Chicago Beyond’s Post

Today is National Caregivers Day! AFN honors all caregivers, whatever the situation and believes it is about time they get the support they need to continue providing care without losing so much. AFN'S brief, Why Care about Care? Our Economy Depends on It lays out how care impacts economic recovery, family economic security and asset building, equity and justice, and the well-being of children, older adults, and people with disabilities, and it highlights the policies needed and the ways philanthropy can engage to support the organizations and coalitions working to build the healthy care economy America needs. Read the brief: https://loom.ly/BZiguRM Ford Foundation The New York Women's Foundation Texas Women's Foundation Walter & Elise Haas Fund W.K. Kellogg Foundation

🎉 🎉 This investment from MacKenzie Scott honors the fight for justice of all our clients, both former and current. They are at the center of our celebration and will continue to be at the center of our future actions. 💚 💜    The investment has significance for Women’s Link beyond its direct impact on the organization. Feminist organizations, especially those led by women of color, typically experience underinvestment. Women’s Link’s leaders recognize that fundraising is impacted by a capitalist system and other systems of oppression, which allow and encourage the accumulation of money in the hands of a few people and force many people to live in poverty. We are committed to conscientiously use this donation to help dismantle systems of oppression and to advance human rights and reproductive justice.   We will continue building a world where the use of law is no longer a privilege racial justice is centered in all of our actions, and the love and fight for the autonomy, freedom and reproductive justice of women, girls and gender-diverse people is a reality. 

Thank you to Kentucky Lantern for covering this important research that I was a part of with Kentucky Health Justice Network, Ohio State University, and University of Cincinnati. In this paper, we used data from the Kentucky Department for Public Health and a Kentucky-based abortion fund (Kentucky Health Justice Network) to assess differences between women seeking assistance from the fund and women who had a documented abortion. We found that Black women, younger women, and those at later gestations of pregnancy were more likely to seek financial and practical assistance from the fund compared to those who had an abortion in Kentucky. Our findings are not surprising. People who are already disproportionately impacted by lack of access to care and historical and contemporary policies that have created and exacerbated racism and poverty, and have the worst outcomes during and after pregnancy, are most impacted by restrictive abortion policies in Kentucky. Learn about and donate to Kentucky Health Justice Network to help those in need of assistance here: https://lnkd.in/eGdhdvyF Read our research paper here (it is open access): https://lnkd.in/eZkAk9eM Read coverage on the paper from Sarah Ladd at Kentucky Lantern here: https://lnkd.in/e46JRf4a

🎉 Have you heard the inspiring story of how two LDS women helped launch a world-class children's hospital penny by penny? From mentoring to volunteer matching, Project Elect is here to support women in public service. #WomenInPolitics #LDSWomen #PublicService #ProjectElect 🌟 Check out the incredible article here: [link]

One theme that emerged as we surveyed our partners about their work supporting adolescent girls and young women of color: we need more funders who are willing to trust girls' knowledge and leadership. 👉 It's hard to get money for girls around policy/advocacy, because childhood is considered separate from the public sphere—even though many teen girls are already activists 👉 It's hard to get funding that supports girls' mental health, even though girls themselves often cite that as one of their biggest challenges 👉 It's hard to get funding for experimental work that allows girls to activate their own agency and power. As one focus group participant told us: "It is very easy to request money for sanitary pads, but if you try and get funding for girls to start their own factory where they will produce sanitary products, it's really tough." Philanthropy needs to learn: if you want to help girls and young women of color thrive, you have to start trusting them. Full survey results and analysis at the link in the comments. Tides’ Advancing Girls fund supports girl-led change in the U.S. and the global south so that girls of color can create the world they know is possible. #philanthropy #intersectionalfeminism #genderjustice

Check out the latest issue of @northwellhealthfoundation’s #gratitudemagazine, which celebrates the direct impact of philanthropy at Northwell and the lives that have been saved and changed thanks to our generous donors.     @northwellhealthfoundation @givetonorthwell, #OutpacingtheImpossible, #SupportNorthwell, #Philanthropy, #MadeforThis. 

Melinda French Gates had a choice of what to do with her money. She is donating a billion dollars to advance women’s rights, particularly aimed at improving women’s health and their right to reproductive freedom. Yes. She has an extraordinary opportunity that 99.9 percent will never dream of, but by identifying this important goal, I hope it inspires other philanthropists to follow suit, and all business leaders and lawmakers to give these issues the attention they deserve. 💞 According to Gates, only 2% of charitable giving in the US goes to organizations focusing on women and girls. 💞 Women’s health is still not a priority. 💞 Maternal mortality rates are still high, particularly within the black and native American communities. These groups are often underserved, treated differently than their Caucasian counterparts, and more likely to be misdiagnosed.  💞 We need additional research and funding into gynecologic cancer. There is  great disparity, factoring in the mortality rate, between the funding for these cancers versus others. 💞 There have been several studies showing that the subject of women’s health is not being taught appropriately at medical schools, and there are particular gaps in education regarding menopause in both the US and UK. 💞 But it’s not simply the issues specific to women’s bodies where we see differences. In 2019, Men outnumbered women 3:1 in 31 medical trials for congestive heart failure when studied over the 15 years prior. 💞 We have a choice when making donations, designing studies, or teaching young girls how to advocate for their rights.  Eleanore Roosevelt said, “In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” Make the choice to be active in issues impacting women's health. #women #womenshealth

The reproductive health care landscape is experiencing a seismic shift, and the need for our collective action is deeply pressing. PLEASE Donate, Like, Share, and Comment TODAY. https://lnkd.in/gpsnpPEj Unlike in neighboring Ohio, abortion was not explicitly on the ballot in Pennsylvania this year, however we DO have a State Supreme court case that has STILL not been ruled on that could drastically impact our ability to provide reliable, accessible service at Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania. With the reversal of Roe v Wade, a staggering one in three women, and COUNTLESS trans and non-binary patients, reside in states where their access to abortion care is banned or severely restricted. Experts predict that this combination of restrictive policies, increased births, and insufficient access to care could further increase the already unconscionable maternal mortality rate in the US, including here in Pennsylvania. Your generous support on Giving Tuesday empowers Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania to sustain our mission of providing the unbiased and necessary health care for the communities we serve.

Today, The Foundation proudly announces $1.1 million in grants to seven remarkable organizations tackling racial disparities in maternal health care for Black families in Los Angeles. Shockingly, due to systemic inequities, Black mothers and infants in the U.S., especially in LA, face a mortality rate more than double that of their white counterparts. The record-high amount of funds directed through The Foundation’s General Community Grants will provide multi-year awards of up to $200,000 to community programs that improve Black maternal and infant health in three areas: direct access to prenatal and birthing services and care; advocacy efforts facilitating systemic change for better access to health resources, services, and benefits; and support to grassroots nonprofits and leaders on the frontlines of this work. Here are the incredible recipients of the new General Community Grants: Black Women For Wellness; CALIFORNIA BLACK WOMEN'S HEALTH PROJECT; CinnaMoms; Compton G.IRLS Club; Maternal Mental Health NOW; Mighty Little Giants; Therapeutic Play Foundation. #grantmaking #communitygrants #maternalhealth #infanthealth #losangeles

When funders have a more interconnected understanding of the social and environmental issues they seek to address, the probability of successful outcomes increases. Learn from Shruti Jayaraman of the philanthropic organization Chicago Beyond about ways funders can better understand the impact of intergenerational trauma on communities and make shifts to see a broader, and different, set of potential responses to systemic disparities >> https://lnkd.in/giKDCGyg #Wellbeing #SystemsChange #Philanthropy