YWCA Cambridge has received a generous $400,000 Social Impact Grant from the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation as part of the Foundation’s response to the community’s needs arising from the pandemic.
The funds are unrestricted, allowing YWCA Cambridge to decide where best the funds could be used to support its mission of supporting the women, youth and gender diverse individuals, the cohorts who have been most adversely impacted by the pandemic.
“We are beyond grateful for this generous and timely grant,” said YWCA Cambridge CEO, Kim Decker.
“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in program costs as we shifted to directly supporting participants and their families with essential food and supplies as well as with individual ‘at-home kits’ which enabled participants to stay involved with our programs.
“Especially for an agency like ours that has no core funding, unrestricted funds are absolutely essential – even more so now when we have to be nimble and responsive in order to meet our participants and service users where they are,” said Decker.
“They also help us better plan ahead and even dream a little. Instead of always reacting to immediate needs, we can anticipate them and prepare in advance.”
36 organizations received 2021 Social Impact Grants from the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation, totalling $7.195 million. Recipients were selected based on a set of guiding principles, including support for young children, parents and families; service to equity-seeking and disproportionately impacted groups; and work that is prevention-based and seeks to address root causes.