Economic empowerment through the YWCA is about informing and supporting women through financial, economical and legal literacy. This is an emerging area for the YWCA in New Zealand.
(scholarships, micro-financing, loans, grants, financial literacy)
Maori Womens’ Transfer Fund (Wellington only)
Initiated in 1990 to provide an opportunity for women to offer support to activities and projects for Maori women in the Wellington region, this fund was started at a time when the YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand was beginning to take notice of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and what it could do to work in the spirit of Te Tiriti, and support Maori women.
It is designed to be a practical way for all Wellington women to demonstrate commitment to partnership under the Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The fund was established with donations from individuals and organisations and is kept solely for the purpose of assisting Maori womens’ projects. The YWCA of Greater Wellington voluntarily administers the fund and the committee of women who make the funding allocations.
More information at www.ywcawellington.org.nz
Angel Fund (Dunedin only)
The Dunedin YWCA Angel Fund is a micro credit loan fund which was set up in 1997 in response to the growing need for a women’s development fund targeted at low-income women.
The aim of the Angel Fund is to assist women to alleviate poverty and financial dependence and move into greater self reliance and independence for themselves and their families through educational, business and personal development.
The Angel Fund is a pool of funds made up of
- Money loaned by the women of Dunedin community, the ‘Angels’
- Grants and donations made to the fund
- The loan pool money is loaned, recovered and re-loaned. At this stage over 700 loans have been issues, upwards of $400,000 has circulated through the Angel Fund Loan process.
The fund seeks to support women who are not able to access funding from conventional sources, usually due to insufficient income, lack of traditional forms of security or current debt encumbrance.
Loans are from $100 – $1,500, with repayments from $10-$20/week. There is an administration fee of 10% charged on each loan; this is used to support the administration of the fund, and the paid co-coordinator.
More information at www.ywca.org.nz/dunedin
Young Womens Scholarships (Auckland, Hamilton only)
(content to come)