Numbers Too Big To Ignore

The Atlanta Women’s Foundation is the only public foundation in the state of Georgia dedicated wholly to women and girls. AWF supports organizations that lift women and girls out of poverty by providing them with opportunities for advancement. In these troubled times we are living in, women throughout Atlanta and Georgia need our help more than ever.

Prior to COVID-19, women made up more than 60% of minimum wage workers and 17% in Atlanta lived below the poverty line. Nationally, between February and May, 11.5 million women lost their jobs due to COVID-19. As you can see, these numbers are too big to ignore.

AWF’s Women’s Pathway to Success Program is a 5-year initiative aimed at moving a minimum of 18,000 women living at 200% or below the poverty line in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties to economic self-sufficiency through job training, microenterprise development, child care, financial literacy, and employment opportunities. Due to the ongoing situation with COVID-19, funding for year four of the program will shift to meet the developing needs of AWF grantees and their clients.

The current situation with COVID-19 also makes AWF’s fundraising efforts more important than ever.

Launched on September 15, the six-week 2020 Numbers Too Big To Ignore Fundraising Campaign will provide COVID-19 relief to the Women’s Pathway to Success Program grantees. With your support, we will help metro Atlanta women and girls through critical services like paid job training and counseling, microloans, child care support, life skills training, and financial literacy classes in addition to COVID-19 specific needs like mortgage/rent relief and mental health services.

The Numbers Campaign will conclude with a virtual celebration on October 27, with featured speaker The Honorable Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a special appearance by Dr. Condoleezza Rice, and the presentation of the Sue Wieland Embracing Possibility Award.

For more than twenty years, AWF has invested more than $18 million into 350 metro Atlanta nonprofit organizations to support women and girls. When you invest in AWF, you invest in a society that works for everyone.

But, there is still much work to do and you can help.