Four non-profit agencies dedicated to serving the Santa Clarita Valley are sharing $5500 in Community Grants awarded by Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley at its recent annual awards program. Award checks were presented by committee co-chairs Suzie Alziebler and Judy Penman to William S. Hart (WISH) Foundation, Domestic Violence Center, SCV Senior Center and College of the Canyons Foundation.

Zonta’s mission is improving the lives of women and girls through service, advocacy and awareness, and successful grant writers focused on specific programs that meets those goals.

The WISH Foundation grant will help fund a proposed Girls Who Code Club at Rio Norte Junior High School. The goal is to advance the academic and economic status of young women by encouraging them to enroll in computer science courses at the high school and college levels and eventually pursue computer science and STEM- (science, technology, engineering and math) related careers.

The Zonta grant will be used to purchase materials, computers and equipment needed to put the curriculum into action. Girls Who Code is a national non-profit organization dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology. It offers a free curriculum specifically designed to engage and empower girls in grades six through 12.

The Domestic Violence Center will use its grant to support its local shelter for victims of domestic violence and their families. The center has been servicing the local community for 12 years and is in much need of repairs and maintenance. The grant will go toward materials needed to modernize the kitchen and give it a much-needed renovation to make the room a welcoming area for women and children to fix their meals and gather in an positive environment.

The SCV Senior Center grant will be used to create an “Empowering Senior Women” workshop series. In three separate seminars, experts in the field of aging will provide comprehensive, leading-edge information, resources and support to senior women to give them tools to become proactive and maintain good physical and mental health.

The first workshop will help widows “Find Your Voice.” The second seminar is “Slow down that clock and embrace and moment.” The third workshop will help participants find purpose and productivity in their role as senior women.

College of the Canyons Foundation will use its grant to establish a domestic violence advocates training project. The goal of the program is to train 12 COC students to become domestic violence advocates, who will use their training to provide service back to the SCV Domestic Violence Center. They will also design action plans and devise strategies to inform others of this issue and how to confront it. Once trained, these 12 young women will serve as campus mentors to educate others to the signs, dangers and effects of domestic violence.

The Community Grants awards were a major part of an Awards Night program that saw Zonta award $16,500 in grants and scholarships.