Organizational Profile
Soroptimist, a 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offers programs that improve social and economic conditions for women and girls. Programs include the Women’s Opportunity Awards, which provides cash grants for head-of-household women seeking to improve their lives with the help of additional education and training. Each year, more than $1 million is disbursed through this award-winning program. In recognition of the power of women and their dreams, Soroptimist also sponsors the Live Your Dream campaign. Visit the campaign's online home at: <www.liveyourdreamcampaign.org>. Visit Soroptimist’s main site at <www.soroptimist.org> to learn more about the organization and its work on behalf of the world’s women and girls.

Organizational Mission
Soroptimist’s mission is to improve the lives of women and girls, in local communities and throughout the world.

Soroptimist Disaster Relief Fund for Women and Girls
Soroptimist recognizes that women have increased vulnerability during disaster, lack access to resources, and suffer disproportionately in the aftermath of disasters. The Disaster Relief Fund began ad hoc following a 1964 earthquake in Alaska and was formalized as a Soroptimist initiative in 1988. In 2002, the program was redesigned to focus on women and girls. This fund helps support relief work that benefits women and girls in areas affected by natural disasters or acts of war. The Disaster Relief Fund is supported entirely by voluntary donations from Soroptimist clubs and members.

Sample Soroptimist Relief Efforts include:

• In 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 people and causing more than $81 billion in damage. Over 90,000 square miles were declared as federal disaster areas. To assist women affected by the destruction, Soroptimist made a $10,000 disaster relief donation to the Louisiana Coalition against Domestic Violence (LCADV). The LCADV, a non-profit network that works to end domestic violence against women, helps women and their children with basic needs such as food, diapers, clothing and prescriptions. In addition, the group, which lost three shelters and closed four others due to the hurricane and floods, relocated domestic violence victims who were staying at the shelters prior to Katrina. The remainder of Soroptimist’s Katrina disaster relief, $34,500, supported a research project undertaken by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. This project studied the effects of the disaster on the women of New Orleans and the surrounding affected areas of Mississippi. In addition, the study also focused on the special needs women have as they rebuild their lives. Soroptimist donated an additional $40,000 to two agencies assisting women in the Gulf Coast. The SARA Center, a shelter for victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault, received $20,000. The Center used the grant to assist with their clients’ legal and transportation needs. Another $20,000 went to the New Orleans Women’s Health Clinic, a new health care clinic for low-income women that used the grant to help pay for clinic staff.
  
  
• One of the deadliest disasters in world history, the December 26, 2004, earthquake and tsunami in Asia was responsible for more than 180,000 deaths. Soroptimist made an initial $10,000 donation to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in support of its appeal to meet the urgent health, hygiene and protection needs of women in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Maldives—the three countries affected most by the disaster. The UNFPA plan was to assist women with childbirth and emergency obstetric care; provide psycho-social support to women who had become heads of households as a result of the disaster; promote the access of unaccompanied women to basic services including water, sanitation, food and healthcare; prevent and treat cases of violence against women; and distribute tampons and sanitary napkins. Soroptimist made additional donations to help women and girls rebuild their lives at the one-year anniversary of the disaster. Below are the three projects to which Soroptimist donated support funds:
  
  
  • Center for Women’s Development and Research, India. Soroptimist awarded about $40,000 for a project that is creating and/or strengthening the employment opportunities for 100 single women, providing health education and health services to nearly 2,500 women, and providing supplementary education, life skills and vocation skills-training to 250 adolescent girls.
  • Project Sri Lanka. Soroptimist awarded $29,000 to assist with moving a girls’ school—one of Sri Lanka’s leading national schools damaged by the tsunami—and helping to fund the reconstruction of four classrooms. In addition, Soroptimist is currently working with the organization to form a scholarship program and will fund an additional $18,000 enabling low-income girls to attend school.
  • MADRE and INFORM, Sri Lanka. Soroptimist granted about $33,000 to the organizations’ project, Women in the Reconstruction Process: A Human Rights and Relief Initiative for Tsunami Affected Sri Lankan Women. The project will ensure that women and girls are fully included in the planning and implementation of resettlement and reconstruction efforts. Soroptimist’s donation will fund the construction of a resource center that will be used as an office for INFORM and other local women’s organizations.
    
    
• Following the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11, 2001, research showed that domestic violence agencies in lower Manhattan had suffered losses and experienced decreases in funding and increases in requests for services. This information led Soroptimist’s Board of Directors to donate more than $80,000 to four domestic violence agencies in New York City that had been affected by the terrorist attacks.

Soroptimist Clubs Soroptimist Disaster Relief Grants for Women and Girls
The Soroptimist Disaster Relief Fund also provides Soroptimist clubs with grants up to $20,000 to assist women who are victims of disasters in their own communities. The funds can be used to provide immediate assistance to women such as food, water, clothing, shelter and housing repairs. Funds can also be used for longer-term recovery projects, including rebuilding businesses and community revitalization.

Sample Soroptimist Club Relief Efforts:

• The Largo Mid-Pinellas County, Florida, Soroptimist club received a $16,000 disaster relief grant to help Pinellas Village pay its property insurance premiums, which increased as a result of Florida’s insurance crisis. Pinellas Village—a safe and affordable housing community for low-income single parents—was hit with a $70,000 insurance increase due to high risk of damage during Florida’s yearly hurricane seasons. Without the money to pay its insurance premiums, Pinellas Village would have been forced to close, leaving the single mothers and their children homeless.
  
  
• The Soroptimist club in Daet, Philippines, received $4,000 to help meet the needs of women displaced by recent typhoons by providing them with additional food, clothing, shelter, and most importantly, jobs. According to the Philippines Department of Social Welfare, two typhoons (Milenyo and Reming) affected more than 150 women and their families. During their stay in shelters, these women learned income-generating skills. Upon leaving the shelters, the Daet club, with support of the local governor, will help create jobs for these women—allowing them to provide for their families.