Community Foundation for McHenry County establishes Women’s Fund to uplift local women and girls

The Community Foundation for McHenry County has started a fund dedicated to helping women and girls in the county.

The start of the Women’s Fund was celebrated at a Women in Philanthropy event Thursday at the foundation’s Philanthropy Center in Crystal Lake. The Women’s Fund aims to provide a “lasting commitment to the advancement and well-being of women and girls in McHenry County,” according to the organization’s website.

It is the first fund dedicated to women in the area, keynote speaker and Impact100 founder Wendy Steele. Her nonprofit gathers at least 100 women to donate at least $1,000 for local charities, and it has given away about $160 million to date since its inception 24 years ago.

Steele spoke on the importance of collaboration and how gathering a group of women can make a lasting impression on a community.

In McHenry County, women on average make 75 cents for every dollar that men make, and about 70% of women-led households, such as single moms, live at or below the poverty line in the county, foundation Director of Philanthropy Jessica Rizza said.

Needs that the Women’s Fund could potentially support include increased access to affordable housing, child care, health care and mental health services. As the fund grows, the foundation will be able to support local nonprofits and initiatives that focus on helping women in the area.

About 2% of all philanthropic donations in the nation are given to organizations and initiatives aimed to support women, Rizza said. The Community Foundation is at 8%, “but we can do better than that,” Executive Director Amy Hernon said.

The Community Foundation’s goal is to start the fund with $150,000 to represent the 150,000 women in McHenry County, Steele said.

“We’re going to be building legacy in McHenry County,” Steele said. “We want the legacy that McHenry County has [to be] that we care about this community. That we are building it as a strong, safe, healthy environment for women and girls to work, live and play so they can reach their highest potential.”

An anonymous private donor kicked off the fundraising with a $75,000 matching donation pledge, Hernon said. Other donors were inspired and donated an additional $36,000.

“We’re just going to knock this out of the park. I know that,” Hernon said.

Donors who give by May 1 will have the opportunity to vote on the inaugural grant applications. Grants from the Women’s Fund will be given out annually to organizations that support women and girls in the county, according to the website.

More information on the new fund can be found here: thecfmc.org/womensfund.