News Briefs
August 2020 News Brief
The Advocates – Safe Housing First
Grantee Spotlight: The Advocates
The Advocates – Safe Housing First
The Advocates provide a safe place for people affected by domestic violence and sexual assault in Blaine County. In addition to shelter, they provide education, advocacy, legal assistance and other resources to help survivors leave abuse behind and launch a more healthy life for their families.
With demand for safe housing at a high and inventory low, The Advocates’ current strategic priority is the construction of 18 transitional safe housing apartments. WRWF’s 2020 grant of $25,000 will help purchase appliances for these new homes.
WRWF has consistently supported the mission, vision and programming of The Advocates. This years’ award marks our 10th grant in support of their efforts towards safe housing and assistance for our affected neighbors. We are honored to support this vital work.
ZIP Education Session – September 24th
Mark your calendar! The next Education Zoom into Philanthropy (ZIP) Session is September 24th at 5:00 PM. We will hear an update on the $75,000 grant given to Ketchum Sustainability Advisory Committee (SAC), Sun Valley Institute: A Center for Resilience (SVI), and Environmental Resource Center (ERC) to create a lasting and effective countywide recycling and waste management program. Sharon Patterson Grant, Lexie Praggastis, and Lindsay Mollineaux, grant collaborators, will be our presenters.
2019 Final Reports Are In!
Learning the impacts of WRWF grants is one of the most rewarding moments in our philanthropic efforts. Final reports from WRWF’s 2019/2020 grantees have just been submitted and posted on the WRWF website. You can find them by scrolling to 2019-2020 Final Nonprofit Impact Reports here. Below are a few excerpts from a handful of the 2019 grantee projects:
“ERC Eco-Campers were able to take advantage of new, WRWF-funded program materials when they worked with the Intermountain Bird Observatory at Galena Lodge. The students worked with scientists to net birds, take bird measurements, and band the birds for long-term research purposes. Afterwards, the campers had time to journal, draw, paint, and reflect on their experience and the impact they can have on their surrounding environment.” – ERC
Western tanager painted by a camper with art supplies purchased from the WRWF grant to ERC
“Hola, the impact was wonderful. The parents were very appreciative about the opportunity. It provided a safe and healthy environment. The kids were always excited and looking forward to attend and participate. It gave them a sense of belonging. Parents thought that program was financially and culturally sensitive.”
– Herbert Romero, Hispanic and LatinUS Liaison for Idaho Base Camp
“The scholarship fair was a huge success. The Fair was inclusive of public and private schools and encouraged students from 8th grade to seniors to attend. We had over 350 people attend.”
– Blaine County Education Foundation
“The Bluebirds grew to nearly 100 teen participants in 5 schools before COVID-19. These enrollment and participation rates remain steady to date, except for Carey, where the enrollment rate has tripled. One of our Bluebirds was self-harming, and they disclosed that they no longer were cutting because they finally feel like they belong, and gained tools to cope with their emotions.”
– NAMI
Amber Leyba-Castle founded the nationally-recognized Bluebirds when she was a WRHS sophomore; she is now a sophomore at Idaho State University majoring in Psychology
“I know and appreciate it more than I can explain. All I can do is show you by doing right.”
– Men’s Second Chance Living House Resident
Our Amazing Louisa
Louisa Moats
IWF Idaho Member Louisa Moats was featured in Education Week’s Magazine’s June 10th edition, highlighting her contributions as a Literacy Expert.
Seeking New WRWF Photo Coordinator
Hello. My name is Carol Shephard, and I have been serving as Photography Coordinator for the past several months. My health issues require that I step away from this job, although I have really enjoyed doing it and look forward to training my replacement—is that YOU?
This role is relatively easy and is the perfect job for someone who has good organizing skills. The surprising thing is that it does not require that one be a photographer or take any pictures. I filled in one time, and my cell phone took perfectly acceptable photos!
The main responsibility is to receive (by email) all photos taken, upload them into the WRWF Google Drive, and organize them by date, event, and photographer. Most of the past photos are currently organized, and future ones will use the same organizational plan.
The WRWF has a team of volunteer photographers who have provided amazing photos of WRWF events. The Photo Coordinator also recruits, coordinates, and assigns photographers to WRWF events.
The Photo Coordinator is a member of the WRWF Communications Committee, which meets monthly. If you are interested in stepping into this position, please contact me at this email: clshephard30@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!
Social Media Committee Needs You
The Social Media Committee is still looking to add new members to the committee. We have been fortunate to add Patti McLean to the team who will be working on our Facebook postings. The Social Media Committee is an active part of the Communications Committee along with Website, News Brief, Marketing, Sponsorship, Advertising, Media Relations, Photography, Publicity and ZIP. Joining the Social Media Committee will provide a wonderful opportunity to learn more about WRWF communications. By joining the Social Media Committee, you will become a part of a savvy group of women working together on the Communications Committee to coordinate our mission-driven communications.
The Social Media Committee is a standing committee that oversees WRWF mission-centric communications via Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Using these platforms, the team shares timely information about our community engagement, interaction with our grantees, our educational forums and our member activities with our membership and the public at large.
If you are interested in joining this amazing team or would like to hear more about the Social Media Committee, please contact Carrie Morrow at cmorrow1314@gmail.com or 858-922-8857.
Volunteers Needed
If you have Grant or Impact Committee experience and would like to be on the 2020 Impact Team or would like more information, please contact:
Terri LeFaivre at SVTerri@gmail.com or at 208-720-1719.
Reminder from the WRWF Finance Committee
The WRWF Finance Committee kindly reminds members to write checks out to the WRWF instead of the ICF. We also ask that you send checks directly to our P.O. Box 3686, Ketchum, ID. Please inform your charitable trusts of the change of address.
Support the WRWF by Shopping on AmazonSmile
Shopping through AmazonSmile helps fund WRWF’s operating expenses. Through this program, Amazon donates .05% of eligible purchases to a selected charity. This allows you to donate automatically to the WRWF whenever you shop. To link Wood River Women’s Foundation AmazonSmile to your Amazon account, click here and get signed up. This simple adjustment to your Amazon account will not change anything about the way you currently shop or pay. You will need to use the smile.amazon.com website whenever you shop to generate donations to WRWF.
Now more than ever thank you for participating in this worthwhile opportunity!
Welcome New Members!
Mary Bachman – Ketchum, ID
Christina Bauer – Hailey, ID
Terri Bullock – President of WRWF Closing Message
WRWF President, Terri Bullock
I continue to be so impressed with how we, as an entire organization of nearly 350 women, can be so flexible, so resilient, so generous, and so caring, both for what is going on in the world as well as in our own community.
Our Annual Meeting, held virtually on August 3, demonstrated that we can remain committed to the WRWF Mission through uncertain and difficult times, and your attendance mattered. I am so proud of the work our leaders have done over this first year of my presidency, and the continual improvements that continue to be implemented.
Carol Jensen
Carol Jensen, WRWF Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair, shared how both bookkeeping and website maintenance have moved in-house in order to save WRWF thousands of outside service dollars. While Carol is still new to the board, as a working CPA, she has already brought a professional level of skill and attention to finances that is serving WRWF well.
Gail Landis
Gail Landis, Governance Chair, shared the work around crafting our restated Bylaws and policy work. This was a heavy lift by Gail and her dedicated Governance Committee as Bylaw revisions were necessary to reflect changes in Idaho nonprofit regulations and in order to more accurately reflect how WRWF operates today.
The work Carol, Gail and their teams are doing underscores that, in addition to the more visible social events and programs, there are parts of operating a nonprofit that are time-consuming and mostly unseen. The less-than-glamorous work that ensures the WRWF continues to function is largely carried out by our board and committee members, all of whom are volunteers. I encourage you to join me in giving them a virtual hug and a thank you!
Now that this year’s Annual Meeting is behind us, we are excited to shift our focus to what’s ahead for the WRWF. Even though we are only eight months in, 2020 has definitely been a transitional year. The input and feedback from so many of you on the challenges of representation, relevance and your strong desire to see WRWF help “move the needle” on the needs in Blaine County has come through loud and clear.
With your input in mind, the board will convene for a day-long retreat next month with a primary focus on Grants and Membership. We will look closely at our programs to make sure that we are identifying systemic needs in Blaine County and that our grant-making approach works to address those needs. Also, as we see more demographic changes in our neighborhoods, we want to ensure that our Membership programs reach across all ages and ethnicities.
In the meantime, it’s always business as usual. I encourage you all to RENEW NOW! (Click here for the renewal form – or renew on our website here). More than ever, Blaine County nonprofits need WRWF’s support – your generous participation will help ensure their work to feed, house, educate, care for, and enrich our community will thrive
With gratitude to all of you who volunteer on behalf of WRWF,
Terri Bullock
