Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding
CATR improves the lives of children and adults with disabilities at the area's only nationally accredited therapeutic riding center.  A grant from Women Making a Difference will support full scholarships for two area children to receive therapy for an entire year.  The participants both have significant financial need. One is autistic and the other has an extremely rare chromosomal disorder.

HALOS
Halos provides resources and special opportunities to abused and neglected children and their caregivers through partnerships with faith-based and other community organizations.  A Women Making a Difference grant will help fund the Kinship Care Resource program, which supports "kinship" caregivers – adults who are caring for the children of relatives so these children can avoid placement in foster care.

Louie's Kids
Louie’s Kids provides solutions in cases where a clinically obese child is in desperate need of behavioral, nutritional, or specific one-on-one intervention.  This Women Making a Difference grant will support a part-time Program Director and offset part of Louie's Kids’ general operating support.

Lowcountry Food Bank
Lowcountry Food Bank serves as a clearinghouse for donated food for local non-profit agencies serving the poor in its ten-county service area.  A grant from Women Making a Difference will support Kids Cafes, an afterschool program where children receive a hot, healthy, nutritious meal before going home for the night – all after doing homework and participating in positive recreational activities under the leadership of caring adults. 

Lowcountry Orphan Relief
Lowcountry Orphan Relief provides basic necessities and comfort to children removed from their homes.  This Women Making a Difference grant will help Lowcountry Orphan Relief purchase and outfit a truck to deliver needed items such as clothing, toiletries, and school supplies directly to agencies, caseworkers, group homes and foster homes that request items for children placed in emergency protective custody.

Operation Home
Operation Home provides safety, dignity, and handicap-accessibility to the Lowcountry's neediest residents by making home repairs.  This Women Making a Difference grant will support the salary of a part-time Client Services Director, an essential staff member who oversees all home repair projects and supervises client services volunteers.

Our Lady of Mercy Outreach
Our Lady of Mercy Outreach addresses various needs of economically poor and disadvantaged residents on James, Johns and Wadmalaw Islands.  A grant from Women Making a Difference will support the Comprehensive Family-Centered Literacy Project. One of the primary focus areas of the program is adult education, and for a large number of Our Lady of Mercy clients, English is a second language. The program helps adults develop greater parenting and employment skills while expanding the educational and social development of the children who participate.

Pattison’s Academy
Pattison’s Academy improves the quality of life for children with multiple disabilities by providing a comprehensive education and rehabilitation program in a school environment.  This Women Making a Difference grant will support the 2009 Summer Camp Program. Specifically, this funding will be used to transport children with multiple and severe disabilities to summer camp activities.

Teacher’s Supply Closet
Teacher’s Supply Closet serves the educational and creative needs of children in high poverty schools in the greater Charleston area by providing donated merchandise for free to teachers, for use by their students.  This Women Making a Difference grant will help pay for needed school supplies that have not been donated and will offset overhead costs.

WINGS for Kids
WINGS for Kids provides social and emotional education to children growing up in poverty, as well as a safe place to go after school.  This Women Making a Difference grant will help support the position of one full-time Fellow to assist WINGS in expanding to Chicora Elementary School.

Carolina Medical Assessment Center
Women Making a Difference helps offset the general operating costs of this facility, which assists an estimated 700 women and children annually who have been physically or sexually abused. The State of South Carolina reimburses only 42% of the actual costs of CMAC’s services, so Women Making a Difference’s ongoing support is crucial to the center’s ability to provide uninterrupted service.

Carolina Youth Development Center
provides support and services to youth victimized by abuse, neglect, abandonment, and/or emotional disturbances. Our grant will help implement a Leadership Track, which will help 20-30 abused/at-risk youth develop successful skills for the workplace and life as they move towards independence.

Past award:
To fund a two month art therapy program for up to 10 children at CYDC's Charleston Emergency Shelter. Through work with an art therapist twice a week, children will be able to discover and heal feelings that may be difficult to reach in other therapy settings. Art therapy is a proven clinical intervention for communication, healing, and growth and the benefits of art therapy are significant in the trauma assessment and treatment process.

Past award:
According to teacher reports, of the 17 Big Brothers/Big Sisters mentor-matched students Women Making a Difference underwrites, 78% improved academically, 67% had improved attitudes toward school and 55% improved in classroom participation.

Center For Women
To add a second counselor at the Center for Women. This addition will enable the Center to provide 20 more hours of counseling each month and in turn, 175 women (an additional 75) can receive therapy annually. The counselors at C4W will also work to compile data on the issues facing the treated women and continue to work closely with other community organizations in response to the women's needs.

Past award:
Women Making a Difference’s grant allows the Center to continue connecting thousands of women across the Tri-county area with professional sources of practical help through counseling, support groups and referrals. 5,000 people receive the Center's quarterly newsletter, and over 200 women per month benefit from the Center's services.

Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding
Women Making a Difference’s grant underwrites 20 weeks of therapeutic riding lessons for five children ages 4-18. Because horseback riding gently and rhythmically moves the rider’s body in a manner similar to a human gait, riders with physical disabilities often show significant improvement in flexibility, balance and muscle strength thanks to this progressive therapy.

Charleston Breast Center
strives to ultimately lower the number of breast cancer deaths by combining modern cancer detection and treatment solutions with education and compassionate care. Our grant will enable access to essential breast cancer screening and diagnostic services for uninsured and underinsured women.

Past grant award:
To support the "South Carolina Mammography Access Initiative," which delivers breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and support services for women facing socioeconomic disadvantages. The program includes up to 25 subsidized screenings, diagnostics, and referrals for underserved area women.

Charleston Miracle League
To fund the third phase in the development of the League's field -- handicap-accessible restrooms, drinking fountains, and a picnic pavilion. This is an organized baseball league for over 100 area children with physical and mental disabilities.

Communities in Schools of the Charleston Area identifies children least likely to graduate and proactively helps them stay in school. Our grant funds the Student Support Program at Ft. Johnson and James Island Middle Schools, a multi-faceted approach to serve case-managed young women identified as in danger of dropping out.

Past award:
To support the SiHLE (Zulu word meaning "beautiful girl") program as well as follow-up support for the female participants. This educational intervention program is designed to teach condom use to 30 sexually active, adolescent, African-American girls, at high risk for sexually-transmitted infections and diseases, and to diminish their risk of contracting such diseases.

Crisis Ministries
Women Making a Difference’s grant helps underwrite the full-time position of afternoon staff member at the only emergency shelter in the area. There, homeless families are provided a full range of clinical and primary medical services, in additional to emergency shelter and food. The day program staffer oversees programs including group sessions on coping, anger management, relationship building, budget training, and job training.

Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center
seeks to reduce the incidence of child abuse, as well as the impact of abuse on the child the family and the community. Our grant will continue to underwrite DNLCC’s art therapy program, which provides individual, family, and group treatment that allows participants to express feelings and communicate about their trauma in ways other than talk therapy.

Previous award:
Women Making a Difference underwrites the Center's art and group therapy programs. Led by trained therapists, these programs provide child victims, their mothers and adult survivors a therapeutic outlet for recovery. Both the art and group therapy programs provide opportunities for victims to come together, learn they are not alone, develop and share coping skills - at no cost to the women and children. This grant will enable the Center to serve 50 clients.

Dress for Success Women
Making a Difference underwrites the Applications to Employment program for 55 women in the Dress for Success program. This comprehensive program, which is intended for both for unemployed and under-employed women, covers topics including the job search, application process, personal appearance, mock interviewing, business etiquette, financial management, and career development.

East Cooper Community Outreach assists women and children who would not otherwise have access to dental care. “My Sister’s Smile,” one of three initiatives at ECCO, provides restorative dentistry for victims of domestic violence.

Family Connection of South Carolina strengthens families who have children with special needs, developmental delays, disabilities, or chronic illnesses through a parent-to-parent network of family-focused support system that provides assurance, information, community awareness, and enhanced parent/professional relationships. Our grant provides a monthly Respite Night for families with children with disabilities and special needs.

Family Services, Inc.
To fund the expansion of the Family Violence Intervention Program to include individual counseling for 20 battered women and children in addition to the group counseling offered now. The participants will receive an average of 5 individual sessions with a licensed counselor.

Florence Crittenton assists low-income, at-risk young pregnant and parenting women to grow into independent, self-sufficient young adults. Our grant will help fund the Family Development Program, which provides home-based, supportive services for up to two years for at-risk single mothers with children ages five and under.

Past award:
Women Making a Difference supports the home-based support services for at-risk single parents and infants in rural areas of the Tri-county. With Women Making a Difference’s support, plans are to serve 55 families this year. Most of the parents are adolescents, and the goal of the program is to promote independence and self-sufficiency of the family.

From Darkness to Light
Women Making a Difference’s grant supports the ongoing education provided through Darkness to Light's 7 Steps for Protecting our Children booklet, website, 211 help-lines, local child advocacy centers, and future web-based training program for prevention of child abuse.

HALOS
As it was originally conceived, HALOS matched a DSS caseworker with a particular house of worship so the caseworker could call on the congregation to provide special needs for the caseworker's client(s). Today, the scope of the program has grown to include a variety of “typical” childhood activities that the approximately 400 children in foster care may otherwise not experience, and Women Making a Difference is a strong supporter of this vital work.

Hemangioma Treatment Foundation
Women Making a Difference’s grant underwrites the discounted hospital costs for one Lowcountry child whose insurance will not cover surgical removal of his/her vascular birthmark. 

Humanities Foundation ShelterNet Program seeks to end homelessness by increasing the availability of affordable housing through non-profit housing development, technical support, emergency financial assistance, education, and advocacy. Our grant will help fund the ShelterNet program, which offers one-time emergency financial assistance with rent, utilities, mortgage payments, and security/utility deposits to low-income families who have temporarily fallen behind in their monthly expenses.

Previous award:
ShelterNet provides one-time financial assistance to people who already have a place to live, but have become precariously close to homelessness. Women Making a Difference’s grant provides financial assistance for rent, utilities, deposits for rent or utilities, and mortgages so the homeowner has “breathing room” to get affairs in order and back on track.

MUSC College of Nursing
To provide basic health education and literacy education twice a week to 10 to 12 Hispanic, immigrant women with 2 and 3 year-olds in the Midland Park area of North Charleston. The children will also be prepared for entering school. The program's use of group activities will allow the often isolated women to meet one another and build a support system. This is a collaboration with the Charleston County School District, the Trident Literacy Association, the Midland Park Community Ministries, and the College of Nursing.

My Sister’s House helps victims and their families survive and overcome domestic violence. We are supporting their operating costs.

Previous award:
Women Making a Difference’s general operating support enables My Sister’s House to continue to provide structured services responsive to the needs of each domestic violence victim (and their children) at My Sister’s House 's home, which encompasses 24 rooms. In addition to serving 600 women and children in-shelter, My Sister’s House anticipates providing services to at least 500 women through community-based no-cost activities, including support groups. To fund general operating support, such as insurance, telephone, and transportation, for this non profit that serves victims of domestic violence. The nature of the organization's 24-hour daily free services causes its expenses to be high and very few funding sources will fund operating costs.

Operation Home provides critically needed home repairs throughout the Lowcountry. Our grant will help fund a part-time services coordinator who will be responsible for oversight of repair activities, emergency referrals, and tracking client services such as building wheelchair ramps, replacing roofs, fixing floors, improving faulty wiring, and delivering air conditioners for heat relief.

Palmetto Health Foundation “Reach out and Read” makes literacy promotion a standard part of pediatric primary care, so that children grow up with books and a love of reading. Our grant will purchase 1,000 books for the MUSC Pediatric Emergency Room “Reach Out and Read” program, which focuses on low-income children who do not have a pediatric home and who later may be at risk for reading difficulty. $2,500 grant.

Pattison’s Academy improves the quality of life for children with multiple disabilities by providing a comprehensive education and rehabilitation program. We are underwriting the transportation of 33 children with severe disabilities for field trips to the 2008 Summer Camp Program. 

People Against Rape
To fund and support the organization's victim advocacy services, such as travel, telephone, clothing to replace that taken for evidence, support group supplies and curricula, postage, and supplies for four annual volunteer training sessions.

Previous grant award:
Women Making a Difference’s grant award helps underwrite the Sexual Assault Prevention Educator staff position, who educated more than 25,000 elementary, middle, high school and college students last year alone.

School’s Out forges partnerships and unites existing resources in order to transform local schools into community learning centers. Our grant supports the first Community Learning Center initiative, a partnership of School’s Out, a local school, and a local businesses to offer healthy meals and health care access, as well as learning and recreational options for families during evenings, weekends, and summer months.

Sea Island Habitat for Humanity
To fund the 2007 "Women Build" program. This annual project is completed by women volunteers and will produce a house for a single mother and her children. This program is seen as an opportunity to encourage women to build, embrace diversity, and build relationships. The grant funds will be used to buy construction materials and/or land for the house.

St. Matthew's Community Outreach
To fund a series of basic life skills training courses in five areas of study including: critical thinking, financial management, health and nutrition, family strengthening, and ability to gather information using modern resources. The multidimensional "As Kids/As Families" program involves empowering families to work together to achieve a common goal of a better life.

Trident Technical College's "Clemente Project"
To purchase textbooks and materials of 40 disadvantaged women of the Tricounty, who will enroll in tuition free, humanities college courses designed to fight poverty through intellectual freedom. The funds will also be used to advertise the program to low-income women in the area.

Wings For Kids
Women Making a Difference’s grant helped underwrite the four program components of WINGS’ Parent Program at Memminger school: to help parents feel more connected to school, be more involved in their children’s education, have better social and emotional skills, and develop relationships with other Memminger parents.

Windwood Farm Home for Children provides quality residential clinical treatment to boys ages five to 16 who have suffered trauma from physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse. Our grant will enable 30 families to participate in a 12-month Family Reunification Therapy program.

YWCA of Greater Charleston provides programs in family life, health promotion, youth leadership development, childcare, summer camp, job training, and career development. Our grant supports the “Working Opportunities for Women” (WOW) program that helps low-income women overcome employment barriers with computer training, financial literacy, interview techniques, and resume building skills. $7,500 grant.

Return to Grants homepage
[click]