Page 11 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - Nov 3, 2021

PROOF POSITIVE
Investing To Help Women, Girls Excel
NOVEMBER 3, 2021
HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK 11
W By Leela Bilmes Goldstein, Ph.D., executive director of Women’s Fund of Hawai‘i
hen tourism de- ours are proven to move mon- creased 99.5% ey faster to where it’s needed, during the pan- and the pandemic showed us
demic, women in Hawai‘i how urgently we needed to
experienced the country’s highest unemployment rate. In addition to creating a new economic crisis, the pandem- ic also worsened preexisting issues that hold back women and girls in our community, including domestic violence, teen pregnancy, lack of access to education and affordable childcare, food insecurity and addiction. Though Women’s Fund of Hawai‘i, which do- nates to groups working in these areas, has been around since 2005, the pandemic made it clear our wāhine and kaikamahine needed our sup- port more than ever.
One of Women’s Fund of Hawai‘i’s programs is Hulihia, aka The Prison Writing Project. PHOTO COURTESY WOMEN’S FUND OF HAWAI‘I
world’s largest funders of gender justice, who gave us a $50,000 Response, Recov- ery, Resilience Collaborative Fund grant. We were able to leverage that investment to nearly $200,000, which we used to support more than 30 grassroots nonprofits in Hawai‘i. Women’s funds like
act. We distributed grants to a wide range of local groups: ensuring moms can access basic needs for their babies through Aloha Diaper Bank and Hawai‘i Diaper Bank; re- ducing homelessness through programs at ALEA Bridge, Family Promise of Hawai‘i, and Women in Need; treating women’s addiction at Mālama Nā Makua A Keiki; helping immigrants at Waipahu Safe Haven; keeping women and girls safe through the Domes- tic Violence Action Center; and funding education, Samo- an language and literacy non- profits to make sure our girls can reach their full potential.
True recovery for our com- munity means investing in women and girls. Learn more at womensfundhawaii.org.
Our vision is a Hawai‘i where every woman and girl is safe, healthy, financially se- cure and empowered to reach her fullest potential. Not only
were women most affected by the loss of hospitality work during the pandemic’s trav- el restrictions, but because we’ve seen that when women and girls thrive, the rest of the community does, too.
photo caption photo caption (PHOTOGRAPHER) PHOTOS
Women’s Fund of Hawai‘i is a member of the Wom- en’s Funding Network, the
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