Introducing our 2022 Grantees

by Isabelle Shively

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Washington Women’s Foundation (WaWF) is proud to announce our 2022 Collective Grants, totaling $453,000, to 29 Washington organizations! We’re especially thrilled to announce the recipients of this year’s unrestricted $100,000 Collective Grants and $25,000 Merit Grant Awards. The three Collective Grantees and three Merit Award Finalists work to increase equity in Washington State in our 2022 priorities: Mental Health and Housing, the School to Prison Pipeline, and Community Cultural Preservation. 

All six organizations were offered an additional restricted $5,000 Leadership and Self-Care Grant. This capacity building grant is intended to support leadership development, self-care, and wellness within the organization. Our understanding of leadership includes leadership at all levels of the organization, from executives to volunteers. 

This year, informed by WaWF members, grantees, and the broader community, we made significant changes to our grants program. To learn more about those changes please click here.  

With our grants we seek to support organizations that are reflective of and embedded in the communities they serve, draw on the strengths and assets of these communities, and are accountable to these communities in order to achieve long-term goals of increasing equity and reducing disparities. We’re delighted to introduce you to our 2022 Collective Grantees, Merit Finalists, and Merit Awardees! 

2022 Collective Grantees 

Mental Health & Housing: Firelands Workers United/Trabajadores Unidos 

Firelands builds multiracial working-class power in rural disinvested counties in WA State to organize for a just, green economy that serves people and the land. Through bilingual base-building, outreach, workshops, leadership development, storytelling and cultural resilience, members fight for transformative policies and programs for the timber country region: living-wage green jobs, affordable healthy housing, tenant and worker rights, healthcare, childcare, and healthy ecosystems.

Community Cultural Preservation: Salish School of Spokane 

Salish School of Spokane is a Salish immersion school offering childcare and elementary school for families in the City of Spokane and surrounding areas. They are a grassroots community-based organization working to preserve and revitalize Southern Interior Salish languages, the first languages of the Spokane region. Their mission is dynamic Salish Language Revitalization powering cultural renewal and building a stronger, healthier community.  

School to Prison Pipeline: CHOOSE 180 

CHOOSE 180 transform systems of injustice and support the young people who are too often impacted by these systems. They envision a future where youthful behavior is decriminalized and young people are offered restorative practices in lieu of traditional prosecution. In place of the school-to-prison pipeline, a community will exist to help young people realize their potential and provide them with the tools necessary to achieve their goals. 

2022 Merit Award Finalists 

Washington Women’s Foundation gave a $25,000 Merit Award to each of our three finalist organizations in recognition of the time, effort and goodwill they invested in our rigorous grantmaking process. This year’s Merit Award Finalists are: 

Mental Health & Housing: New Beginnings 

Founded in 1976, New Beginnings’ mission is to empower survivors and mobilize community awareness and action to end domestic violence.  We are the only full service agency in Seattle whose primary mission is to serve domestic violence survivors.  With over 40 years of established history, New Beginnings has become a leading force in the movement to end domestic violence and has grown to include a full range of services for survivors.  On average, New Beginnings serves over 10,000 women, children, and men each year. 

Community Cultural Preservation: Wa Na Wari 

Sited in a fifth-generation, Black-owned home, Wa Na Wari is an immersive community art project that reclaims Black cultural space and makes a statement about the importance of Black land ownership in gentrified communities. Their mission is to create space for Black ownership, possibility, and belonging through art, historic preservation, and connection. Referred to as a “container for Black joy,” Wa Na Wari incubates and amplifies Black art and belonging while providing a safe space for organizing and movement building. By renting a house from a vulnerable Black homeowner, and giving that space back to the Black community, Wa Na Wari is an active model for how Black art and culture can combat gentrification and displacement. 

School to Prison Pipeline: Community Passageways 

Community Passageways creates alternatives to incarceration for youth and young adults by rebuilding our communities through committed relationships centered on love, compassion, and consistency. They support youth and young adults at every stage of the criminal legal process—from prevention to detention. This is designed to replace the school-to-prison pipeline with a school-to-life success pipeline. Instead of suspensions and expulsions, they strive for restorative and culturally-relevant programming. Instead of police, prosecutors, and judges, they operate with mentors, counselors, and circle keepers. Instead of frustration and denial, they build purpose and opportunity. Instead of jails, they envision homes, schools, jobs, and a community that stands with our youth. 

2022 Merit Awardees 

WaWF offered an additional $48,000 in grants to acknowledge the time and energy our Merit Awardees invested in the Collective Grants process. We encourage you to learn more about their work! 

Mental Health & Housing 

Community Cultural Preservation 

School to Prison Pipeline 

Over the next three years WaWF’s Grantee Engagement Team (GET) will build relationships with our new grantees, working with them to find opportunities to support them and their communities.  Interested in joining GET or our membership community? Contact membership@wawomensfdn.org for more information. All are welcome!  

Click here for our Grant Awards Press Release 

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