2009 CommunityGrant Awards
Financial Liteacy
The Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham and its corporate grant partners – Regions Financial Corporation and BBVA Compass - are awarding $65,000 in grants to area programs that provide financial education to girls and women.
This year’s slate of grantees represents the best practices for curriculum and includes intensive instruction with one-on-one financial counseling. These agencies reach a population that is diverse in ages (girls and women), counties (Walker, Blount and St. Clair as well as Jefferson and Shelby), and life situations (girls in foster care, homeless, accepting public assistance, business owners, fleeing domestic violence, first time home buyers, and those planning for retirement).
Birmingham Homeownership Center ( Birmingham Center for Affordable Housing)- $10,000
BHC will serve 40 women through first time homebuyer workshops, financial literacy classes, and one-on-one counseling.
Central Ala. Women's Business Center (Elizabeth Conwell Schlarb Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs)- $3,140
CAWBC will serve 100 women who are business owners or considering opening a business through classes such as Money Smart, Quickbooks, Fast Trac® New Venture, and Fast Trac® Growth Venture.
Children's Village, Inc. - $3,000
Children’s Village is a group home for foster children. They will serve 8 girls through daily lessons in a range of skills such as counting money, budgeting, setting up savings accounts, distinguishing needs from wants, understanding credit cards, and shopping wisely.
Gateway Consumer Credit Counseling - $5,000
Gateway will serve 60 women age 45 and older with instruction about basic financial skills and retirement planning. The participants will be further supported through individual counseling.
Girl Scouts North-Central Ala - $10,000
Girl Scouts will reach 225 girls in Blount, St. Clair and Walker Counties both at school and in troops. Girls in 2nd through 8th grade will earn patches for completion of the CentsAbility course.
Girls Incorporated - $7,500
Girls Inc will serve 400 girls in their after-school, summer program, and in-school classes. They offer classes at age appropriate levels for girls 6 -18 years of age and will expand the program to include a workshop for adults.
Habitat for Humanity - $3,000
Habitat serves mostly women with intensive training on the skills to become successful homeowners including credit and budgeting, establishing saving accounts, mortgages and escrow payments.
Hannah Home (Kings Ranch) - $3,000
Hannah Home, a long-term residential home for battered women, will offer individual case management and workshops to help their clients set up bank accounts, establish and maintain a budget, reduce debt, and save money.
M-Power Ministries - $5,000
M-Power Ministries, located in Woodlawn, serves women seeking employment through an intense three day a week, twenty-four week program that teaches financial literacy among other life skills and educational classes. They measure their outcomes based on the individual goals each woman sets for her own betterment.
Need A Chance - $5,360
Forty women, most living on public assistance and in housing projects, will participate in a week-long workshop (30 hours) to learn how to make their food stamps last all month, banking, budgeting, predatory lending, and comparative shopping.
Pathways - $10,000
Pathways’ Fiscally Fit program will serve 100 homeless women who reside in three area shelters. They have partnered with the North Alabama Chapter of the Financial Planners Association to offer financial literacy classes to women and their children.
