2015 Annual Meeting       

There was a whole lot of celebrating going on the evening of May 20th as Women's Impact Fund announced this year's five grant recipients and officially elected its new Board.

More than 180 attended the Annual Meeting, which was sponsored by Wells Fargo, at Byron's South End.

WIF's five new grantees -- receiving a total of $382,000 - are: Care Ring, Community Culinary School of Charlotte, Community School of the Arts, North Carolina Wildlife Federation and Right Moves for Youth.

A highlight of the evening was a slam poet presentation by Lucy Murrey. Her original work, "Impact," was written about the work of our organization.

The event also gave members a chance to salute out-going chair, Carolyn Meade, and to hear from her and Anne Essaye, who chaired the strategic planning committee, on how the plan is being executed.

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By Katie Holloway 

Brennon Graham, Executive Director of The Relatives, speaks at the WIF 2015 Annual Meeting

How do we as a community meet the needs of youth who have aged out of the foster care and juvenile justice systems and face tremendous challenges to becoming independent adults?

With the help of a federal grant, Charlotte had been working to address this serious problem when The Relatives, a youth support agency, launched the On Ramp program in August 2009.

On Ramp provides a resource center for young adults 16 to 24 years old in Mecklenburg County who may need a variety of services and tools to make the transition to being an independent adult. Those areas include education, housing, employment, health and safety, and life functioning.