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Mark Your Calendars!
Our Fall Forum is October 14th
| | | Impact Tour: Child Enrichment
Thursday, September 18, 2025. We had 11 members attend the WIP Impact Tour and enjoyed lunch together.
The Education Committee and WIP members toured the Child Enrichment Center, a 2025 WIP grant recipient. Child Enrichment Provides a voice and a path forward for local children who have experienced abuse, neglect or child sex trafficking.
Child Enrichment's mission is to provide comprehensive intervention, advocacy, and prevention services to support the safety and well-being of children in the Greater Augusta area. Through specialized programs, we ensure that every child who has experienced abuse has a voice and access to the resources needed for a safe, bright future. Child Enrichment has had to cut positions due to federal budget cuts.
Children served by Child Enrichment since 1978: 29,000+
Children Served by Child Enrichment in FY 2024: 1203
Children served by the Child Advocacy Center in FY 2024: 813
Children Served by the CASA Program in FY 2024: 390
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From Grants Chair, Nan Easler
WIP is excited to announce our transition to electronic voting. This change will make is easier for you to vote from your phone, laptop or tablet. Join us in going paperless for a more efficient and streamlined process. Your information is protected by advanced security measures. Your ballot will continue to be anonymous as your vote choices are not available to any other WIP members.
On line voting automates the tasks of designing and mailing Grants selection ballots, mailing the ballots back and manually counting each ballot. In addition, the change will eliminate the expenses incurred with printing and postage for two full membership mailings. Each year some members do not receive their ballots in the mail or the delivery of the ballots to the member or the return ballot to the Community Foundation is delayed and their votes are not included. Historically ballots with duplicate rankings or omitted rankings have not been included in the final tally. Electronic voting will address those issues before the ballot is submitted.
The Board of Directors, Advisory Board and the Grants Committee have participated in sample ballot voting and all agree that it is simple, fast and extremely user friendly. Please bring your phone, tablet, or laptop with you to the Fall Forum as a step-by-step sample balloting will be conducted.
If electronic voting is a concern, there will be help available and a paper ballot voting option will be available to members upon request.
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Member Spotlight
Education Committee Chair, Barbara Miller
(R-See Barbara with her husband and first foster daughter's family)
Meet Barbara Miller, our dedicated Education Chair. Barbara moved to Augusta at age 69 when her husband was recruited to teach and mentor new doctors. Their son and grandsons lived in the Barnwell area, making the transition smoother. Barbara credits Women in Philanthropy with helping her build cherished friendships and meaningful relationships in her new home.
The Millers met at the University of Alabama. In Birmingham, where he obtained an OB/GYN medical degree and she worked as a pediatric nursing. The military took the couple from Birmingham to San Diego, Iceland, the northwest, and many places in between as he completed his residency and military obligations. As Alabama natives, they had the unique opportunity to experience varied cultures firsthand. After their time in Iceland, the Millers returned to the United States, eventually settling in LaGrange, Georgia, where they built their careers and family.
In LaGrange, Barbara worked as a pediatric nurse and taught nursing, while her husband had a women’s health practice for 38 years. Through their LaGrange church, their first foster daughter came to live with them, beginning a 25-year commitment to foster parenting, during which they fostered 18 children. Barbara completed her illustrious career with 10 years as a children’s hospice nurse. Barbara’s compassionate care as a children’s hospice nurse provided comfort to countless families during their most difficult times, earning her deep respect within the community.
We are truly blessed to have Barbara Miller as Education Chair and a valued member of Women in Philanthropy, whose dedication and impact continue to inspire us all.
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Remember Alice: Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed ? The 2025 report for Georgia and individual counties has been updated with 2023 Data
KEY FINDINGS
Financial hardship: In 2023, of Georgia’s 4,087,735 households,14% (561,879) were below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), and another 31% (1,282,611) were ALICE — households that earned above the FPL, but not enough to afford the ALICE Household Survival Budget for their household composition and location. Combining these two groups, 45% (1,844,490) of households in Georgia were below the ALICE Threshold (Figure 1). The cost of basics: In Georgia in 2023, the ALICE Household Survival Budget was $31,920 for a single adult and $76,884 for a family of four with two adults, an infant, and a preschooler — much higher than the FPL ($14,580 for an individual and $30,000 for a family of four). Basic costs varied substantially by county.
ALICE demographics: There were households below the ALICE Threshold across all demographic groups in Georgia. However, due to systemic racism, ageism, gender discrimination, and geographic barriers that limit many families’ access to resources and opportunities for financial stability, certain groups were more likely to experience hardship. These groups included American Indian/Alaska Native households (61% below the Threshold), Black households (57%), and Hispanic households (52%); households headed by people under age 25 (73%) or age 65 and older (55%); single-parent-headed households (78% single- emale-headed, 61% single-male-headed); and households in rural areas (52%). ALICE in the labor force: Of the 20 most common occupations in Georgia in 2023, 13 paid less than $20 per hour. And of all workers in these 20 occupations, 35% lived in households below the ALICE Threshold, with rates as high as 56% for fast food/counter workers, 54% for cooks, and 50% for cashiers. Trends in Georgia: Between 2010 and 2023, the total number of households in Georgia increased by 17%, the number of households in poverty held flat (up 1%), and the number of ALICE households increased by 26%. Behind these overall trends, there were important changes in the numbers of families with children and 65+ households. In addition, housing affordability continued to be a challenge, and basic costs continued to outpace wages in low-wage jobs. For more info: https://www.unitedforalice.org/
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2025
October 2 Board Meeting
October 3 Grants Applications Due, Portal closed, (no meeting)
October 8 Grants Evaluation
Tuesday, October 14 FALL FORUM at the HUB-4 pm
October 15 Grants Evaluation
October 22 Grants Evaluation
October 29 Grants Evaluation
October 30-Nov 5 Grants calls for Site Visit Appointments (no meeting)
November 6 Board Meeting
November 6-14 Grants Site Visits
November 19 Grants Site Visit Review/Ballot Finalized for BOD
No December meeting
2026
January 8 Board Meeting-Grants Ballot presentation/approval
January 13 Grants-electronic ballots open/paper option (no meeting)
January 30 Grants Ballots Due-5 pm (no meeting)
February 4 Grants Ballots Tabulated
February 5 Board Meeting-Ballot Results for BOD funding approval
February 6 Grants notifies funded grantees (no meeting)
March 5 Board Meeting
Friday, March 20 Annual Awards Luncheon-Augusta Country Club
*All Board meetings Thursdays @4 pm-5 pm CFCSRA Board Room
All Grants meetings Wednesdays @4 pm CFCSRA Board Room
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