Greenville Women Giving awards $508K to nonprofits

Greenville Women Giving has awarded $508,250 in grant funding to seven non-profit organizations operating in Greenville County.

GWG members selected the recipients from among 90 qualified grant applications. Since its inception in 2006, GWG has awarded 159 grants to 92 non-profit organizations for a total of more than $9 million.

“As population soars in Greenville County, so do the needs of our community and non-profits,” Greenville Women Giving Co-Chair Beverly Ward said in a news release.  “Thanks to our membership and their commitment to contribute to the quality of life for all, we were able to consistently fund organizations addressing critical needs.”

To qualify, an application for a GWG grant must meet a need in at least one of GWG’s five focus areas: arts, education, environment, health, and human services.

The 2025 grantees are:

ARTS: Greenville Theatre — $50,000

Founded in 1926, Greenville Theatre is the oldest and largest professional theater in the region. It is the cultural cornerstone for the Upstate community, performing at their 571-seat theater on Heritage Green since 1967. GWG grant funds will help replace dilapidated stage flooring that has not been replaced or refurbished since 1967. Its current condition — marked by holes, weak spots and ridges — has become a safety concern for the 200-plus actors, musicians, technicians, students and volunteers who utilize the theater. Work will be completed by August 2025 in time for the start of Greenville Theatre’s 100th anniversary season.

EDUCATION: Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Upstate — $66,250

The organization is an affiliate of the nation’s oldest and largest mentoring organization, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. The one-to-one mentoring program with Greenville County Title I schools is designed to prevent or mitigate the impact of adverse childhood experiences from abuse, neglect and household dysfunction, especially among children in low-income households. GWG grant funds will help Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Upstate introduce a new approach to childhood trauma intervention that’s designed to add 70 new mentors to teach and train 250 youth how to prioritize their mental health and break generational patterns of trauma, create healthier home environments and reduce county expenses by alleviating the strain on social services, law enforcement and emergency health care.

ENVIRONMENT: Conestee Foundation — $100,000

Conestee Nature Park is a 640-acre wildlife sanctuary six miles from downtown Greenville. In September 2024, Hurricane Helene devastated the park and a critical boardwalk known as Woodie Walk, a key connector of the Green Loop trail allowing 200,000 annual visitors fully experience the preserve. GWG grant funds will help build a resilient, stormproof solution reconnecting the Green Loop for all visitors and allowing students to experience nature close to home.

HEALTH: New Morning — $90,000

The funding will support New Morning’s six partnering clinics in Greenville County that provide contraceptive services to low-income, uninsured and underinsured women. The clinics are projected to serve 7,000 women with free or low-cost contraceptives during the one-year grant period. As a result, it is estimated the service may prevent 1,500 unintended pregnancies, 710 unplanned births, 510 abortions and 290 miscarriages resulting from the unintended pregnancies. Additionally, as much as $13 million are saved in maternal and birth-related costs in the county (Guttmacher Data Center analysis).

HUMAN SERVICES: Project Host — $52,000

Project Host is a soup kitchen and outreach program that has been a vital part of the Greenville community for 44 years. Their mission is to use food as a tool to nourish the hungry, and to train the unemployed to be self-sufficient through their culinary training program. Their vision is a hunger-free Greenville focused on stable employment and reduced food insecurity. In 2024, Project Host served over 75,000 meals, but forecasted population growth has increased the number of meals needed. GWG grant funds will be used to serve an additional 5,250 meals to Greenville’s most vulnerable population.

HUMAN SERVICES: Rebuild Upstate — $100,000

Rebuild Upstate began in 2007 and approaches the affordable housing crisis by focusing on rehabilitation and preservation of existing homes. GWG grant funds will aid in the completion of necessary, but unfunded, home repairs for 40 low-income homeowners over the course of two years.

HUMAN SERVICES: Triune Mercy Center — $50,000

Established in 1989, Triune Mercy Center serves Greenville by providing opportunities and meeting the needs of the disadvantaged, homeless and vulnerable in Greenville by leveraging resources to empower people toward self-sufficiency and healing.  In 2024, TMC served 16,200 people. The grant funds will cover the cost of equipment and installation of security cameras to help mitigate illegal activities and deter harmful situations that occur in a recessed entryway at TMC, including drug use, panhandling, sleeping, and using it as an outdoor toilet. According to the news release, those issues have become so profound it discourages those who are in need of TMC’s services and creates safety risks for all, including the staff and volunteers.

Grants are funded by the contributions of Greenville Women Giving members.

Greenville Women Giving is a philanthropic women’s collective giving organization created as a special initiative of the Community Foundation in 2006. The organization has more than 500 members. Membership in Greenville Women Giving is open to all women who commit to the annual contribution.