Soroptimist is an international organization for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls, in local communities and throughout the world.
Soroptimist’s mission is to improve the lives of women and girls, in local communities and throughout the world. In order to accomplish this goal, the organization administers several international programs. The organization’s major project is the Soroptimist Live Your Dream Awards, which assists women by giving them the resources they need to improve their education, skills and job prospects.
Live Your Dream Awards
The Soroptimist Live Your Dream Awards (formerly the Women’s Opportunity Awards) assists women who provide the primary source of financial support for their families by giving them the resources they need to improve their education, skills and employment prospects.
Each year, more than $1.6 million in education grants are awarded to more than 1,200 women, many of whom have overcome enormous obstacles including poverty, domestic violence and/or drug and alcohol abuse. Live Your Dream Awards recipients may use the cash award to offset any costs associated with their efforts to attain higher education, such as books, childcare, tuition and transportation.
Dream It, Be It
Dream It, Be It: Career Support for Girls will help girls grow up to be strong, successful, happy adults. Dream It, Be It targets girls in secondary school who face obstacles to their future success. It provides girls with access to professional role models, career education and the resources to live their dreams. Soroptimist clubs will work in partnership with girls in small groups or a conference setting to provide them with the information and resources they want and need to be successful. The topics covered include career opportunities, setting and achieving goals, overcoming obstacles to success and how to move forward after setbacks or failures.
Soroptimist Disaster Grants for Women and Girls
Soroptimists Disaster Grants for Women and Girls targets the special needs of women and girls during natural and man-made disasters. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable during disasters and lack access to resources. They also have special abilities to respond to disasters, which is often overlooked. Soroptimist’s disaster recovery program mitigates the barriers facing women and girls during disasters. In addition, the program honors the commitments made by the United Nations in the Beijing Platform for Action and the Outcome Statement of the 46th Session on the Commission on the Status of Women. Soroptimist gives funds to local clubs for use in communities needing disaster recovery . Funds are pooled from voluntary contributions sent in from Soroptimist members throughout the world.
Soroptimist Club Grants for Women and Girls
Soroptimists work to improve the lives of women and girls in their communities and throughout the world. Often the abilities and ambitions of clubs exceed their financial resources. To help clubs meet community need, Soroptimist introduced the Soroptimist Club Grants for Women and Girls in 1997 to assist with community projects that improve the lives of women and girls. The Soroptimist organization funds about $175,000 each year in Soroptimist Club Grants. Since the program’s inception, nearly $1.4 million has been awarded and clubs have assisted more than 100,000 women and their families.
Pamela Montalvo says
My name is Pamela Montalvo I’m a single mother with 3 beautiful girls Bonnie (19) Olivia (9) and Isabella. On May 4th 2005 I gave birth to Isabella she was a premature baby. She spent 28 days in a local options and the last of our hope was to take her to Driscoll Children’s Hospital. I lost my townhouse, my car got repossessed and I lost a very important Job but none of that could replace the tears and heartache I endured being alone in Corpus Christi without my daughter Olivia living at the Ronald McDonald House. Every day and night I prayed as babies in the newborn intensive unit were passing away… to see other mothers break down and hold their life less babies was my worst nightmare. Watching kids from the Ronald McDonald house leave for chemo. And never return. After a long year my daughter was ready to come home not %100 but I took her. She’s now 7 she has a form of chronic lung disease and she feeds through a feeding tube.
Our lives were slowly coming back. I could not return to work due to the numerous specialist Isabella had appointments some local others In Corpus Christi. I had a car no air conditioning but we managed until it broke down. I finally decided to go to college Isabella’s had a full time nurse and provider that I was comfortable with. My father with what little he had bought me a car to take the girls to appointments and go to school. In 2012 I started feeling weak, shaky, and my typing was horrible and my speech was slurred. My physician sent me for test and that’s when I received the news that I had multiple lesions in my brain and my spinal cord on my neck. I have Muscular sclerosis. I graduated but with the entire injections test and more specialists I was not able to work. My physician referred me to a neurologist who prescribed me avonox injections weekly and therapy
It amazes me how things change. Always changing over the past 8 months I was without work and applied for disability. After out big move, I was in bad shape. The stress of moving, the lack of sleep, the heat, and many other things hit me like a Mack truck. It took me months & months to recover. I was beginning to think I wouldn’t get any better. But then… I did. By December I was starting to feel better than I have since I was diagnosed. It’s like I FINALLY recovered from the big relapse of 2012 all this time…. crazy. So now I’m looking forward to going back to school for Computer Forensics. I missed using my brain, thinking critically. Of course, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to think this way ever again. I’m grateful each day that I’m able to do it. My work is important to me… and I went through a period of not having a purpose… I think that was one of the worst things I’ve felt ever. Now my only issue is that I cannot afford a car to go to my appointments for myself and Isabella. So I’m writing this in hopes that someone will donate a car to me so I can go on with my dream of one day working and buying a home for my girls.
So even though Olivia is disabled with autism Isabella is disabled with lung and feeding problems and I’m disabled with Muscular scleroses we’re good now… me & the beast (M.S)… for now. I realize things will change again. I’m just hoping it’s going to be a while… a reprieve is a good thing