Grants from The Women's Fund -- 2002

At the third annual Tea Time & Tribute on Tuesday, September 10, 2002, at the Birmingham Museum of Art, The Women's Fund of Greater Birmingham awarded grants totaling $40,000 to five agencies focusing on programs serving girls.

New Life Harvest Ministries, $15,000. An innovative program that offers girls the opportunity to learn computer skills and to be able to work on their academic skills through the use of educational software. In the work-study program the girls learn advanced technological skills and participate in personal development training. This grant will help the organization to fully implement new sites in Kingston and the Tom Brown Housing Community.

Oasis Women's Counseling Center, $10,000. A collaborative effort to meet the needs of girls ages 13-17 who have been sexually, physically, or emotionally abused and who are involved in the system because of truancy or other status offenses. The program will reacquaint girls with their bodies in a healthy and constructive manner through the use of art and psycho-therapy and a non-combative form of martial arts.

Childcare Resources, $5,000. This project focuses education and information on early brain development from the agency's Birth-to-Five Community Initiative for teen mothers. This important information on the vital responsibility of nurturing children in their earliest years will provide needed support at a crucial point in the lives of teen mothers.

Children's Harbor Family Center at Children's Hospital, $5,000. A project that develops positive self-images for adolescent girls who have chronic illnesses of the Hematology, Oncology, Pulmonary and Renal diagnoses. A four-month self-enrichment program will focus on "whole self." Upon completion, these girls will have been educated on issues that will empower them to become healthy and productive women.

Leading Edge Institute, $5,000. Young women participate in an intensive four-part leadership development process that includes a Winter Summit, which this grant supports, as well as a summer institute and student leadership projects.