A Few Issues and a Few of The Fund’s Victories
Research shows that mentoring young women works. Teens and tweens in mentoring programs are more likely to finish high school, attend college, avoid teen pregnancy and high risk behaviors — all factors leading to positive life outcomes.
For the past 20 years, the Community Fund for Women & Girls has invested more than $300,000 in mentoring programs for over 4,500 young women. It comes as no surprise to the Fund that 68% of New Haven Promise Scholars are women.
Living in Connecticut is not cheap. To achieve basic economic security, a single woman needs to earn more than $18 an hour. For a single mother with two children, the hourly wage needed to achieve economic security jumps to $33.
To bridge this often insurmountable leap, the Fund has, for the past 12 years, supported All Our Kin, a highly regarded nonprofit working with women to build quality home-based childcare businesses. This support has helped All Our Kin create a $15 – $20 return on every dollar invested in this effort, and resulted in $12.5 million in additional tax revenue for the region. Most importantly, this support has helped provide a livelihood for hundreds of women and increased quality childcare for working parents.
Connecticut full-time working women earn 78% of what their male counterparts earn, resulting in a yearly wage gap of $13,229 for the average Connecticut woman. For a Connecticut woman with a college degree, that gap increases significantly — to $1.2 million over a working lifetime. We applaud Governor Malloy’s creation of THE GENDER WAGE GAP TASK FORCE to address our state’s ranking as 26th in the nation regarding pay equity. In 2013, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act and to advocate for the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would move our nation closer to pay equity, the Fund for Women & Girls hosted Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and Teresa Younger, Executive Director of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women.
Heart disease claims the lives of 1 in 3 American women, yet advances in cardiovascular medicine have not led to significant declines in fatalities in women. The first treatment for heart disease specifically taking women into account, was only introduced in 1999. Women’s Health Research at Yale, an organization leading the way in gender-specific research, is at the forefront of this issue. The Fund for Women & Girls is proud to partner with them to improve the health of women.
Our History & Goal
In 1995, about 100 women (and a sprinkling of caring men) banded together to change the world as we know it locally.
Together, they invested $59,349 of their own money to create a new, permanently-endowed fund. This fund is our region’s ONLY endowment focused on improving the economic and social odds for women and girls.
Our Goal: To improve things for women and girls in Greater New Haven by growing women’s influence through philanthropy.
We just need your help... We need fresh warriors to win this fight.
What about you?
Is the Fund a good fit for you? The Community Fund for Women & Girls isn’t for everyone.
The truth is, the Fund can do far more. But only if you join us.
We’re looking for true believers — people who are interested in a complex fight against entrenched ways and prejudices that reach back to prehistory and remain alive today.
Yes, Count Me In