SPRINGFIELD — Eight Springfield area nonprofits have received grants from O’Dell Women’s Center to support programs that create opportunities for low-income women.
According to Margaret Tantillo, the executive director of the Women’s Center, a total of $250,000 was split across the eight programs to enhance access to educational resources, career development and community support services for women.
This is the first year the center ran a grant program, according to Tantillo.
“There is such a need in Springfield for support for women and single mothers that we’re supporting organizations that provide opportunities for women, not just one-off opportunities, but you can see by the continuum of organizations we support that it hopefully will create a path for women to become financially more stable or independent,” Tantillo said in an interview.
The eight organizations who received funding from the center’s grant program are Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, Girls Inc. of the Valley, Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start, Hope for Youth and Families, Parent Villages, South End Community Center, The Gray House and the United Way of Pioneer Valley.
Tantillo said these organizations were chosen because they reflect the Women’s Center mission of supporting educational advancement and workforce readiness for Springfield women.
For example, the grant to The Girls Inc. of the Valley’s Eureka! program will expand access to a five-year STEM initiative for girls from eighth grade through high school, offering firsthand experiences in science, technology, engineering and math.
Meanwhile, in the workforce development realm, a grant provided to Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start will deliver job skills training to help women overcome professional and social-emotional challenges.
According to the center, the South End Community Center will use its grant to expand its after-school programs, transportation services, and vacation camps, providing safe environments for children of working mothers, while the grant to The Gray House will support its Adult Education Program, which offers English language and life skills training.
In total, three grants went to educational programs, three went to career readiness programs and two address essential needs like food security, childcare and language skills.
“We really tried to stick with our mission of providing women a path to economic stability through workforce development and education,” Tantillo said. “We’re just trying to be compassionate and support organizations that are in line with our mission.”
Tantillo said that there were 37 grant applications in total. Because of this high interest, the center expects to distribute a higher dollar amount during its 2025 grant program.
She told Reminder Publishing that she expects the programs who did not receive funding this time around will reapply next year, and she added that the center will continue to partner with the current awardees on future endeavors.
“We’re looking to come into this community and build up, provide resources, work in partnership, and not come in in such a way that we’re saying we know what’s best, but to enhance the programs that are already in place,” Tantillo said.
The O’Dell Women’s Center, which was founded in 2023, has its own 10,000-square-foot facility at 45 Lyman St., where it offers low-cost “residencies” to nonprofit organizations that specialize in improving the lives of women.
Readers can learn more about the center by visiting odellwomenscenter.com.
