Women's Fund of Hawai'i provides funding to organizations with programs that benefit women and girls specifically. We are working toward a day when all women and girls in Hawai‘i are safe, financially secure, and empowered to participate fully in their communities. 

While many women are doing well in Hawai‘i, far too many women and girls in our state are not. Inequity in Hawai'i is pervasive. Programs to help women and girls exist, but many such programs do not have sufficient funding. They, like the women and girls they serve, receive inequitable resources. This lack of funding for women's and girls' programs in not limited to Hawai‘i; throughout the country as a whole, it has been documented that programs serving women and girls receive less than 2 percent of all charitable giving in the US though they comprise 50 percent of the population.

Women's Fund of Hawai'i awards grants to organizations or programs that help the most vulnerable women and girls realize their potential; promote women’s financial security and girls’ strengths and leadership; address the factors that stand in the way of women’s success, including violence, adolescent pregnancy, low self-esteem, physical and mental health problems, substance abuse, prostitution, incarceration, immigrant status, homophobia, inadequate childcare, sports inequities, reproductive rights, poverty, disabilities and racism; build on the gifts, strengths and assets of women and girls; and promote their well-being.

When women thrive, families and communities prosper!

Grants Process

Women's Fund of Hawai‘i issues a Request for Proposal twice annually, in the Spring and Fall. Applications are accepted online via our web site for one month, after which they are thoroughly vetted by our Grants Committee. This Committee consists of women community members from a variety of backgrounds, including our Executive Director and Grants Chair (a WFH Board member); certain WFH Board members; women who work or have worked with non-profits and/or grantmaking and writing in Hawai‘i, nationally, and internationally; women who hold advanced degrees in public health and social work and law, just to name a few. Members rotate off the committee after four cycles. 

Community Support

Thanks to our many wonderful donors Women's Fund of Hawai‘i was thrilled and honored to provide more than $260,000 last year in grant funding to these programs:

Spring 2023 Grant Programs:

  • Transportation and child care needs for women and children escaping domestic violence.
  • College counseling and support for young women.
  • Stipends for staff and assistants with knowledge of Micronesian population language and culture, to assist with paperwork and translating
  • A financial literacy module to assist cohort members in managing their businesses effectively.
  • Cultural enrichment and re-entry program for women inmates in Hilo and a sports program for at-risk girls.
  • A therapeutic living program helping victims of sex trafficking receive public benefits and gain independence by driving or having a job.
  • Providing exams and other medical services to uninsured and underinsured women on Kauai.
  • Training and professional development, including basic home maintenance skills, financial literacy, understanding homestead lease obligations and more for youth and adult females on Molokai's Naiwa Agricultural Subdivision Homestead.
  • Providing subsidized mental health counseling with licensed therapists for women and girls who are uninsured, underinsured, elderly, or low-income.
  • Providing adult women a 6-week Culinary Education Program to increase their sustained gainful employment.
  • Provide prenatal care clinic, prenatal self care kits, education and support for women of Ka'u rural community.
  • Support services for women transitioning from incarceration to short-term transitional housing.

Fall 2023 Grant Programs:

  • Business skills training workshops and supplies to create traditional artworks
  • After School Leadership Program at Title I schools statewide
  • Special Program - WOH
  • Support women overcoming homelessness by providing access to oral health and dental work
  • Develop project materials, engagement strategies, and support for girls experiencing bullying and/or caregivers of these girls.
  • Helping wahine on Moloka‘i by learning, healing, and becoming better leaders in our community.
  • Help with costs for the Young Wahine Kai Camp where girls can learn more about their culture, connect to ‘?ina, and especially kai.
  • Healing centers offering trauma-informed therapy, lactation support, prenatal/postpartum services, and traditional Hawaiian healing practices like lomilomi and la'au lapa'au.
  • Funds will be used to pay for medical and mental health care costs for immigrant women who are survivors of domestic violence and are in the process of applying for their Violence Against Women Act visas.
  • Helping Native Hawaiian women and girls and those in rural communities address domestic violence and related injustices by restoring the Native Hawaiian way of life rooted in their cultural beliefs, practices, and ceremonies.
  • A Digital Transition program for incarcerated women at WCCC to educate in technology and empower the next generation of culturally grounded, community serving technology makers and problem solvers.
  • A special program which educates members on their rights/responsibilities to reaffirm their mission to Build a Better World for Women and Girls.

2023 Emergency Grant Programs:

  • Providing a permanent mobile medical clinic for Maui.
  • Training workers in mental health initiatives with cultural curriculum.
  • Safe birthing spaces and supplies for women who were having home births but lost their homes.
  • A durable equipment drive for women and girls who are disabled who lost these items in the fire.
  • Mini grants for women to give them agency and control over how they are spent to support their displaced families.
  • Helping women affected by the fire with in-person and online workshops and groups to assist each other to move forward as a unified force with greater self-sufficiency skillsm making plans and choosing paths, sharing resources together and with their families.
  • Delivering food, supplies, generators and fuel, school clothes and hygiene supplies, transportation, and assistance with paperwork related to the disaster.
  • Supporting affected families, particularly pregnant women, new mothers, and young children, to address key areas of immediate needs.
  • Provide housing, clothing, toiletries, groceries and baby necessities to those being missed by government aid.

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