Women of the ELCA awards 41 grants to promote health

Chicago (ELCA), July 23, 2007 — Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the women's organizations of the ELCA, awarded $87,200 in grants to 29 domestic and 12 international programs in 2007 to promote "women's complete and total health: physical, emotional and spiritual," as stated on its Web site. Women of the ELCA has given more than $3 million in 20 years to 795 domestic and international programs.

According to the Women of the ELCA Web site: "Our grants program in 2007 focused funding toward projects and agencies dedicated to education, health care, and advocacy, emboldening women and girls to lead healthier lives. These grants are one way in which we respond to God's call for justice and an abundant life."

The 20 domestic grants ranged in size from $700 to $3,500. They were awarded to programs based in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Caroline, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

Among the domestic programs receiving grants: The prison-based services of the Mary Magdalene Home Alaska help current and formerly incarcerated women leave lives of sexual exploitation. Work Options for Women, a job-training program, gives low-income women in Denver the skills needed to become self-sufficient. Women's Advancement Program of Salam Arabic Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, N.Y., works with long-time residents and new immigrant women on health issues, self-care, and how to access the health system.

The 12 international grants of $1,000 each benefit programs in Argentina, Colombia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Among the programs receiving international grants: La Organización de Mujeres Luteranas de Colombia (Lutheran Women of Colombia Organization) offers "Affirming Strong Faith," a spiritual training and counseling program for women. Indonesian Rural Agricultural Development includes nutritional supplements for children and pregnant women in "The Timor Project — Saving a Village" to help lift people out of poverty. The Chelma Advisory Institute of Kenya provides commercial sex workers with business-skill training and counseling.

"As a churchwide community of women, some of our most powerful resources are the financial offerings we give in support of our organizational commitment to 'promote healing and wholeness in the church, the society, and the world,'" says the Women of the ELCA Web site.

The complete list of 2007 grant recipients is at www.womenoftheelca.org/whatwedo/07grantawards.html on the Web.

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