PORT TOWNSEND — Before April a year ago, some of the 13 women had never met each other. Most had ever heard of a “giving circle.”
But for the next 12 months, they worked together toward a goal — to pool their resources into a grant and choose which community program would receive it.
Rule No. 1: the decision must be unanimous.
“We had to learn consensus decision-making,” Carol Gough said. “It wasn’t always easy.”
Gough is a member of Women Who Care, the first giving circle in Jefferson County.
The women awarded their first grant Tuesday during a ceremony at the Bishop Hotel in Port Townsend.
The $13,000 given to the Jefferson County Public Health Department’s Visiting Nurses Program will fund a community assessment to provide a big picture of the needs of families in the county and allow continuity in services to children from birth through high school.
Stimulus package
“This giving circle is our very own stimulus package in Jefferson County,” Ruth Schneider said.
Schneider and Ruth Merryman, who founded the Working Image clothing bank, started the giving circle.
Each person who joined Women Who Care committed to donating $1,000 a year for three years, Schneider said.
Members also agree to attend meetings, review grant applications, research the organizations who submitted them, write up reports and make site visits.
The process was easier once the group narrowed the focus to programs that benefited women and children, member Gay Eisenberger said.
They sought programs that were financially sustainable and effected systemic change, she said.
“We quickly determined that we wanted to make a change in the community that would really make a difference,” Gough said.
“We wanted to support an organization that gets to the bottom of the problem.”
After choosing three finalists from several applications, the women spent an evening together to allow everyone to express concerns, discuss issues and air their reservations and hopes.
“It wasn’t fast, but it was well thought out,” Eisenberger said of reaching a consensus.
Quen Zora, head of the Nurse Family Partnership, accepted the grant along with Yuko Umeda, Mary Jo MacKenzie and Shena Kellewea.
Activates program
Zora said the money will help realize a community assessment project that has been in the planning stages for five years but didn’t have the funding to be carried out.
Jean Baldwin, Jefferson County Public Health director, said the assessment will give everyone involved in social services essential information to help identify patterns of risk and target the types of intervention needed.
Gough said the group also learned of the enormous needs that exist in Jefferson County and that a lot of nonprofit organizations and people with passion are struggling to meet them, some with little to no financial support.
She also learned that people of different backgrounds and political ideologies can come together and do something meaningful.
“Our learning curve was steep,” she said. “But we are all so committed to this. We are still learning.”
Schneider said that another giving circle may be forming, and that it doesn’t have to be women — there could be a “Men Who Care” giving circle.
New friends
Meeting new people is one of the bonuses.
“We didn’t start out as a group of friends,” Schneider said. “We are now a group of friends.”
Women Who Care is a diverse group, she said.
Some are retired, some working, some old and some not so old. There is an artist, a scientist, teachers, administrators and business owners.
“It’s so nice to be part of a group,” said Teri McComas, officer manager for a physical therapy center. “I hope the idea spreads.”
The circle was established through the Jefferson County Community Foundation, which also provided a financial consultant, Kris Mayer.
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Port Townsend/Jefferson County reporter-columnist Jennifer Jackson can be reached at jjackson@olypen.com.
