Common Wealth Charlotte, a 2021 WIF grant recipient, replaces reliance on charitable and government assistance with financial capability, equipping Charlotte’s economically vulnerable population with: trauma-informed education certified financial counseling asset- and wealth-building skills access to banking services and 0% interest, no-fee loans Charlotte is home to 200,000 people who work full-time and take home …
Today we are pleased to share updates and next steps related to our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) working groups. You may recall, in our last update, we shared that our working groups were broadened to support more comprehensive and thoughtful outcomes across our organization and community. The Our Organization working group is focused on …
Continue reading “February 2022 Update on Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work”
The resettlement of Afghanistan refugees and Charlotte’s affordable housing crisis – these two topics do not have an obvious tie, but they have a huge impact on Charlotte’s local refugee community. This was one of the lessons, among others, we learned during our Lunch & Learn: At the Intersection of Hope and Refuge: Supporting Charlotte’s …
Black women, regardless of health, education, or income, are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and not enough Black women are working as childbirth professionals. The Johnson C. Smith University Birthing Professionals Program (BPP) seeks to improve maternal and …
Continue reading “Mission Moment: JCSU Birthing Professionals Program”
We sat down with Aaron Randolph, executive director of Carolina Youth Coalition (CYC), and asked him a few questions about the impact of the WIF grant from 2021. How are the funds being utilized? CYC has expanded the program to include ninth grade. The WIF funds were primarily used to hire a program director for …
Continue reading “2021 Community Impact Grantee Report on Carolina Youth Coalition”
It can be easy to avoid focusing on our own needs – especially when we’re responsible for taking care of other people. But how sustainable is it to take care of others on an empty tank? We can only run on empty for so long. One of the best gifts we can give ourselves and …
Continue reading “The Importance of Honoring our Mental Health Needs”
It was a beautiful Saturday morning. WIF members, friends and family gathered to meet with Zack Wyatt, CEO of Carolina Farm Trust (WIF 2021 grantee) and tour the Urban Garden located in East Charlotte adjacent to Aldersgate Retirement Community. The garden is host to beehives, fruit trees, rows of enticing vegetables, and a weekly farm …
Be close to the causes you serve. Rather than simply checking a numerical box, we need to ask ourselves, how are we supporting the people we serve? These themes resonated throughout our Lunch & Learn: Turning Roadblocks Into On-Ramps discussion. Angie Bush, Executive Director of Hospitability House of Charlotte, led a discussion with Sherri Chisholm, …
We hope that this finds you well and enjoying the fall. Over the summer, we shared the following diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statement to guide Women’s Impact Fund’s commitment to this work: We are a curious, growth-minded organization and strive to approach our work with humility and willingness to listen and learn. We commit …
Continue reading “October 2021 Update on Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work”