Glendale YWCA hoping for funds through Purple Purse Challenge
A Glendale nonprofit focused on providing services for survivors of domestic violence and abuse is for the second time competing for a shot at winning $100,000 in grant funds.
YWCA of Glendale is the local segment of the national YWCA, organized around providing safety services for women and children including emergency shelters, crisis hotlines and counseling. Locally, the YWCA has the Sunrise Village emergency shelter, which provides a safe location for women and children for up to 45 days.
Along with more than 150 other nonprofit domestic-violence organizations, the Glendale YWCA has entered the sixth annual Purple Purse Challenge.
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The friendly competition is sponsored by the Allstate Foundation, a charity organization that strives to help end domestic violence, along with providing financial education and readiness to survivors who frequently are left with a quality-of-life change.
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FOR THE RECORD
10/8, 12:13 a.m.: A previous version of this story included an incorrect headline. It is the YWCA, not YMCA.
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A total of $650,000 is up for grabs this year, split among two divisions based on the budget of the organization.
Tara Peterson, executive director of the Glendale YWCA, joined the organization this past July. Peterson came to the Glendale YWCA after a decade at the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence.
She said she recognizes the need to address domestic violence and the importance to participate in the challenge.
“It’s an opportunity to raise awareness about financial abuse because a lot of people ask the question ‘why doesn’t [the victim] just leave?’ and it’s not always that easy for very many reasons,” Peterson said. “Fear is a reason, but also figuring out how they will take care of themselves — and if you add on the fact that they may have children — that creates another barrier.”
In addition to funding local services and programs, there are other more modest needs that could be addressed with the grant of the Purple Purse Challenge, according to Peterson.
“Something we would love to do is upgrade our computer lab. We have about 12 to 13 computers and they’re just really outdated,” Peterson said. “We really need to update them so our clients can actually use them to help them find employment or write a resume or different tasks.”
All Peterson has to do is perform the everyday struggle of nonprofits — raise lots of money.
The Purple Purse Challenge started Sept. 28 and gives participants until Oct. 25 to receive enough donations to qualify them for the $100,000 grant.
There are still financial rewards for those organizations that don’t reach the top spot. The second-place finisher will receive $50,000, and the third-place winner will get $25,000. Organizations that finish in fourth and fifth places will be awarded $20,000 and $15,000, respectively. The Allstate Foundation will also dole out grants during weekly bonus challenges.
Grand prize or not, participating in the challenge still raises money to help domestic-violence survivors during a month dedicated to awareness of the issue. If the Glendale YWCA were to walk away with the grand prize, however, Peterson offered a few long-term ideas of where the donation could go.
“We really want to try to figure out how to partner with schools and younger people,” Peterson said. “There [are] a lot of great opportunities to do that through prevention. To go out to schools, do presentations at schools, to really talk to young people about helping them recognize the signs not just of what is an abusive relationship but what healthy relationships look like.”
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Jeff Landa, jeff.landa@latimes.com
Twitter: @JeffLanda
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