2022 Community Grant Recipients
Soroptimist International of Davis recently awarded grants to three local nonprofits: Thriving Pink, CommuniCare Mobile Medicine, and Mutual Housing of California.
The club distributed $5,000 in Community Grants between the three organizations. “Our committee received high quality grant applications that aligned with the Soroptimist mission, vision and values,” said Lisa Adda, SI Davis president and chair of its Community Grants Committee. “Our core values are gender equality, empowerment, education, and diversity/fellowship, and our committee prioritized those in awarding these funds.”
Adda said this year’s grants help women and girls “with education as it relates to breast cancer, empowerment through emergency shelter, and diversity by reaching an important audience.”
Thriving Pink
Thriving Pink received $1,850 for its Youth Education and Support outreach project. Through this project, Soroptimist International of Davis will fund outreach to teenage girls. This includes education on breast cancer, cancer prevention and healthy lifestyles, opportunities for meaningful volunteerism, and resources and support for those diagnosed – and their families. The nonprofit gets many requests from high school clubs asking for speakers on the topic. After her diagnosis with breast cancer, Guillermina Perez said, “I hope to inspire others, including my two teenage girls, to understand that seeking help and giving back is a sign and source of strength.”
CommuniCare Mobile Medicine
CommuniCare Mobile Medicine received $1,600 to purchase motel vouchers for female-identified patients who need emergency shelter. According to the application, “The mobile medical team often encounters … patients who tolerate unsafe relationships in exchange for shelter. This program will allow the team to provide these patients with a respite from their circumstances. Together with behavioral and medical support, we hope that this respite may give patients the space and support they need to find safer shelter. … By removing the need for shelter from the patient’s list of priorities, we can empower them to make choices that support their health, safety and independence.”
Mutual Housing California
Mutual Housing California received $1,550 from SI Davis to support its Race Equity Diversity and Inclusion Youth Project at its Spring Lake complex. The program, part of its MVP Youth Empowerment Program, creates a space for girls ages 13-17 to address any mental health concerns, creates peer-to-peer relationships, and explores career opportunities. It reminds girls of their power and value. Participants go through an six-week series, learning social and emotional skills, college options, and career exploration.
Grant applications were assessed based on their alignment with the Soroptimist mission, vision, core values, community impact and feasibility. Any organization, including previous recipients, may apply through our competitive grant process.
How to Apply for a Soroptimist International of Davis Community Grant
Applicants will receive notice by May 1 of the status of their application. There are three ways to apply:
- Fill out the application on our Grant Application Page and submit directly. If you have difficulty accessing or filling out the form, please click here.
- Download and complete this PDF. Email the completed file as an attachment to sidavis@soroptimist.net with the subject line “2023 Grant Application.” Add your name and contact information in the body of the email.
- Download and print the PDF, fill it out, and mail a paper copy it to SI Davis, PO Box 472, Davis, CA 95617, ATTN: Grant Applications.
Signature Programs
Members of Soroptimist International of Davis change the lives of women and girls via our signature programs: the Live Your Dream award and Dream It, Be It career coaching and mentoring for high school girls. Watch the video from Soroptimist International of the Americas to learn more about the impact of our signature programs.
Live Your Dream Awards
The 2023 Live Your Dream Awards
The Soroptimist Live Your Dream: Education & Training Awards for Women program has been helping women around the world since 1972. This program provides cash grants to women who are working to better their lives through additional schooling and skills training.
Applicants are eligible if they:• are a woman with primary financial responsibility for yourself and your dependents
• are attending an undergraduate degree program or a vocational skills training program
• have financial need
Questions? Contact Athena Chapman, our 2022 Live Your Dream Awards chair.
Our 2023 recipients will be announced soon!Our 2022 Recipients Have Been Announced!
Soroptimist International of Davis awarded a record $20,000 in funds in 2022 through its signature Live Your Dream: Education and Training Awards for Women.
Women are encouraged each year to apply for the awards if they are the primary wage earners for their families, and need financial assistance to further their education or training. Recipients have often faced hardships or challenging circumstances.
This year, SI Davis gave a boost to six women, with cash awards ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. These unrestricted grants may be used to offset costs that a scholarship wouldn’t, such as child care, transportation or other financial obligations that hinder a woman’s ability to reach her goals. Soroptimist International of Davis members remain in contact with the recipients, offering them mentorship and support.
The top 2022 recipient is Amanda Long, a UC Davis microbiology student who commutes from Citrus Heights so her 9-year-old daughter’s school and day care won’t be disrupted.
Long is a first-generation college student but hopes not to be the last. As she nears graduation, the single mom told Soroptimist members that she’s “becoming someone who my younger self would never had thought possible. … I can see the effects that my education has on my young daughter.”
Long is looking for work as a clinical lab scientist, and plans to eventually apply to graduate school. She’s been studying antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and hopes to continue in that area. The award is being used to pay for transportation costs.
Another awardee is Brooklyn Johnson of Davis, a single mom of a toddler, and a caretaker for her autistic brother. She survived a car accident in 2018 that broke her pelvis. A student at Sacramento City College, she is pursuing her dream to become a registered nurse. She plans to eventually transfer to Sacramento State or UC Davis. The award will help Johnson repair and maintain her car, freeing up her worry about transportation.
“I want to become a nurse so I can support my community during these trying times … I’m trying to be the best example I can be for my daughter.”
Brooklyn Johnson, SI Davis 2022 Live Your Dream Award recipient
Other 2022 SI Davis Live Your Dream awardees are listed below. Due to privacy concerns, some identifying information has been excluded. Recipients are:
- Kielana, a UC Davis pre-med student who wants to become an obstetrician/gynecologist. She hopes to someday offer free, quality medical care to underserved individuals and people of color like herself. She has an infant child.
- A woman who supports her younger sister after their parents were deported to Mexico. She is using the funds to pay for welding classes. She wants to own her own company and employ other female welders.
- A woman with cerebral palsy who is the first to attend college in her family. As she studies psychology, her primary goal is to educate others about people with disabilities. She supports a spouse who has no income.
- A cosmetologist who used the funds to study natural plant science, in the hopes of developing her own products. She is a single mom to a 5-year-old son.
The Live Your Dream Award provides more than $2.8 million in cash grants to head-of-household women in need each year. Since the program’s inception in 1972, more than $35 million has helped tens of thousands of women achieve their dreams of a better life for themselves and their families.
A study conducted by The Fels Institute of Government, a research and consulting organization based at the University of Pennsylvania, confirmed the efficacy and impact of this program. It improves the recipients’ quality of life; builds their confidence; strengthens their self-determination and makes them want to, in turn, help others. Helping women in this way has the demonstrated effect of leading to stronger communities, nations, and the world.
In addition to the Live Your Dream Award, Soroptimist International of Davis provides local girls with tools to achieve their education and career goals through its Dream It, Be It: Career Support for Girls program at King High School. It also funds high school scholarships, annual grants to nonprofits that align with the Soroptimist mission, and anti-trafficking efforts.
