April 2021

The official newsletter of the Women’s Fund of the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation

Message from our Director

The Women's Fund has an exciting spring in front of us. One of our strategic goals is to do research, both qualitative and quantitative, that shape the form of our work. I am happy to say over the years we have done just that by listening to your voice and taking action: in the past surrounding our work on isolation, the work we have done now on parenting, and the work we are about to do on the study of COVID one year later in our area and what that means to all of us. We listened during the Power of 10 campaign and the issue of isolation/social connectedness was loud and clear. The work we did with that campaign went on for years, and to this day I believe is still what our Women's Fund is most recognized for. Now I am hopeful our efforts in our parenting work will bring us the same recognition. Just over two years ago we started our parenting focus groups by talking with community leaders, agencies, and hundreds of parents. The act of parenting itself can often feel like a circus (I understand having two little ones myself) and the Women's Fund understands how crucial the development of strong families and parents are. When listening to our parent community in our focus groups (which consisted of grandparents, moms, dads, etc.) we understood that parents have to exert enormous amounts of energy to make it through the week, the day, and sometimes the hour. To some it seems like the most important work one will ever do is to become a parent but when looking at how a community supports our parents, it seems fragmented and scattered. The Women's Fund is excited to announce a partnership with Go Valley Kids to offer tools, education, resources, experts, and more all at your fingertips for the Oshkosh community. To those of you that used your voice and shared personal stories about your life, thank you, and we hope we make you proud with this partnership. Stay tuned for a more formal announcement in early summer. Finally, we need your voice again for another important Women's Fund initiative. Below you will see a link to a COVID study. Please take a few minutes and take this survey and forward this survey to others. The data and research we uncover will shape the future of our work. I wish each of you a blessed spring and close with a quote that kind of takes parenting and now COVID parenting to another level. “If parenthood came with a GPS it would mostly say recalculating.”  Cheers,

Karlene Grabner Executive Director Women's Fund [email protected] 920.426.3993

COVID Study

The Women's Fund of the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation and three other Women's Fund in Northeastern Wisconsin have come together to collaborate on a sweeping regional study that will lend local data to the assertion made nationwide that women have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 over the past year. Click here to read the full press release. St. Norbert Research Center was commissioned through a Basic Needs Giving Partnership grant to develop the survey for evidence-based findings of pandemic's effect on women and families. If you are interested in taking the survey, please click here.

Match Grant Challenge Met!

The Women's Fund is excited to announce that with our donors help, we succeeded in reaching our $10,000 match goal! Thank you to the Invest in Her Foundation for their generous match gift. The dollars raised during this match challenge will be used to make a positive impact for the women and girls in our community. THANK YOU! 

The Women's Fund Remembers A Dear Friend - Arline Sitter Arline Sitter, a close friend of the Women's Fund, passed away peacefully in March at the age of 96. She was a beloved ambassador for the Oshkosh community and was known for her infectious enthusiasm. She was a member of the Women's Fund board, along with sitting on the boards of countless other organizations. She received numerous honors for her lifetime of service, including being presented with the Partner in Philanthropy Award from the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation. Arline was passionate about supporting women and created a Field of Interest Fund with the Women's Fund to support their mission. If you would like to honor Arline with a gift, memorials are being asked to be made to her fund with the Women's Fund. Click here to honor Arline.

Read Arline's obituary here

Women's Fund Granting Cycle The Women's Fund is excited to announce that grant applications are now being accepted through May 4. The Women's Fund will be focusing on grants that complement our current parenting initiative; we will look for programs, services, and/or education that strengthens our parent community. We will also focus specifically on mental health programs for women and mothers at this time. Click here for more information on the Women's Fund Grant Cycle.

Power of the Purse Update The Women's Fund is constantly discussing the right approach for our Power of the Purse event: in-person, virtual, or a combination of both. We are not taking this decision lightly and want to be able to bring you the best event, in the safest way possible. We are hopeful we will be in a better position in fall to make a final decision. We have missed seeing you all and the excitement you all bring to this event. Please stay tuned for an announcement this fall.

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Women’s Fund of the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation  Monday - Thursday: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Friday 8:00 am - Noon (afternoon by appointment) 920-426-3993 | women.oshkoshareacf.org STAY CONNECTED ‌ ‌ ‌