FALMOUTH/CAMDEN —The Maine Women’s Fund has awarded $111,400 in grants to organizations working to build the economic security of Maine women and girls. The 2016 grantees will be recognized at the Fund’s annual Leadership Luncheon on May 18 in Portland. Grants include those from donor-advised funds, established by individuals who make recommendations as to what organizations receive grants.

"These organizations serve a broad range of ages and geographic locales and apply innovative solutions to critical problems faced by women and girls throughout Maine," said Candace Walworth, of Lewiston, and who is sits on the Fund’s board of directors.

This grant cycle included more than $40,000 in funds from the Karen Moran Leadership Fund for Women and Girls, created in 2014 to honor the memory of Yarmouth resident Karen Moran, who died in 2013.

Friends and family established the endowed fund dedicated to reflecting her commitment to strengthening leadership capacity, which is to help to ensure that women and girls of all backgrounds have access to opportunities to reach their full potential. Two years ago, the first such grant was awarded to Waterville based nonprofit, Hardy Girls Healthy Women, to focus on leadership opportunities for girls in Maine.

The Maine Women’s Fund 2016 Economic Security Initiative grant recipients are:

A Company of Girls - Setting the Stage for Success - Using an arts-based curriculum developed over 18+ years of programming to empower underserved girls, ACOG helps girls raise their voices with confidence, and provides mentorship that will support them to become successful adults and community leaders.

Family Crisis Services - Peer Parenting Program for Incarcerated Mothers - Utilizing a peer support model, FCS facilitates relationships between incarcerated mothers and their children at the Maine Correctional Center.

Four Directions Development Corporation - Building Assets for Community Financial Wellness - Four Directions, a Native American nonprofit community development financial institution, offers free financial education workshops, free tax preparation services, and budget and credit counseling to Native American women in Maine.

Hardy Girls Healthy Women - Girls Advisory Board - Provides opportunities for girls (self identified or by birth) to thrive through leadership development and engagement in social action and keeps the organization focused on the challenges girls face today.

Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project - Keeping Women Safe - By providing representation to victims of domestic violence and trafficking, ILAP helps survivors find safety and gain legal status which in turn leads to economic security and community engagement. ILAP also educates service providers on immigration laws and participates in advocacy that impacts a wider audience by shifting perspectives and improving laws.

Mabel Wadsworth Women's Health Center - Gaining Access Project (GAP) - To help uninsured or underinsured women with lower incomes access preventive reproductive and sexual health care, improving their health and economic security.

Maine Women's Policy Center - Advancing Women's Economic Security - Operating support for the ongoing effort to improve the economic well being of Maine women and girls, continuing outreach to build a statewide network of women working on their own behalf; building on education efforts to highlight policy solutions; and ensuring that women are registered, informed and voting.

Islesboro Community Center - Building Resiliency in Maine Island Girls and Women - Education and training programs including leadership training, self-defense classes and community education will help to build resiliency for island women and girls.

ROiL dba Maine Inside Out - Transitional Employment and Mentoring Program - Supporting Maine Inside Out's theater-based reintegration and transitional employment program for young women recently released from Long Creek Development Center.

Spurwink- Promoting Resilience in Refugee & Immigrant Girls - Support school-based skill-building groups for English Language Learner girls in third through sixth grades in Lewiston and Portland who are struggling at school. Evidence-based curriculum builds communication skills, coping skills, self-esteem and positive peer interaction, thereby developing a greater sense of confidence and school engagement and fostering later career success.

Waldo County General Hospital - Healthy Smiles, Better Future - This initiative of Waldo County Dental Care delivers critically-needed preventative and restorative oral healthcare for uninsured, low-income women, expanding access to care and improving health, well-being, self-confidence and employment potential for unemployed/low-wage women.

Wayfinder Schools - Passages Program for Teen Parents - Increasing the high school graduation rates of teen parents in Maine enrolled in Wayfinders’ home-based high school diploma program which is focused on academic, life and parenting skills.

“The slate of grants in 2016 represents a milestone for our giving which began in 1990, granting more than $2 million to approximately 200 organizations improving economic security for women and girls in Maine. We know that when women and girls thrive, communities prosper, and that is our goal for Maine,” said Maine Women’s Fund CEO Sarah Ruef-Lindquist.

Since 1989, the Maine Women's Fund has been creating social change by investing in the power of women and the dreams of girls. The mission of the Maine Women’s Fund is to transform the lives of Maine women and girls through strategic grantmaking, community engagement and support to nonprofit organizations dedicated to social change. The Fund’s vision is a just and caring society in which Maine women and girls thrive so communities prosper. The Fund is the only Maine foundation focused exclusively on advancing women’s and girls’ economic security.

The Fund provides critical funding and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations in Maine within six strategic areas: Education; Financial Skills and Literacy; Healthcare; Leadership; Personal Safety and Public Policy.   mainewomensfund.org.