2023 Fairy Godmother Fund Grant Stories
The Fairy Godmother Fund provides flexible, accessible monies to help Douglas County women who have limited resources and are facing immediate, short-term critical needs not met by traditional funding sources.
The gifts from this fund are small, but they make a big impact on the lives of women and families. Each year, DCCF awards Fairy Godmother Fund grants to partner agencies working with women in our community. In 2023, grants were awarded to:
- Ballard Community Services
- Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center
- Centro Hispano
- Family Promise of Lawrence
- Full Circle Tenant Services, Inc.
- The Willow Domestic Violence Center
We received many wonderful stories from these agencies about the difference Fairy Godmother Fund grants are making in the lives of women in Douglas County. Below are a few of our favorites.
Willow Domestic Violence Center
"With this grant we were able to provide assistance to 11 domestic violence victims in need, providing emergency assistance with phones, electricity, rent, court fees, temporary storage, bus passes, and fuel to help with escape. These are 11 families whose lives are changed and more stable now because of the help DCCF allowed us to provide."
Full Circle Tenant Services
"Katie is a single mother to a disabled child. Katie works from home so she can be more available when her son needs extra attention. We used Fairy Godmother funds to replace her car battery so she can transport her son to school, activities, and doctor’s appointments.
Shannon is disabled and living on a fixed income. We used Fairy Godmother funds to help replace the fuel pump on her vehicle so she can continue to be self-sufficient.
Darla is an elderly, disabled female who works part time. We utilized Fairy Godmother funds to help purchase four new tires for her vehicle so she can get to and from work safely.
Tammy is a disabled female who relies on her vehicle to get to vital doctor’s appointments and run necessary errands. Additionally, Tammy works a part-time job and needs reliable transportation to help her remain self-sufficient. We utilized Fairy Godmother funds to replace brakes and rotors on her vehicle.
Cleo is an elderly female living on a limited income. She works part-time as a home health care provider, giving of herself to help others. We utilized Fairy Godmother funds to repair her driver’s side door, which would no longer open/close, forcing her to crawl across the passenger seat!
Allison is a single mom raising four children ages 2-10. One of Allison’s children has special needs, so she relies on her vehicle to get him to doctor’s appointments and activities. Additionally, she works a full-time job and transports her other children around town to school and activities. We utilized Fairy Godmother funds to replace her vehicle’s alternator so she can get to work and transport herself and her children safely."
Centro Hispano
'Centro Hispano helped one of our clients with her rent. Her daughter was in the hospital struggling with cancer and mother was very desperate because she did not have money to pay the rent and she calls us asking for help. Thanks to the Fairy Godmother Fund, Centro Hispano was able to help cover a month of rent so she could be less stressed and spend more quality time with her daughter in the hospital and relieve the stress that came from not being able to pay her rent."
Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center
"Over the past year, we utilized Fairy Godmother Funds to assist a total of six women. While some expenditures addressed recurring needs from previous years, a couple of them played a significant role in truly rebuilding lives.
Client 1:
This client’s belongings were destroyed in a house fire that was set by someone outside of the building. Her entire apartment, personal items, and a full refrigerator of food (she’d gone grocery shopping the previous day) were completely destroyed. While displaced and living in a hotel room, we assisted her in replacing as many of the lost items as possible, particularly the months’ worth of groceries she’d purchased in addition to toiletries and other items. Fortunately, the Supportive Housing Team was able to help her find a new apartment within one month.
Client 2:
This client came to us following an extended period of homelessness where she was trafficked. She moved into our program with no resources and not much more than the clothing she had on. She spent 10 months living at Transitions and working with us to obtain resources and develop coping skills to get to a place where she felt she could live independently. After 10 months, we were able to secure subsidized housing for her and assisted her in purchasing the items she needed for her new apartment and new life.
Year after year, we emphasize the undeniable impact and significance of these funds. Thank you!"
Read more here.
Ballard Community Services
"Fairy Godmother Funds from the Douglas County Community Foundation allows to Ballard Center to assist women and children when no other sources of funding are available. In addition to assisting with the basic needs of rent and utility payments, Fairy Godmother funds touched families and made lives better. For example, funds were used to provide for mold testing services for a single parent with an immunocompromised child. We were also able to help a mother with vehicle repairs so she could continue to get to work and provide for her family. Another family benefited when Fairy Godmother funds were used to help pay for a used washer and dryer to replace the ones that were no longer working. These are examples of the wide variety ways that Fairy Godmother funds are used to address family concerns.
The Ballard Center greatly appreciates the funding received from DCCF's Fairy Godmother program as it increases our ability to meet the needs of vulnerable families in our community."
If you would like to support the Fairy Godmother fund, you can donate here.
