2020 from our Women and Families of CO Relief Fund (WFCO Relief Fund). These grants are in addition to the 66 rapid response grants WFCO made in April to help women and families across the state meet basic needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, WFCO invested $782,500 through 108 rapid response grants to increase the capacity of women-led social ventures, women-led small businesses, and organizations that help Colorado women and their families.
Grants expand to include economic rebuilding for a more equitable future
WFCO’s second round of funding will continue to help women and families meet basic needs as women’s unemployment soars. While many of the grants are meant to provide safe shelter, food, and other essentials for women in rural communities, women with children, transgender women, and women experiencing homelessness or escaping domestic violence – they also address economic rebuilding for a more equitable economy, including grants that:
- Strengthen the early care and education (ECE) sector and child care resources for school-age children in Colorado. This will allow more women to access child care so they can continue their essential work during the crisis and more women can return to work in every sector, even if K-12 schools cannot resume full-time in-person learning for all students.
- Provide reproductive and other women’s health services.
- Improve and accelerate economic opportunities for women of color.
- Advance intersectional research to understand the economic opportunities and challenges for women across our state.
COVID has shown that as the majority of essential workers and caretakers, our economy thrives only if women do. It’s time to dismantle the systems that limit women’s financial prospects.
“We must ensure women and their families have what they need now, and that systems also are transformed in the wake of COVID-19 to truly advance their economic standing moving forward, particularly women of color,” said Lauren Y. Casteel, president and CEO of The Women’s Foundation of Colorado. “COVID has shown that as the majority of essential workers and caretakers, our economy thrives only if women do. It’s time to dismantle the systems that limit women’s financial prospects.”
Latinas, Black women hit hardest by job losses during the pandemic
The economic fallout of COVID-19 continues to highlight gender, racial, and class inequities that have existed for generations. Even in the context of huge job losses across demographics, The U.S Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported in April 2020 the unemployment rate for Black women increased to 16.4 percent and for Latinas it was 20.2 percent. By comparison, the unemployment rate for white men was 12.4 percent.
In April, the 66 grants made from the Relief Fund totaled $452,500. The second round of 42 grants totaled $330,000. Combined, grants from the WFCO Relief Fund were made to 108 organizations based in 24 counties and serving women and families in all 64 Colorado counties.
| Grantee Organizations | County |
| 9to5, National Association of Working Women* | Denver |
| A Woman’s Place, Inc. | Weld |
| Adelante Community Development | Adams |
| Advocates Against Domestic Assault | Las Animas |
| Advocates of Lake County | Lake |
| Alianza Norco | Larimer |
| Alliance Against Domestic Abuse | Chaffee |
| Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center | Boulder |
| Boys & Girls Club of Fremont County | Fremont |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County | Larimer |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, Inc | Denver |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of Pueblo County | Pueblo |
| Bright Future Foundation for Eagle County | Eagle |
| Center for Work Education and Employment | Denver |
| Centro Humanitario Para Los Trabajadores | Denver |
| Clayton Early Learning, Trustee, George w. Clayton Trust | Denver |
| Cobalt Foundation | Denver |
| Collaborative Healing Initiative within Communities* | Denver |
| Colorado Black Women Endowment Fund | Denver |
| Colorado Center on Law and Policy | Denver |
| Colorado Children’s Campaign | Denver |
| Colorado Coalition for the Homeless | Denver |
| Colorado Fiscal Institute | Denver |
| Colorado Gerontological Society | Denver |
| Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)* | Denver |
| Colorado Springs Child Nursery Centers Inc | El Paso |
| Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition* | Adams |
| Community Enterprise Development Services | Arapahoe |
| CPCD (Community Partnership for Child Development) | El Paso |
| Denver Asset Building Coalition | Denver |
| Denver Early Childhood Council | Denver |
| Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation | Denver |
| Denver Youth Program | Denver |
| Domestic Violence Initiative for Women with Disabilities | Denver |
| Dream Centers-Mary’s Home | El Paso |
| Durango Adult Education Center | La Plata |
| Eagle County Department of Human Services | Eagle |
| Early Childhood Council of Larimer County | Larimer |
| Early Learning Ventures | Arapahoe |
| ECDC African Community Center | Denver |
| Emergency Family Assistance Association, Inc. | Boulder |
| Executives Partnering to Invest in Children | Denver |
| Families Forward Resource Center (Fiscal sponsor: CNDC) | Denver |
| Florence Crittenton Services of Colorado | Denver |
| Fractal3 | Denver |
| Friends of the Haven | Denver |
| Girls Inc. of Metro Denver | Denver |
| Greccio Housing | El Paso |
| Healthy Child Care Colorado | Denver |
| Hilltop Health Resources | Mesa |
| Hispanic Affairs Project | Montrose |
| HopeTank/Swag for Food | Denver |
| Huerfano County Department of Human Services – Huerfano/Las Animas Family Resource enter | Huerfano |
| Huerta – Focus Points Family Resource Center | Denver |
| La Plata Family Centers Coalition | La Plata |
| La Puente Home, Inc. | Alamosa |
| Lady Justice Brewing | Denver |
| Latina Safehouse | Denver |
| Mi Casa Resource Center | Denver |
| Mile High Montessori Early Learning Centers DBA Mile High Early Learning | Denver |
| Mile High United Way (Keep the Lights On Fund)* | Denver |
| Morgan County Family Center | Morgan |
| Neighborhood Navigators of Eagle County | Eagle |
| OneMorgan County | Morgan |
| Padres & Jovenes Unidos | Denver |
| Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Inc. | Denver |
| Posada | Pueblo |
| Prairie Family Center | Kit Carson |
| Project Self-Sufficiency of Loveland-Fort Collins | Larimer |
| Pueblo Community College/Pueblo Community College Foundation | Pueblo |
| Pueblo Rescue Mission | Pueblo |
| Renew, Inc. | Montezuma |
| Rose Andom Center | Denver |
| Servicios De La Raza | Denver |
| Sistahbiz Global Network | Denver |
| Small Business Majority Foundation Inc. | District of Columbia |
| Soul 2 Soul Sisters | Denver |
| Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning | Denver |
| Summit County Family Resource Center | Summit |
| The Bell Policy Center | Denver |
| The Center for African American Health | Denver |
| The Center for Trauma & Resilience | Denver |
| The Delores Project | Denver |
| The Equity Project | Denver |
| The Gathering Place: A Refuge for Rebuilding Lives | Denver |
| The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of Colorado (The Center) | Denver |
| The Nappie Project – A Diaper Bank | Larimer |
| The Pinon Project Family Resource Center | Montezuma |
| The Small Town Project | Otero |
| The Village Institute | Denver |
| Tu Casa, Inc. | Alamosa |
| Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado | Denver |
| Valley Settlement | Garfield |
| Victim Offender Reconciliation Program of Denver | Denver |
| Warren Village, Inc. | Denver |
| WeeCycle | Arapahoe |
| Wild Plum Center for Young Children and Families | Boulder |
| Women’s Resource Center | La Plata |
| Wompost | Denver |
| YMCA of Metropolitan Denver | Denver |
| YoungInvincibles | Denver |
| YWCA Boulder County | Boulder |
| *Received more than one grant |
Second round of grants made possible by The Colorado Health Foundation, Rose Community Foundation
The second round of grants from the WFCO Relief Fund was made possible by generous contributions from The Colorado Health Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, and additional gifts from individuals. Rose Community Foundation President and CEO, Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, shared why WFCO fit the organization’s grantmaking strategy.
“As Rose Community Foundation leans into our own equity-oriented grantmaking strategies, we are eager to partner with organizations that have historic expertise in funding equitable solutions to our community’s most pressing issues,” said Lindy Eichenbaum Lent. “Supporting WFCO’s Women & Families of Colorado Relief Fund amplifies our ability to address acute needs that have emerged due to COVID-19 with a gender equity lens.”
The announcement of WFCO’s first round grants can be found here.
