CALVARY WOMEN’S SERVICES
Calvary carries out its mission to achieve excellence in what they offer– a safe, caring place for tonight; support, hope and change for tomorrow. The WBAF grant will support the operation of the Calvary Women’s Legal Empowerment Program, which is vital to the achievement of independence by homeless women, by providing key access, information, skills and advocacy.

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DC EMPLOYMENT JUSTICE CENTER
The EJC’s mission is to secure, protect and promote workplace justice in the DC metro area and work with low-wage workers in the DC metro area. The WBAF grant will support POWER (Program on Women’s Employment Rights), which helps women and their families achieve and maintain economic self sufficiency through free direct legal assistance and representation and education and outreach about women’s employment rights through the Know Your Rights education programming. 

DC LAW STUDENTS IN COURT PROGRAM, INC.
LSIC’s mission is to ensure justice for the Washington’s low-income community through free, high-quality legal assistance while training third-year law students in lawyering and courtroom advocacy skills. The WBAF grant will support the Women’s Tenant Outreach Initiative, which will identify opportunities to reach out to low income women to provide information about their rights as tenants and gather data to learn the needs of women heads of households under threat of eviction and whether addressing those needs requires additional or unique resources.

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEGAL EMPOWERMENT AND APPEALS PROJECT
DV LEAP’s mission is to provide a stronger voice for justice by fighting to overturn unjust trial court outcomes, advancing legal protections for victims of domestic violence and their children though expert appellate advocacy, training lawyers, psychologists and judges on best practices, and spearheading domestic violence litigation in the Supreme Court. The WBAF grant supports its DC project, DC LEAP, to strengthen and expand its role in filling a vacuum in legal advocacy for victims of domestic violence and their children in Washington, DC.

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EDUSEED
EduSeed’s mission is to promote education, particularly among traditionally disadvantaged and under-served communities, such as women and people of color. The WBAF grant assists the SisterMentors program to mentor and support girls of color from low income families in elementary, middle, and high school. In addition to the mentoring sessions, the girls will participate in a four-day college visit, where they will learn about admissions and financial aid, attend classes, and meet with professors and leaders.

 

HIGH TEA SOCIETY
HTS was founded by Associate Judge Mary Terrell and provides opportunities, services, and support through an educational mentoring program for girls ages 9-18 who reside in Wards 6, 7 and 8. The WBAF grant supports the Teaching Through Tea Saturday Leadership Program. Each Saturday, from September through June, participants meet for 2 hours and receive tailored programming designed to boost self esteem, inspire academic achievement, and create leaders who are “ambassadors of change” (poised, confident, college-bound young ladies willing to share their HTS experiences and attendant values with their family and friends).

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GWAC FOUNDATION, INC.
The objective of the GWAC Foundation—to empower the African-American community—is accomplished by fostering the education and training of African-American law students, enriching the lives of African-American children, improving the quality of life of the elderly, with a particular emphasis on African-Americans, and empowering the African-American community, especially the disadvantaged. The WBAF grant will help to support and expand the Foundation’s Legal Intern Placement Program. GWAC instituted LIPP in order to procure challenging summer employment opportunities for minority law students.

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LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The Legal Aid Society provides legal aid and counsel to indigent persons in civil law matters and encourages measures by which the law may better protect and serve their needs. The WBAF grant helps Legal Aid provide assistance to victims of domestic violence living in poverty. Over the next year, they plan to provide full legal representation to victims and survivors of domestic violence in 120 to 160 cases and brief assistance, counseling, and advice in an additional 120 to 160 other such cases.

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LEGAL COUNSEL FOR THE ELDERLY
Legal Counsel for the Elderly’s primary goals are to serve and empower thousands of low-income seniors in the areas of law involving basic human needs: income, housing, long-term care, personal autonomy, and consumer protection. The WBAF grant supports the Alternatives to Landlord/Tenant Court Project, which will prevent 300 of Washington DC’s poor, vulnerable elderly and disabled tenants, a majority of which are female, from being evicted from their homes and help ensure both access to and the availability of quality, affordable rental housing in DC.

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MOTHERS OUTREACH NETWORK
MON supports mothers seeking economic self sufficiency, including individuals returning from prison, by mobilizing mothers and others to provide them with legal services, policy advocacy, and peer-led civic education training, and to mobilize and support women facing employment barriers based on low literacy or criminal records to achieve economic self sufficiency. The WBAF grant will support the launch of MON’s Legal Services program, a legal services and civic education project mobilizing a network of lawyers and mentors to deliver high quality legal representation and mentoring services to hard-to-employ women and ex-offenders in DC, with a special focus on mitigating the impact of criminal records on access to employment.

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NEW COMMUNITY FOR CHILDREN
New Community for Children aims to minimize the incidence of and connection between poor academic performance, low graduation rates, unemployment, and poverty for children and youth from low-income homes by bolstering learning in core academic subjects such as reading, math, science, and social studies, and teaching strong leadership and decision-making skills. The WBAF grant supports 41 African American adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 14 to participate in two program components. The first component, the Love Supreme and Media Project, creates a safe space for girls to discuss and explore questions related to physical, emotional, and cultural development.  The second component, the Media Project, promotes self-awareness and self-determination.

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OUR PLACE DC
Our Place DC supports women who are or have been in the criminal justice system by providing the resources they need to maintain connections with the community, resettle after incarceration, and reconcile with their families. The WBAF grant will support Our Place DC’s Legal Services program.

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SURVIVORS AND ADVOCATES FOR EMPOWERMENT, INC.
SAFE’s mission is to empower survivors of intimate partner violence by supporting them as they navigate the civil and criminal justice systems, and to advocate for system reform that ensures survivor safety and self determination. The WBAF Grant supports the Court Advocacy Program and the On-Call Advocacy Program to help survivors achieve the safety and stability they need to initiate the difficult process of separating themselves from an abusive partner.

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WOMEN EMPOWERED AGAINST VIOLENCE
WEAVE’s mission is to work closely with adult and teen survivors of relationship violence and abuse, providing a range of legal, counseling, economic empowerment, and educational services. The WBAF grant helps fund WEAVE’s Legal Services program, which provides victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking with short- and longer-term comprehensive legal services.
 

WMSG is dedicated to providing a good education and other forms of support for girls in an under-served area of Washington, DC, with a goal to help these children acquire the educational, social, and emotional strengths and capabilities that will enable them to create productive and rewarding lives for themselves and their families. The WBAF grant will assist WMSG’s Graduate Support Program, which provides comprehensive assistance to help WMSG students continue.

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Click here to view the powerpoint presentation from the 2011 Grant Awards Ceremony.