Founders Friends Silver Founders Funders Projects and Applications

The Women's Fund is a unique legacy established by the generosity of one hundred founding women who want to make a difference in our community. These special women continue the tradition of leadership and service to the Lapeer community by shaping the present and future just as their mothers and grandmothers did before. The Women's Fund will be used each year to make grants supporting and enhancing the lives of women and their children in areas of health, human service, education, and enrichment.

“Every woman must have a purse of her own . . .”

2012 Women’s Fund Steering Committee

The Women’s Fund is excited to announce the recipients of their Request for Proposal!
    The Women’s Fund endowment, through its generous supporters,  has been firmly established.  The Steering Committee looked at the availability of the fund’s proceeds, deciding to offer $10,000.00 to organizations which assist women and children!  A “Request for Proposal” (RFP) was sent to over thirty non-profits in Lapeer County.  As there were a number of worthy requests in response, the decisions were difficult.  

The Steering Committee voted to make two awards:

$7,427.00 went to the Lapeer Area Citizens Against Domestic Assault (LACADA) to renovate its shelter’s side porch into a barrier-free bedroom.  All bedrooms for guests are on the second floor.
 
$2,525.00 went to the Family Literacy Center (FLC) to fund six play groups for young children and four  one-on-one tutoring programs for elementary-age at-risk students.  FLC wished to expand these important and popular programs for which there are long waiting lists.      Congratulations from all Founders, Friends, and Funders of the Women’s Fund!

What is a Founder?

Our Women’s Fund Founders:

What is a Friend?
A Women’s Fund Friend is a special donor that continues the tradition of the one hundred Founders.  
Coming from all walks of life, representing multiple generations, our Friends and Founders share a common vision…to build a permanent resource that will help women and their families now and long into the future.
 
Become a Friend with an outright gift of $500.00 or a 5-year pledge of $100.00 per year. As a Friend, your gift will be held in endowment, contributing to the permanent legacy that will be passed on to future generations of Lapeer County women. Only the earnings will be distributed, but as the Women's Fund grows, so does our ability to help.

To become a Friend of the Women's Fund by making a donation, please follow this link.

What is a Funder?
As a Funder, your gift will be used immediately to support the Mini-Grant Program. Working in partnership with local non-profit organizations and agencies, our mini-grants address emergency needs for Lapeer County women and their families or give these women the tools they need to improve their lives.
 
Although the dollar amounts for the mini-grants are modest, the impact in human terms is huge. With each Mini-Grant award, we send a message to the recipient that she is not alone; there are many Lapeer County women who care.
 
Become a Funder with a gift of any dollar amount. Your gift will be utilized now! All gifts to the Women's Fund are tax deductible for Federal income tax purposes, but gifts to the mini-grant program are not eligible for the Michigan State Income Tax Credit.

To become a Funder of the Women's Fund by making a contribution, please follow this link.

Women's Fund Projects and Applications
The following files are in Adobe .PDF format and must be opened with the Acrobat reader. You may download this software here:

Mini Grants
Our mini grants assist Lapeer County women and their children in areas of “crisis concern” and applicants must be  referred by our agency partners.  Mini-grant awards are $1,000 or less.  To download a Women’s Fund mini grant application, follow this link.

Also through partner agency referral, the Women’s Fund “Outfits for the Office” program allows choosing a gently used outfit at a local consignment store for a job interview or other situation requiring professional attire. To download a “Outfits for the Office” voucher, follow this link.

A mini-grant application can only be submitted by a Partner Organization/Agency.

Scholarships
The Women’s Fund, through the Mott Community College Foundation, awards $250.00 scholarships to
non-traditional Mott students juggling multiple demands of life.  Funds are applied toward books, fees, child care and transportation costs.  Recipients must maintain a minimum 2.5 grade point average and be a resident of Lapeer County.

            To download a Women’s Fund scholarship application, follow this link.

Organization/Agency Partners
The Women's Fund seeks agency partners for our mini-grant program, which helps meet the needs of Lapeer County women and their children.  These women do not meet criteria for agency assistance and would otherwise “fall through the cracks” when emergency funding is needed.  Mini-grant requests must be for less than $1,000.

Organization/agency partners would:
1) Refer grant requests that cannot be funded through any other agency program. Although meeting agency screening standards, these individuals would not qualify for funding due to federal regulations, amounts, time period, etc. See link above for mini-grant application.
2) Receive payment of funds for mini-grants and then make payment to the individual or business. In order to receive payment, checks would have to be able to be written within a 7 day period. Our goal is to make the mini-grants time sensitive.

To download a Partner Organization/Agency application for the Women's Fund follow this link.

A mini-grant application can only be submitted by a Partner Organization/Agency. 
To download a Mini-grant application for the Women's Fund follow this link.