Category Archives: Featured

STAR VISTA Receives Grant from 100 Women Foundation

Star Vista Grant Recipient Ceremony

Star Vista serves homeless, runaway and foster youth in San Mateo County through the Daybreak Program. This program provides nutritious food, shelter and safety; counseling, therapy and social support; independent living skills training and other comprehensive services that help youth make a successful transition from life on the street to healthy, positive living environments and self-sufficiency. Daybreak is the only intensive residential service in San Mateo County designed to meet the needs of unaccompanied homeless, runaway and former foster youth aged 16-21.

Students in the Daybreak program either maintain enrollment in an accredited high school program or secure a high school equivalency degree. Youth beyond high school age complete a job-training program and secure and maintain employment. All youth are provided healthy meals and a safe and stable shelter. The majority of youth who leave the program successfully transition to positive living arrangements.

At Daybreak, youth live at a 10-bed house for up to 18 months while resident counselors work with them to develop individualized transitional living plans. The plans address a number of needs including social support, education and training, employment, opportunities to give back to the community, adequate physical and mental health care, and substance abuse treatment. Daybreak partners with a number of community agencies to provide needed services and permanent housing when youth leave the house. Youth receive after care support services for as long as needed when they leave the program.

Through intensive street outreach in the community, StarVista reaches over 3,000 homeless and at-risk youth each year by canvassing local high schools and going directly to the places where street youth gather such as shopping malls, parks and public transportation depots. These youth are provided information and referrals to food, shelter, and health services.

IMPACT

A grant from 100 Women Charitable Foundation will offset recent cuts in federal funding that previously supported Daybreak’s general operating costs. The funds will be used to return staff on-site hours to previous levels (24/7) and provide food and supplies for the house. hello

WANDA Receives Grant

Grant Received from 100 Women Charitable Foundation = $47,500

WANDA Grant Recipient Ceremony

WANDA is dedicated to empowering low-income single mothers and helping them achieve economic self-sufficiency. The program provides life skills training, a matched savings program, and professional networking opportunities. These services help single mothers build long-term financial stability for themselves and their families. This in turn alleviates poverty across future generations.

In order to be admitted into the WANDA program, a single mother must be employed and commit to a minimum monthly saving rate.   WANDA targets success-minded single mother head of households who are employed but are at or below the self-sufficiency level.

WANDA Moms participate in a three-year training program that teaches financial management while participants save $4,00o or more each year. These savings are matched 2:1 by donors and the savings are used for education for the mother and/or her children, retirement savings, or the purchase of a home. Participants receive additional support from WANDA leadership, instructors, donors and community support to help them achieve their professional and financial goals.

WANDA strongly believes that low-income single mothers have significant and unique barriers to financial success that include lack of confidence, lack of a career plan, lack of time for strategic thinking and lack of access to mentoring. Addressing these barriers requires a unique approach. Women benefit from peer support and collaboration with others who understand their situation and WANDA leverages the strengths and needs of women to achieve success. Many WANDA donors are inspired to support the organization because of their personal experiences as a single mother or having been raised by a single mother themselves.

IMPACT

A grant from the 100 Women Charitable Foundation will allow WANDA to provide services to 35 additional low-income single mothers and continued support for 15 women already participating in the program. Some funds will be matched by the Sand Hill Foundation to increase program service and operational sustainability of the 2:1 savings match.

Operation Freedom Paws Receives Grant

Grant Received from 100 Women Charitable Foundation = $47,500

Operation Freedom Paws Grant Recipient Ceremony

Operation Freedom Paws uses dogs to radically improve the lives of the disabled. The organization empowers veterans and others to live a quality life by teaching them to train their own dogs and form certified service dog teams. The dogs, often provided by rescue organizations and shelters, are matched according to each client’s specific physical and psychological needs. There is no charge for the dogs or the 48-week (minimum) training program.

Operation Freedom Paws helps veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Military Sexual Trauma (MST) and/or mobility issues. Many veterans are at high risk of suicide unless they receive much-needed assistance dealing with these serious conditions. Adult civilians and children who suffer from diabetes, seizure disorders, severe allergies muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and autism also benefit from training their dogs to assist with their health conditions and physical disabilities.

As the organization has grown, Operation Freedom Paws has added role-playing exercises to help clients respond confidently and learn how to self-advocate. In the spring and fall, family members and clients travel to Yosemite for additional training, socializing, playing games, and relaxing.   Clients become comfortable travelling with their dogs in unfamiliar settings and develop relationships that often continue long after clients become certified.

The final step of the certification process is a 7-hour monitored public access test in which the client demonstrates control of his or her service dog while taking it in and out of vehicles, into restaurants and grocery stores, and around children and unfamiliar dogs.   After becoming certified, many clients remain active in the Operation Freedom Paws Family because “everything, every day is a training opportunity.”

IMPACT

A grant from 100 Women Charitable Foundation will allow Operation Freedom Paws to expand into and equip a larger San Martin facility. The facility will allow the organization to accept new clients from the over 85-person waiting list and provide a more effective training environment. The new facility will also help Operation Freedom Paws become more self-sustaining by offering for-fee services to the general public such as boarding, grooming, and doggie daycare.