About wls foundation
The WLS Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation that provides financial assistance to qualified law students and local community organizations. Each Fall, the WLS Foundation hosts its annual ArtFest fundraiser. ArtFest includes dinner, live music, artwork from local artists and a silent auction. Proceeds benefit grants to local charitable organizations assisting women and children, as well as scholarships to outstanding law students in need.
Mission Statement
Women Lawyers of Sacramento Foundation is the charitable arm of Women Lawyers of Sacramento. This charitable organization seeks to address the unmet needs of women and children and raises funds to support legal educational opportunities and community programs that satisfy these needs.
Women Lawyers of Sacramento Foundation is the charitable arm of Women Lawyers of Sacramento. This charitable organization seeks to address the unmet needs of women and children and raises funds to support legal educational opportunities and community programs that satisfy these needs.
charitable grants
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Each Spring, the Grants and Awards Committee of WLS accepts applications from local non-profit community organizations whose purposes and activities relate to any one (or more) of the following five categories: (1) Women’s Issues; (2) Children’s Issues; (3) Education Programs; (4) Access to Law; or (5) Community Based Programs. The grants are awarded during the summer at the WLS monthly luncheon.
In 2017, the WLS Foundation awarded $8,000 in grants to non-profit community organizations for projects that support women and children. The following is a summary of the monies awarded:
Touch of Understanding ($1000): Touch of Understanding’s in-school workshop promotes a safe, non-bullying, friendlier school environment for all students, especially those with disabilities. The workshops provide hands-on activities that address isolation and bullying of individuals, serves children with and without disabilities, and offers individuals the opportunity to serve their communities. This grant will support the in-school workshop for 100 area students for the 2017-2018 school year.
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. ($1250): CRLA is an organization with fifty years’ experience advocating for, and with, low income rural Californians. CRLA will use the grant funds to create two computer stations that low income litigants can use to access the Court’s self-help website and complete and print the respective documents they need to file with the court. Three sets of earphones will also be available so children may watch videos while their parent works on the computer.
Food Literacy Center ($1500): Food Literacy Center’s mission is to inspire children to eat their vegetables. It provides 14 weeks of food literacy instruction at 9 schools. Food Literacy Center will utilize the grant funds to purchase an energy-efficient commercial refrigerator to safely store produce used in its weekly food literacy lessons where it teaches low-income students cooking and nutrition to improve health, environment and economy
Reading Partners ($1250): Reading Partners’ mission is to help children become lifelong readers by empowering volunteer tutors to provide individualized reading instruction. Its approach closes the opportunity gap for over 400 low-income students at 10 elementary schools in Sacramento County, getting the students on track to grade-level reading and providing them with the skills they need to graduate from high school and break the cycle of poverty. Reading Partners will utilize their grants to purchase new curriculum books and teaching supplies that its volunteer need to perform an estimated 1800 hours of tutoring for 15 students at Susan B. Anthony Elementary School during the 2017-2018 school year.
Volunteer Legal Services Program ($1000): VLSP provides legal assistance to indigent clients who need help filling out guardianship petitions and small probate petitions. VLSP will use the grant to pay for out-of-pocket costs for its program including service of process fees, practice guides for volunteer lawyers and paralegals, postage and copying costs, and some defrayment of salary for its part-time staff attorney who handles intakes.
Women’s Empowerment ($1500): Women’s Empowerment will use the grant to support two of its programs that target barriers women face while homeless so they can find a safe home and steady job. It offers a nine-week program that includes free onsite child care and training to address the root of cause of a woman’s homelessness, job-readiness and confidence building, and empowerment lessons. Once a woman graduates from the nine-week program, she may enroll in Women’s Empowerment’s graduate services, which provides ongoing paid job training, vocational certificates, access to professional clothing, and job retention services for the employer partners.
Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy ($500): Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy is a school that provides training and student-focused education for extremely high-risk populations. It has over 1000 students, most of whom have not succeeded in traditional high school. It provides students with the opportunity to obtain real-world experience in numerous fields. Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy will use the grant funds to defray the costs of an in-depth, cross-curricular, educational trip to Yosemite National Park for its students.
Weave ($1500): WEAVE works as a provider of crisis intervention services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Sacramento County. Its mission is to build a community that does not tolerate sexual assault, domestic violence, and sex trafficking. WLS provides this grant to WEAVE so it can continue to provide survivors with the support they need to be safe and progress.
In 2017, the WLS Foundation awarded $8,000 in grants to non-profit community organizations for projects that support women and children. The following is a summary of the monies awarded:
Touch of Understanding ($1000): Touch of Understanding’s in-school workshop promotes a safe, non-bullying, friendlier school environment for all students, especially those with disabilities. The workshops provide hands-on activities that address isolation and bullying of individuals, serves children with and without disabilities, and offers individuals the opportunity to serve their communities. This grant will support the in-school workshop for 100 area students for the 2017-2018 school year.
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. ($1250): CRLA is an organization with fifty years’ experience advocating for, and with, low income rural Californians. CRLA will use the grant funds to create two computer stations that low income litigants can use to access the Court’s self-help website and complete and print the respective documents they need to file with the court. Three sets of earphones will also be available so children may watch videos while their parent works on the computer.
Food Literacy Center ($1500): Food Literacy Center’s mission is to inspire children to eat their vegetables. It provides 14 weeks of food literacy instruction at 9 schools. Food Literacy Center will utilize the grant funds to purchase an energy-efficient commercial refrigerator to safely store produce used in its weekly food literacy lessons where it teaches low-income students cooking and nutrition to improve health, environment and economy
Reading Partners ($1250): Reading Partners’ mission is to help children become lifelong readers by empowering volunteer tutors to provide individualized reading instruction. Its approach closes the opportunity gap for over 400 low-income students at 10 elementary schools in Sacramento County, getting the students on track to grade-level reading and providing them with the skills they need to graduate from high school and break the cycle of poverty. Reading Partners will utilize their grants to purchase new curriculum books and teaching supplies that its volunteer need to perform an estimated 1800 hours of tutoring for 15 students at Susan B. Anthony Elementary School during the 2017-2018 school year.
Volunteer Legal Services Program ($1000): VLSP provides legal assistance to indigent clients who need help filling out guardianship petitions and small probate petitions. VLSP will use the grant to pay for out-of-pocket costs for its program including service of process fees, practice guides for volunteer lawyers and paralegals, postage and copying costs, and some defrayment of salary for its part-time staff attorney who handles intakes.
Women’s Empowerment ($1500): Women’s Empowerment will use the grant to support two of its programs that target barriers women face while homeless so they can find a safe home and steady job. It offers a nine-week program that includes free onsite child care and training to address the root of cause of a woman’s homelessness, job-readiness and confidence building, and empowerment lessons. Once a woman graduates from the nine-week program, she may enroll in Women’s Empowerment’s graduate services, which provides ongoing paid job training, vocational certificates, access to professional clothing, and job retention services for the employer partners.
Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy ($500): Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy is a school that provides training and student-focused education for extremely high-risk populations. It has over 1000 students, most of whom have not succeeded in traditional high school. It provides students with the opportunity to obtain real-world experience in numerous fields. Sacramento Academic and Vocational Academy will use the grant funds to defray the costs of an in-depth, cross-curricular, educational trip to Yosemite National Park for its students.
Weave ($1500): WEAVE works as a provider of crisis intervention services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Sacramento County. Its mission is to build a community that does not tolerate sexual assault, domestic violence, and sex trafficking. WLS provides this grant to WEAVE so it can continue to provide survivors with the support they need to be safe and progress.
2020 grant information
The Women Lawyers of Sacramento (“WLS”) Foundation is pleased to announce that it will, once again, award grants to non-profit community organizations in the Sacramento area whose purposes and activities are related to any one (or more) of the following five categories: (1) women’s issues; (2) children’s issues; (3) education programs; (4) access to law; and (5) community-based programs.
If your organization is interested in applying for a WLS Foundation Grant, please complete the Grant Application Form and return it by e-mail to Allison Callaghan, Co-Chair of the Grants and Awards Committee, at acallaghan@nossaman.com. You are welcome to also submit other materials with your application for consideration by WLS.
Applications must be received no later than July 2, 2020.
Once the Grants and Awards Committee reviews the applications, it will present its recommendations to the Board of Directors of the WLS Foundation for selection and approval. There is no predetermined amount for the grants nor a predetermined number of grants to be awarded.
Grant recipients will be notified no later than August 14, 2020. WLS anticipates awarding the grants in early September at ArtFest, which will be held virtually this year.
We look forward to receiving your application!
Sincerely,
Allison Callaghan, Carissa Bouwer, Michelle Shaffie, and Vanessa Raven
Grants and Awards Committee
Women Lawyers of Sacramento
If your organization is interested in applying for a WLS Foundation Grant, please complete the Grant Application Form and return it by e-mail to Allison Callaghan, Co-Chair of the Grants and Awards Committee, at acallaghan@nossaman.com. You are welcome to also submit other materials with your application for consideration by WLS.
Applications must be received no later than July 2, 2020.
Once the Grants and Awards Committee reviews the applications, it will present its recommendations to the Board of Directors of the WLS Foundation for selection and approval. There is no predetermined amount for the grants nor a predetermined number of grants to be awarded.
Grant recipients will be notified no later than August 14, 2020. WLS anticipates awarding the grants in early September at ArtFest, which will be held virtually this year.
We look forward to receiving your application!
Sincerely,
Allison Callaghan, Carissa Bouwer, Michelle Shaffie, and Vanessa Raven
Grants and Awards Committee
Women Lawyers of Sacramento
donations
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WLS accepts tax-deductible donations, which may be made payable to “WLS Foundation” and sent to:
WLS Foundation Women Lawyers of Sacramento P.O. Box 936 Sacramento, CA 95814 |
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