2025 Grantees

In celebration of our 10th Anniversary, Ojai Women’s Fund has awarded substantial grants to local organizations addressing the most pressing needs in the Ojai Valley. Thanks to this year’s significant increase in membership and generous member donations, we are able to award Ten Grants in our Tenth Year! With our 2025 grants totaling $120,000 (a 31.6% increase over last year), Ojai Women’s Fund has now contributed nearly $900,000 in transformative support to our community since our inception. Congratulations to our 2025 grantees!

The Arc of Ventura County

$10,500

The Arc of Ventura County is committed to enhancing the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through programs that promote independence, inclusion, and active community participation. This grant will be used for restroom improvements at the Ojai Enrichment Center to enhance privacy and independence for the 53 adults who are served at this location.

HELP of Ojai

$13,500

HELP of Ojai’s Housing Assistance Fund assists housing -insecure and unhoused residents of the Ojai Valley in need of temporary shelter. This grant will be used to allow HELP of Ojai case managers to place qualified clients in a hotel room temporarily during inclement weather, such as severe rain, wind, low temperatures in the winter, or high temperatures in the summer.

Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association

$13,500

Livingston Cares is a program offered by the Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association that serves low-income residents enrolled in Medi-Cal or those who qualify based on income applications. This grant will be used to provide home health care, hospice support, and caregiving assistance to approximately 315 residents across the Ojai Valley.

Mesa

$13,500

Mesa provides transitional housing and wrap-around services to young people ages 18-24. Mesa’s tiny home community sits on 10 acres. This grant would allow the development of an organic food garden on the property to feed, educate, and employ Mesa participants and community members.

Secure Beginnings

$13,500

Secure Beginnings offers parenting support and classes to English- and Spanish-speaking parents/caregivers with children aged 0-5 years. The goal is to improve understanding of child development, reduce isolation, and increase competence in parenting. This grant would be used to provide free/ sliding scale programs to impact 600 Ojai Valley parents and their children.

Food Share, Inc.

$13,500

Food Share, Ventura County’s Food Bank, seeks to address food insecurity throughout the Ojai Valley through the distribution of nutritious food to low-income individuals and families. This grant will allow health affordable food access to just over 4,000 individuals including farmworkers, veterans, single parents and seniors on a fixed income.

Interface Children and Family Services

$10,500

The My Body Belongs to Me program is a school-based personal safety/child abuse prevention program that teaches children how to recognize and respond to potentially dangerous people and situations. Interface will use this grant to present the program to pre-K through 5th grade students as well as parents and teachers at four schools throughout the Ojai Valley.

Meiners Oaks Park

$9,000

The goal of Meiners Oaks Park is to create a two-acre nature-focused park where children can play and families can gather in their own community. The grant would be used to purchase and plant trees and nursery plants, as well as fencing for a border of this abandoned commercial property.

O-Higher Ed

$13,500

O-Higher Ed’s mission is to help students across the Ojai Valley access higher education with a focus on those first in their families to attend college. The grant will be used to support the Math Tutoring Program as a number of Ojai students, particularly socioeconomically disadvantaged students, those of color, and females struggling to meet California math standards.

The C.R.E.W.

$9,000

The C.R.E.W.’s Green Career Initiative addresses two needs. First, it seeks to remedy a shortage of trained individuals ready to restore ecosystems, protect communities, and steward public lands. Second, it addresses the lack of accessible career pathways for young adults, especially those facing economic, educational, or social barriers. This grant will be used to support participants’ wages and certification fees and as well as staff time for training and supervision.