FIELD OF INTEREST FUNDS Fund For Homeless Women

Fast Facts

$1.8 MILLION Granted through 2022

Celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2022, The Fund for Homeless Women (FHW) supports programs and services for women living without shelter on the Monterey Peninsula. Focusing on a particular area of giving, it is one of several field of interest funds at the CFMC.

The FHW began as a conversation between co-founders Marian Penn, a social justice activist and retired attorney, Kathy Whilden, a retired social worker, and Michael Reid, then an Episcopal priest. Spurred by a letter that he received from a homeless woman, Michael, Marian and Kathy established the fund at the CFMC in 2012.

$177,000 Granted to 4 Organizations in 2022

The FHW takes a dual approach of addressing immediate needs while also investing in long-term solutions, allocating funds to help ameliorate the debilitating effects of homelessness for the more than 500 women living without shelter on the Monterey Peninsula.

“They are retired elderly who can no longer afford to buy rent or food. They are salesclerks in department stores. They are mothers who are working and need to decide between rent, food and childcare. They are college students living in their car,” said volunteer leader Donna Ferraro at the tenth Anniversary Fundraiser.

$19,750 Awarded through 9 Scholarships for Unhoused Women on the Monterey Peninsula

With the support of donors and community members, the FHW has made a profound impact, granting more than $1.8 million for programming and services for women living without shelter, including providing emergency assistance, temporary lodging, transportation expenses and more. Over the last decade, the Fund for Homeless Women provided early funding to help seed and leverage support for new efforts, including Gathering for Women, One Starfish Safe Parking, Casa de Noche Buena and most recently, Shuman HeartHouse.