Impact100 Westchester awards two $100K grants to nonprofits

Two nonprofit organizations in Westchester, Pace Women”™s Justice Center and Latino U College Access, have been awarded $100,000 project grants from Impact100 Westchester, a women”™s philanthropic collective launched in the county two years ago to support nonprofits with transformational grants through $1,000 starting donations from its members.

The Women”™s Justice Center on the Pace law school campus in White Plains provides civil legal services and training related to domestic violence and elder abuse in the county. Impact100 officers said the grant, announced at the group”™s annual June meeting at Scarsdale Golf Club, will be used by the self-funded center to create Gail”™s House, a welcome and legal resource center where victims can walk in and receive information, referrals and legal services, including in-depth consultations. The space will also be used for specialized legal clinics, training and workshops.

Latino U College Access will use its Impact100 grant to fund a pilot program, First Gen Forward, for 40 Latino U fellows who will provide near-peer mentoring, college success workshops, career coaching and internships to ensure that students complete college and are career-ready.

Launched in 2012, Latino U aims to increase college enrollment and completion among first-generation Latino youth by providing access to resources and guidance through education, outreach and collaboration. Faced with academic, financial and cultural challenges and little or no guidance from parents and adult mentors as they enter college, about 3 out of 5 first-generation students drop out, according to Impact100.

The women”™s group also awarded unrestricted operating grants of $9,333 each to Westchester Parks Foundation; Songcatchers, a New Rochelle nonprofit that offers musical programs for both children and adults from low-income neighborhoods, and Westchester Institute for Human Development, a Valhalla nonprofit that provides educational and support services to people with developmental disabilities, their families and professionals who work with the disabled.