Women & Giving Connects Supporters with Local Nonprofits

 

More than 80 women participated in the Watertown Area Community Foundation’s Women & Giving Coffee & Conversations last Thursday at the Redlin Art Center Pavilion. Held in both morning and afternoon sessions, the event connected attendees with local nonprofits and scholarship recipients whose programs and educational pursuits have been supported through Women & Giving.

 

Unlike a traditional program featuring speakers, Coffee & Conversations is built around small-group discussions. Participants gathered at tables of six to eight while nonprofit representatives and scholarship recipients rotated among the groups, sharing their organization’s mission, answering questions, and discussing the work they do throughout the Watertown area.

 

This year’s conversations featured a cross-section of recent Women & Giving grant recipients, including Brothers & Sisters Behind Bars, Community Transit of Watertown/Sisseton, the Watertown Regional Library, Watertown Middle School’s Girls Night Out program, the Watertown Area Foster Closet, the Goss Opera House, Bramble Park Zoo’s Girls Rule program, and Town Players.

 

Throughout the day, area nonprofit leaders shared firsthand accounts of the work happening in the community, giving Women & Giving donors a closer look at some of the challenges individuals and families face and the relationships and support systems that can help them move forward.

 

Stacy Hendricks, Executive Director of Brothers & Sisters Behind Bars (BSBB), described the importance of providing a safe and supportive community for individuals returning from incarceration, many of whom are working to recover from substance use. For some, returning home can also mean returning to the same people and places associated with their addiction.

 

BSBB offers another place to turn. Through a community of support and peer mentors with lived experience, participants have people alongside them who understand the challenges of recovery and can help them work toward stability and a meaningful life.

 

“Recovery doesn’t happen alone,” Hendricks shared. “When someone has a sober place to belong and people around them who understand what they’re going through, it gives them a better chance at sobriety.”

 

Women & Giving Advisory Committee Chair Chris Carter opened both sessions by reflecting on another valuable resource: time. She noted that much of a woman’s day is already spoken for through work, family, caregiving, and the many responsibilities women take on for others.

 

Carter thanked those in attendance for choosing to spend two hours of their day learning about local organizations, listening to their stories, and getting to know the people behind the work.

 

“This is one of my favorite events because it creates real conversations,” said Cammie Mengwasser, Executive Director of the Watertown Area Community Foundation. “Instead of simply reading about a program, Women & Giving supporters sit next to the people doing the work every day. They ask questions, build relationships, and leave with a better understanding of both the needs in our community and the people working to address them.”

 

Over the past 23 years, Women & Giving has invested more than $550,000 in grants and scholarships benefiting women, children, and families throughout the Watertown area. The Women & Giving Endowment Fund, now approaching $275,000, will help ensure that support continues for generations to come.