The Park City Community Foundation’s Women’s Giving Fund set a goal to reach 2,022 members in 2022, and it has reached that goal, said Dalia Gonzalez, incoming chair of the Women’s Giving Fund Grant committee.

The Women’s Giving Fund is more than a circle of philanthropists. It’s a Park City Community Foundation initiative that was started in 2014 to supply high-impact grants to nonprofits that help local women and children in need, Gonzalez said.

So, the increase in members shows that the Park City community is recognizing there are needs to be met, and that people are willing and wanting to be part of the Women’s Giving Fund, she said.

Women of all backgrounds and identities become Women’s Giving Fund members by donating $1,000, according to Gonzalez.

“Once you pay the $1,000, you become a member for life, but you can also continue to donate,” she said. “For some, $1,000 may not be doable in one chunk, so they can set up a monthly donation plan. There are also other members who will sponsor those who want to become members. When I first joined the Women’s Giving Fund three years ago, I was sponsored. So I am so happy and proud to be part of this group today.”

One hundred and thirty-three of the new Women’s Giving Fund memberships made in 2022 were donated to honor women who live or work in Summit County, but who might not be able to afford the total cost of membership, according to a Park City Community Foundation press release. 

“It’s important to this group that our Women’s Giving Fund membership reflects the diverse nature of our local population and workforce because we are better grantmakers when our members have personal experience and knowledge about the issues local women face,” said Kristi Cumming, Park City Community Foundation board member, in a statement.

The Park City Community Foundation started the Women’s Giving Fund, hoping to recruit 1,000 members. The idea was for each member to pay $1,000, thus creating a base of $1 million.

The fund ended up with $1,189,000 in its first year. Since then, the fund has been endowed by Park City Community Foundation, and grants to local nonprofits are made from its earnings in perpetuity.

Since 2014, the endowment has grown to more than $2.2 million, and the Park City Community Foundation has distributed eight local grants totaling $283,000. 

Those grants have boosted medical services for women and children, early childhood education programs, transitional housing for women recovering from domestic violence, youth mentorship programs, caregivers of older adults and more. 

So, meeting the 2022-member goal with the addition of 338 new members means more funding will be available to local organizations that help women and children, according to Gonzalez. 

“We are also now able to provide $100,000 in grants this year, and that is more than twice of the $45,000 we granted last year,” she said. 

Local nonprofits can apply for the grants, and their applications will be received and reviewed by the committee Gonzalez will chair this year.

“We then vote on which nonprofit or nonprofits will receive grants,” she said.“This year’s $100,000 might go out to one nonprofit or it may be divided up. We don’t know the specifics, yet, but we do know the funds are available.”

The first organization that benefited from a Women’s Giving Fund grant was PC Tots in 2015. The group’s goal is to provide affordable childcare for local working parents, and promote more social interaction between diverse socio-economic groups at an early age, as reported by The Park Record at that time.

“PC Tots has grown since,” Gonzalez said. “They now have two locations.”

Being the incoming chair of the Women’s Giving Fund committee hits home for Gonzalez.

First off, she’s a first-time mother and on maternity leave from being the director of operations at the People’s Health Clinic, a nonprofit that provides medical treatment to the underinsured.

“The People’s Health Clinic was a recipient of the Women’s Giving Fund grant when I started working there in 2019,” she said. “The grant allowed the clinic to open up my first position, clinic coordinator, where I was involved in women’s health matters.”

Now, as a new mother, Gonzalez sees more deeply how much the Women’s Giving Fund will impact her and her six-month-old’s lives.

“I know there is a huge effort by some nonprofits to support early-development programming and meeting developmental milestones for children like mine,” she said. “I know there will be so many things my child can be involved in when the time comes.”