About the Fund for Women

The Fund for Women was established in 2009 as a field of interest fund at the Community Foundation of Elmira – Corning and the Finger Lakes, Inc. The fund has created the first dedicated funding stream to help improve the lives of girls and women in our community.

Women and Poverty

• Two-thirds of American adults who live below the poverty line in the US are women
• A girl without a high school diploma has a 90% chance of being poor and raising children who will also live in poverty
• More than one-third of all women-headed households in the US fall below the poverty line

Our community is no different

• Southern Tier cities are among the poorest in New York, approaching 25% of residents living below the poverty line
• Half of children living in Steuben County are eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program.
• Half of the families living in poverty in Steuben County are headed by a single mother with children under five.