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Recently Awarded Grants

The Allstate Foundation	The YWCA of Nashville & Middle Tennessee is one of 14 nonprofit organizations, across the country, to receive an “Allstate 60th Anniversary Grant” earlier this year. The grant is providing funding for a new YWCA website and social media platform. “We are grateful to Allstate Foundation for this ($43,000) unique opportunity to make our marketing efforts more efficient and effective,” said YWCA CEO, Patricia Glaser Shea. “Our current website is tired and out of date but we previously had no way to fund an upgrade. We are very grateful to Allstate for this and all the other wonderful ways that they support our work,” she concluded.
	We are thrilled to receive a grant from the Verizon Foundation to launch the YWCA’s Engaging Men public education campaign! The project is closely aligned with Verizon's strategy to engage and empower men to speak up and be part of the solution to end the violence. “For well over a decade Verizon has been a champion to nonprofits providing support, relief and resources to survivors of domestic violence. Verizon is pleased to partner with the YWCA…engaging men is such an important piece of breaking the cycle,” said Julie Smith, vice president of external affairs, Verizon. For more information on Verizon’s domestic violence awareness campaign visit www.verizonfoundation.org/yourvoicecounts. Watch for more details in the beginning of 2013. To stay posted on how you can become involved in the YWCA’s Engaging Men campaign, follow us on twitter. About VZF: The Verizon Foundation is focused on accelerating social change by using the company's innovative technology to help solve pressing problems in education, health care and energy management. Since 2000, the Verizon Foundation has invested more than half a billion dollars to improve the communities where Verizon employees work and live. Verizon's employees are generous with their donations and their time, having logged more than 6.2 million hours of service to make a positive difference in their communities. For more information about Verizon's philanthropic work, visit www.verizonfoundation.org; or for regular updates, visit the Foundation on Facebook (www.facebook.com/verizonfoundation) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/verizongiving).
	Jackson National Life Insurance Company has graciously invested in Girls Inc. at the YWCA with a $4,025 grant. Jackson and its employees invest in communities in which they live and work. WIth their support this year, 275 girls will develop leadership and life skills by exploring a career that interests them, by learning economic literacy skills like budgeting and saving, by recognizing stereotypes in media, and by embracing cultures different from their own. The YWCA will also mentor the girls through academic tutoring, as well as through individual and group activites that encourage confident self-expression and build healthy self-esteem.
	The Allstate Foundation has awarded the YWCA a $10,000 grant to support the Weaver Domestic Violence Center. As part of the shelter's comprehensive case management services, women can participate in weekly group sessions that can use The Allstate Foundation Moving Ahead through Financial Management curriculum in order to build economic self-sufficiency. The sessions help women create a financial plan, open a bank account (when safety allows), obtain their credit report, save money, and reduce debt.
Joe C. Davis Foundation	The YWCA is pleased to receive a $7,500 grant from the Joe C. Davis Foundation to help the Weaver Domestic Violence Center provide safety, shelter, and case management to women and their children. The need for domestic violence services in Nashville is great. At the YWCA, women learn to increase their emotional and financial self-sufficiency and children learn to understand and cope with the abuse they have experienced. WIth the Foundation's help this year, the YWCA will help women build safer, more stable lives for themselves and their children.
Altria Companies Employee Community Fund	We are thrilled to announce that the Altria Companies Employee Community Fund (ACECF) has awarded the YWCA with a $15,000 grant to support the Weaver Domestic Violence Center. The Weaver Center provides 24-hour emergency shelter for women and their children fleeing domestic violence. To address the prevalence and devastating impact of domestic violence, the YWCA provides a wide range of services designed to meet complex needs. Comprehensive case management services include individual and group counseling, access to addiction treatment, on-site legal advocacy, transportation, transitional housing planning, and support in achieving emotional and financial self-sufficiency. With support from community leaders like ACECF, survivors have an opportunity to recover from trauma adn achieve self-sufficiency.
Nashville Rotary Service Trust	Nashville Rotary Service Trust awarded teh YWCA's GED® Preparation Services program with a $5,000 grant to support targeted outreach in Nashville's Watkins Park community. This grant will allow us to advertise our free GED classes to residents in Watkins Park by advertising on bus top benches in the area. With nearly 100,000 adults without high school diplomas in Davidson County, the need for this service is great; every dollar of Rotary's support provides self-sufficiency to those we serve.
	Target has awarded the YWCA a $1,500 grant to support a partnership between Girls Inc.® and Act Like a GRRRL (a program of Actors Bridge Ensemble) during the 2012-2013 school year. This funding will suppor the YWCA's Metro Arts Commission grant to provide arts programming to our after-school program at Wright middle school.
	The Metro Arts Commission has awarded the YWCA a $4,250 grant to support a partnership between Girls Inc.® and Act Like A GRRRL (a program of Actors Bridge Ensemble) at Wright middle school during the 2012-2013 school year. Act Like A GRRRL (ALAG) is an autobiographical writing and performance program for young women to achieve a public voice by articulating their lived experience. The girls write about their unique experiences, examine and embrace both their differences and similarities, and hold one another to the values and inherent expectations associated with independence and empowerment. The format of the program ensures that each day, the girls meet female guest artists who teach them in a hands-on environment how to incorporate writing, visual art, music, movement and dance into their lives. The program culminates in a public performance conceived, created, and enacted entirely on stage by the girls themselves.
Metro Community Enhancement Fund	We are thrilled to announce that the Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County has awarded the YWCA a Community Enhancement Fund grant in the amount of $293,900. This grant will help the Weaver Domestic Violence Center provide safety, shelter, and case management for women and children who are experiencing domestic violence. We are grateful for Mayor Karl Dean’s commitment to addressing domestic violence through law enforcement and through the Community Enhancement Fund. Without the YWCA, many women who are in abusive relationships would not have access to the resources and support they need during traumatic and often life-threatening situations.
	The Dollar General Literacy Foundation has once again selected the YWCA to provide free GED® Test preparation services to any adult who lives or works in Davidson County and desires to increase the level of their education or obtain their GED® credential. This year’s investment of $350,000 will allow us to help more than 1,100 adults increase the level of their education and 225 students obtain their GED® credential. “Dollar General’s commitment to the YWCA’s GED Preparation Program now spans more than five years – what an incredible impact that has on graduates to achieve better career opportunities and more sustainable incomes, gain a positive sense of self-worth, and prepare to help their own children succeed in school," said YWCA CEO, Pat Shea.
Ingram Industries Inc.	Ingram Industries Inc. has awarded the YWCA Weaver Domestic Violence Center with a $60,000 grant for operating funds. With support from community leaders like Ingram Industries, survivors have an opportunity to recover from trauma and achieve self-sufficiency. As a result of Ingram Industries’ investment in fiscal year 2012, to date the YWCA has provided 16,094 nights of safe shelter to 356 women and children fleeing domestic violence, and answered 3,583 calls to our 24-hour information and crisis line.
	Nordstrom has continued their support of our mission this year with a $5,000 grant to the YWCA’s Weaver Domestic Violence Center. Nordstrom has generously supported the YWCA’s events, and this operating grant will provide safety, shelter, and case management for women and children who are experiencing domestic violence. The grant will also provide more than temporary safety; it will help break the cycle of violence by offering women everything along the continuum of care, from emergency shelter to access to our GED® Preparation Services. Economic self-sufficiency is a primary indicator of a woman’s ability to live independently of her abuser. With this in mind, women in shelter can earn their GED® credential through the YWCA’s GED® Preparation Services so that they are more prepared for gainful employment.
Peyback Foundation	The Peyback Foundation has graciously awarded Girls Inc. at the YWCA a $7,000 grant. With their support, 275 girls will develop leadership and life skills by exploring a career that interests them, by learning economic literacy skills like budgeting and saving, by recognizing stereotypes in media, and by embracing cultures different from their own. Staff and volunteers will also mentor the girls through academic tutoring, as well as through individual and group activities that encourage confident self-expression and build healthy self-esteem.
	The Memorial Foundation has awarded the YWCA a $60,000 operational grant to be shared by two programs. Domestic Violence Services will receive $40,000 and Girls Inc.^® at the YWCA was awarded $20,000, an exciting $10,000 more than last year. Last year the YWCA Weaver Domestic Violence Center served 217 women and 163 children. Girls Inc.^® at the YWCA helped 275 middle school girls learn to be strong, smart and bold. “We are grateful to the Memorial Foundation for their support of our life-changing programs that help women and children escape violence and also inspire girls to be strong, smart and bold,” noted YWCA Vice President of Programs, Pamela Sessions.
HCA Foundation	The HCA Foundation has awarded the YWCA Weaver Domestic Violence Center with a $25,000 grant for general operating funds. The funds will help the center continue its work to provide safety and support for women and children. “ In addition to necessities like food and clothing, shelter residents receive comprehensive case management services including safety planning, individual and group counseling and access to addiction treatment,” explained YWCA Vice President of Programs, Pamela Sessions. “We are grateful to the HCA Foundation for helping us provide these critical services,” she concluded.
Emdeon	We are grateful to Emdeon Services for a new $10,000 grant which will help cover operating expenses for Girls Inc.^® at the YWCA, providing research-based curricula for girls at 7 Metro Middle Schools. Girls Inc.^® services, delivered by trained professionals, equip girls to achieve academically; lead healthy and physically active lives; manage money; navigate media messages; and discover an interest in science, technology, engineering and math. “Emdeon’s new support will allow us to continue this vital work for middle school girls,” noted YWCA CEO, Pat Shea.
Bridgestone Americas Trust Fund	Bridgestone Americas Trust Fund has awarded a $10,000 grant to support Girls Inc.^® at the YWCA. “Bridgestone is a valued partner of the YWCA and with their investment, we continue to provide innovative, girl-centered programming that encourages girls to take healthy risks, resist peer pressure and stereotypes while developing leadership skills and discovering their true potential,” noted Pat Shea, YWCA CEO.
	Bridgestone Americas, Inc. has announced a $10,000 grant to support Girls Inc.^® at the YWCA. “With Bridgestone’s help, middle school girls are learning about violence prevention, healthy relationships, pregnancy prevention and drug/alcohol awareness,” explained YWCA Vice President of Programs, Pamela Sessions.
Cal Turner Family Foundation	Girls Inc.^® at the YWCA has received a $27,000 grant from the Cal Turner Family Foundation to help 275 middle school girls become “strong, smart and bold.” Through fun activities and research-based curriculum, the girls focus on violence prevention, pregnancy prevention, substance abuse prevention, economic literacy skills, career planning strategies, and ways to understand the influence of media. "We are grateful to the Cal Turner Family Foundation for helping us reach girls at such an impressionable stage in their development," noted YWCA CEO, Pat Shea.
Hendrix Foundation	The Hendrix Foundation has awarded the YWCA Weaver Domestic Violence Center a grant of $10,000 to help provide immediate safety, shelter, counseling, and case management for women and children who are experiencing domestic violence. With the Hendrix Foundation’s help this year, 215 women and 150 children fleeing abuse will sleep safely in the Weaver Center, where they can heal and learn to build their self-sufficiency.
Mamie Crook Charitable Trust	The YWCA has received a $5,000 grant from the Mamie Crook Charitable Trust in support of the Weaver Domestic Violence Center. The Trust’s support ensures that women and children fleeing domestic violence have a safe place to go when faced with imminent danger. Once safe in shelter, women learn to increase their emotional and financial self-sufficiency, and children learn healthy ways to cope with the domestic violence they have experienced. We are grateful to the Mamie Crook Charitable Trust for its help in making these services possible.
Baptist Healing Trust has announced a grant of $42,423 to help support the case management services provided to women and children staying at the Weaver Domestic Violence Center. In a safe and empowering environment, women learn to increase their emotional and financial self-sufficiency, and children learn healthy ways to cope with the domestic violence they have experienced.

GANNETT FOUNDATION	The Gannett Foundation has awarded the YWCA a grant of $3,000 to help provide emergency transportation for women and children who are experiencing domestic violence and need to reach the Weaver Domestic Violence Center. This funding also helps provide bus passes to women in shelter so that they can travel to work, school, and appointments with other service providers as the women work to build their emotional and financial self-sufficiency.
The Louie M. and Betty M. Phillips Foundation	The Louie M. and Betty M. Phillips Foundation is supporting the YWCA’s Domestic Violence Services with a grant of $5,000. This funding helps provide immediate safety, shelter, counseling, and case management for women and children who are experiencing domestic violence.

	We are thrilled to announce that the YWCA has been selected to receive the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Award, a grant that provides $200,000 in general operating support over two years, as well as leadership development training for Pat Shea, President & CEO, and Donna Dant, VP of Advancement. We will use the funds to support our Transitional Housing program, providing housing assistance and case management for women and children exiting the Weaver Domestic Violence Center. We are honored to receive this highly competitive grant and are so excited about the impact it will have for the families we serve.
	The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has announced a $10,000 grant for the YWCA to provide emergency taxi transportation for women and children who are fleeing domestic violence, as well as bus passes so that women and their children in shelter can travel to and from jobs, school, medical appointments, legal proceedings, and appointments with other social service providers.
The Atticus Trust	The Atticus Trust has awarded the YWCA a $6,000 grant to support its Domestic Violence Services, which provide immediate safety, shelter, counseling, and case management for women and children who are experiencing domestic violence.
Office on Violence Against Women	The YWCA has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women to serve children who have been exposed to violence. This two-year, $400,000 grant will be used to support a combination of new and existing expenses, including a Child Therapist, Childcare Worker, and Crisis Counselor at the Weaver Center, as well as a Support Group Facilitator in the community.The grant also supports domestic violence outreach and training services, which will be carried out in partnership with Exchange Club Family Center, Conexion Americas, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle TN and the Sexual Assault Center.
	We are pleased to share that Dell, Inc. has awarded a $10,000 grant to support Girls Inc.^® at the YWCA. With Dell’s support this year, Girls Inc.^® at the YWCA is helping 275 middle school girls become “strong, smart, and bold.” Through fun activities and research-based curriculum, the girls focus on violence prevention, pregnancy prevention, substance abuse prevention, economic literacy skills, career planning strategies, and understanding the influence of the media.