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Finalists named for Impact 100 Grant

Impact100 Sonoma will award its annual $100,000 Impact Grant May 7 to one of the following nonprofit organizations serving Sonoma Valley:

• Education Focus Area: Sonoma Valley Teen Services (SVTS) Skills for Life Program

• Family Focus Area: Social Advocates for Youth (SAY) Sonoma Valley Youth and Family

Response Team Program

• Health and Wellness: WillMar Family Grief and Healing Center (formerly WillMar Center for Bereaved Children) Latino Grief Support Program

• Quality of Life Focus Area: Sonoma Valley Museum of Art Creative Opportunities for Elders Program

This year, since the organization raised $157,000, it will also award a total of $57,000 in Greater Impact Community Grants, ranging in size from $3,500 to $15,000 and focusing on women and girls' programs and capital needs, to 5 to 7 of the following nonprofit organizations serving Sonoma Valley:

• Friends in Sonoma Helping (F.I.S.H): Clothing room improvement project

• Sebastiani Theatre Foundation: Replacement of fire doors

• Sonoma Charter School Foundation: School library books and check-out system

• Sonoma Ecology Center: Lighting for classes in the Garden Park Bale Barn

• Sonoma Valley Community Health Center: Equipment for two new exam rooms

• Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance: Girls Empowerment Project

• Women's Initiative for Self-Employment: Micro-enterprise Training

Sonoma Valley Teen Services Skills for Life Program proposes to establish strategically relevant career pathways for Sonoma Valley youth by teaching teens to gain self-respect and purpose through imparting real job skills.

SAY proposes a Sonoma Valley Youth and Family Response Team Program, involving year-round services at Altimira and Adele Harrison middle schools that include referrals to counseling, educational support, after-school programs, tutoring, job referrals and group counseling. ]WillMar Family Grief and Healing Center's Latino Grief Support Program proposes providing programs to help bereaved Spanish-speaking adults manage unresolved grief.

The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art's Creative Opportunities for Elders Program proposes to work with people over age 60 to provide hands-on art activities and elder-focused workshops, seminars and lectures on art and art history at the museum and in senior living facilities.

Patti England, Impact100 Sonoma grants chair, said, “Two years ago, Impact100 was a dream for Sonoma Valley and today it is a solid reality. It has been an incredible experience for so many of us to see what valuable service the nonprofits in Sonoma Valley are providing to our community, often with very meager resources.”

Constance Grizzell, Impact100 Sonoma Greater Impact Community Grants Chair added, "Our voting members will have tough choices to make at our annual meeting. All that these nonprofits contribute to our community is truly inspiring."

In December, Impact100 Sonoma received a total of 36 Letters of Inquiry from Sonoma Valley nonprofit organizations interested in applying for the $100,000 annual Impact Grant and smaller Greater Impact Community Grants. After Impact100 Sonoma Focus Area Committee members reviewed the Letters of Inquiry, the organization invited 10 nonprofits to apply for the $100,000 Impact Grant and 18 organizations to apply for Greater Impact Community Grants. The finalists were selected after months of careful review by more than 70 Impact100 Sonoma members serving on grant review committees.

During the May 7 annual meeting of the Impact100 Sonoma membership, led by Impact100 Sonoma President Christine Dohrmann, each Impact Grant finalist organization will present its vision for how the $100,000 grant would impact its organization and the community. A vote of the entire 157 members of Impact100 Sonoma will determine the one nonprofit to receive the $100,000 Impact Grant and the five to seven nonprofits to receive the smaller Greater Impact Community Grants.

A celebration at the Sonoma Golf Club immediately following the annual meeting and open to all Impact100 Sonoma members and donors will honor the grant finalists.                                                  

Impact100 Sonoma is a philanthropic organization started in August 2009 that brings together at least one hundred women in a common purpose: to award an Impact Grant of $100,000 every year to a Sonoma Valley nonprofit organization that would otherwise not have access to that level of funding. The organization’s mission is to increase the number of women involved in local philanthropy, raise awareness of the unmet needs of nonprofits in Sonoma Valley, encourage members to become more involved with local charities and make an impact on the long term sustainability of Sonoma Valley’s nonprofit community. During the 2010-11 grant cycle, 157 women joined the organization, enabling a total of $157,000 to be awarded in grant funds during 2011. The organization awarded its first $100,000 Impact Grant in June 2010 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley's College Bound Program.

Impact100 Sonoma is currently inviting additional women to join the organization. New members joining by May 1 will be welcome to attend the May 7 annual meeting celebration. Information about Impact100 Sonoma may be found at www.impact100sonoma.org or by calling 939-5007.