Women Supporting Women
July 19, 2024
From left to right: Allison Hodas (EWF), Olivia Burgess (ECF), Jennie Hagerty (EWF), Lauren Bauer (EWF), Karen Bilowith (ECF), Linda Corso (EWF), Beth Baney (EWF), Ashley Lawson (USCRI Erie), Andrea Amicangelo (EWF), Sheila Sterrett (EWF), & Amy Cuzzola Kern (EWF)
Last night, The Erie Women’s Fund gathered for their annual Grant Reception at the Bayfront Convention Center. The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) received a $100,000 grant from the Erie Women’s Fund in support of their Stronger Women → Stronger Erie Families initiative.
USCRI Erie will create Strong Women → Stronger Erie Families, a holistic gender equity project targeting newly arrived refugee women, to make a larger impact on refugee families, local schools, and surrounding neighborhoods. Recognizing the care-giving role that women often have in families: being responsible for the health and well-being of all members, Strong Women → Stronger Erie Families will take an approach that sounds like the emergency instructions for adults on airplanes to “put on your own oxygen mask before helping others.”
The project expands on USCRI Erie’s standard resettlement services with an overall goal to empower refugee women with culturally and linguistically accessible skills and resources that support their ability to thrive and build self -sufficiency for their families. It addresses a need for creating a more comprehensive set of services from cobbled together programs and funding streams to meet the more pronounced vulnerabilities of currently arriving refugee women and a longer term need to provide more equitable services for refugee women overall.
Since its inception in 2007, EWF has awarded over $1 million in grants to the community. Previous grant recipients also attended the event in recognition of this milestone: This year's event will include 2023 major grant recipient Erie United Methodist Alliance, (represented by Kurt Crays).
From left to right: Olivia Burgess (ECF), Katy Weaver (EWF), Beth Weaver Baney (EWF), Jennifer Lyons (EWF), Lori Sobin (EWF), & Colleen Dougherty (EWF)
"We are honored to support USCRI at such a crucial moment for immigrants and refugees," said Lauren Bauer, Chair of the Erie Women's Fund. "Their recognition that a strong community begins with strong women is directly aligned with our mission to Empower Women and Families, and I'm grateful to the members whose collective gifts make this grant possible."
Written by Kailey Pisani, Marketing & Communications Associate