FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 6, 2023

IMPACT100 PHILADELPHIA AWARDS $362,000 IN FIVE GRANTS

 

Philadelphia, PA — Impact100 Philadelphia has announced the award of $362,000 in unrestricted funds to five nonprofit organizations in the region. Representing the collective giving of 377 women members, funds are being awarded to five nonprofit organizations. In addition, $6,000 has been provided as honorariums to twelve nonprofit organizations as a new part of our grant-making process after hosting a site visit.

Including these 2023 grants and awards, Impact100 Philadelphia members have provided over $4.8 million to regional nonprofits since the organization’s founding in 2008.

Each of the following organizations has received an award as determined by the vote of Impact100 members.  

Domestic Violence Center of Chester County
2023 Grant Awarded: $100,000

The mission of the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County is to reduce, remedy, and prevent domestic violence in Chester County. The vision of the Domestic Violence Center is to eliminate Domestic Violence in Chester County, PA. The Domestic Violence Center of Chester County (DVCCC), founded in 1976, is the only agency in Chester County providing services exclusively for victims of domestic violence and their dependent children. DVCCC began as the YWCA Women’s Resource Center (WRC), to serve as an information and referral service for Chester County women. Once this service became known, it started receiving a flood of calls from women in situations of violence. The directors of WRC, finding no organization in the area to which the victims could be referred, reorganized the agency as the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, focusing on domestic violence intervention and prevention. Today, DVCCC is the only organization in Chester County contracted with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) to provide services solely to victims of domestic violence and their dependent children.

 

PAR-Recycle Works
2023 Grant Awarded: $100,000

PAR-Recycle Works was incorporated in June 2015 and began operations in February 2016. We take the name “PAR” (People Advancing Reintegration) from a peer-to-peer mentoring program started by a group of men serving life sentences at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford, now known as SCI Phoenix. This program was designed to prepare inmates for release with skills that would improve their chances for successful reentry. As a long-term solution to recidivism, PAR-Recycle Works, a non-profit social enterprise, provides transitional employment for people returning to society from prison. In a supportive community environment, PAR program participants develop and strengthen their job skills on a path to full-time permanent employment. We serve the needs of the broader community by providing environmentally responsible recycling of electronics and secure data destruction while conforming to the highest industry standard. We provide “Green Jobs” and to-date have diverted over 100 tons of electronic waste from landfills.

The Pennsylvania Prison Society
2023 Grant Awarded: $100,000

Though the Pennsylvania Prison Society is the oldest humanitarian organization in the country, mass incarceration and the devastating impact of COVID-19 on poor communities of color has made our work more relevant and more critical than ever. Our small team promotes the health, safety, and dignity of Philadelphians in prison and their families through one-on-one support, monitoring prison conditions, and education and advocacy. We execute our mission in three key ways: We monitor and mediate. We connect. We make it human. Our vision is a Pennsylvania in which policies and practices that violate the health, safety, and dignity of people in correctional custody are quickly identified and stopped; where all people in custody and their families can easily, regularly and with support, stay connected and engaged; and a nation in which depriving people of their liberty is a last resort for public safety, used selectively and for short periods of time. A critical component of our mission is to promote the understanding that when a person goes to jail, incarceration does not impact them alone but also their family and broader network. Family members are torn apart, income is lost, support systems are removed, and the people left behind incur the extra burden of supporting their loved one inside jail. This can have an extreme toll logistically, financially, and emotionally. Support from Impact100 would increase our capacity to serve 1.5 million Philadelphians by helping to ensure the health, safety, and dignity of their neighbors, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, and parents.

 

The Public Interest Law Center
2023 Grant Awarded: $31,000

Created in 1969, the Public Interest Law Center uses high-impact legal strategies to advance the civil, social, and economic rights of communities in the Philadelphia region facing discrimination, inequality, and poverty. We use litigation, community education, advocacy, and organizing to secure access to fundamental resources and services. Our work is high impact. The cases we take and the models we use are designed to make large-scale changes in the policies and practices which affect the under resourced communities of Philadelphia. We focus on six practice areas including: environmental justice, housing, employment, public education, healthcare and voting. For the purposes of this application we will be focusing on our environmental justice work which we see enormous need for in the city. The goal of this project area is to help under-resourced and marginalized communities have a voice in determining equitable and sustainable development in their neighborhoods, and work to alleviate the negative effects of historic disinvestment. We envision growth as we focus on the intersection of environmental justice with our other practice areas such as housing.

 

Scribe Video Center
2023 Grant Awarded: $31,000

​​Scribe’s mission is to explore, develop and advance the use of digital media as an artistic means for creative expression and as tools for progressive social change. Scribe is a metaphor for the use of media to record significant historical and contemporary concerns and events, with emphasis on individuals and community groups that have limited resources and have been denied access to media production technology because of race, ethnicity, age, income or gender. We encourage projects that advance dialogue, enhance collaboration across cultures, and challenge traditional notions of the under-represented. We are unique in that we make the media-arts a realistic pursuit for those in underserved communities and those who have limited arts access due to lack of financial resources, age, language and other constraints. The great joy of Scribe is seeing how first time media-makers, such as an older adult who might not have considered herself a radio broadcaster, or a young person who never thought he could make a film, can create a compelling piece that not only has an important story to tell, but also is a work of art.

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