Grantee Profiles

Over its years in operation, the Eva Foundation has been privileged to support a group of organizations and individuals doing wonderful work in the area of the Foundation’s strategic focus. These groups include those listed below. Some of the staff of these organizations have also nominated and sponsored Eva Gunther Fellows.

A Home Within
A Home Within seeks to heal the chronic loss experienced by foster children by providing lasting and caring relationships to current and former foster youth. This improves the lives of foster youth through direct services, professional training, public awareness, and advocacy.

About Face
About-Face equips women and girls with tools to understand and resist harmful media messages that affect their self-esteem and body image. About Face has three programs: Education Into Action media-literacy workshops; Take Action, which enables girls and women to develop and execute their own actions; and About-Face.org, our web site. The Eva Foundation provided general support.

Blue Bear School of Music
Blue Bear School of Music’s nonprofit mission is to provide superior quality and affordable popular music education to aspiring musicians of all ages and skill levels within a supportive and encouraging community. They provide annual scholarships by audition to talented young musicians, and offers “sliding scale” pricing to those with financial need. The Eva Foundation supported scholarships for girls.

Camp Winnarainbow
Our camp provides the opportunity for children (and adults) to discover new realms of personal achievement, communion with nature, and have BIG FUN at the same time. Drawing from our knowledge of circus and performing arts, we teach timing, balance and a sense of humor, and provide scholarships to our camp sessions in the summer. The Eva Foundation provided scholarships for girls.

Center for Young Women’s Development
CYWD’s mission is to provide gender specific, peer based opportunities for high-risk low- and no-income young women to build healthier lives and healthier communities. CYWD offers young women a way out of repeated incarceration and the street economy and into self-sufficiency, wholeness, and advocacy through its Sisters Rising, Girls Detention Advocacy Program [GDAP], and Through the Eyes of a Sister National Training Institute programs. The Eva Foundation supported Sisters Rising.

Community Music Center
With branches in the Mission and Richmond Districts of San Francisco and programs throughout the city, Community Music Center (CMC) is the Bay Area’s oldest community arts organization and San Francisco’s largest provider of low-cost, high quality music education. CMC also provides a variety of other programs and services, such as concerts, event music, practice rooms, instrument rental, concert hall rental and sound recording services. The Eva Foundation supported scholarships for girls.

Dimensions Dance Theater
Our mission is to create, perform, and teach dance that reflects the historical experiences and contemporary lives of African Americans. DDT serves primarily African American youth ages 8-18 years in the East Bay through their education outreach program (Rites of Passage), a performance ensemble (Dimensions Extensions Performance Ensemble (DEPE)), and an internship and apprenticeship program (I & A). The Eva Foundation supported Rites of Passage.

Edgewood Center for Children and Families
Edgewood helps children and families overcome some of life’s toughest challenges like abuse, neglect, mental illness, and family crisis. When abused, neglected, and troubled youth require more comprehensive care than their family or school can provide, our Intensive Services help children and teens to heal and reconnect with a safe, loving family whenever possible. The Eva Foundation has supported enrichment activities for these youth.

Francisco Connection
Francisco Connection is a school-based multi-service program that works with the diverse low-income students and families at Francisco Middle School. The school-based youth and family development programs provided by the Francisco Connection Collaborative include case management, mental health, mentoring, parent leadership development, tutoring, youth leadership development, enrichment activities, and school-wide improvement initiatives. The Eva Foundation supported the mentorship program, “The Buddy Program.” Many Fellowship nominees have come from Francisco as well.

Friends of the Children, San Francisco
Friends of the Children is the only program in the nation that provides paid, professional, staff mentors—called Friends—to high-risk children for twelve years. Friends adapt weekly activities to meet each child’s immediate academic, behavioral, emotional, and physical needs. The Eva Foundation supported mentorship, and has provided several nominated girls with Fellowships.

Girls for a Change
Girls For A Change (GFC) is a national organization that empowers thousands of teen girls to create and lead social change. GFC’s local site in the South Bay provides girls with professional female role models, leadership training and the inspiration to work together in teams to solve persistent societal problems in their communities. The Eva Foundation supported a fund to provide seed funding to the teams to undertake their projects.

Girls Incorporated of Alameda County
Girls Inc. is dedicated to inspiring all girls to be strong, smart and bold. Currently serving over 6,000 girls annually, year round academic enrichment, skill building and counseling services are offered, including the Eureka! Internship and Girls Advocacy Project (GAP) programs. The Eva Foundation has provided funds to the Eureka Program.

GirlSource
GirlSource provides meaningful work and leadership opportunities for urban, low-income women aged 14-18 by hiring them to create media and education products that express their own voices and experiences. GirlSource equips young women with the life, leadership and job skills they need to succeed. The Eva Foundation supported the technology training program.

GirlVentures
The mission of GirlVentures is to empower adolescent girls to develop and express their strengths. GirlVentures’ programs allow girls to explore self, community and the natural world through outdoor adventure, creative arts and group experiences, and provide summer outdoor adventure programs, school-year programs, a leadership development program, and community courses. The Eva Foundation supported scholarships, and provided initial funding to the leadership development program.

Julia Morgan School for Girls
The first all girls middle school in the East Bay, it opened the fall of 1999. The primary objective of the school is to prepare students to be the confident, capable, creative, and compassionate women of tomorrow. The Eva Foundation supported enrichment activities for JMSG students.

Marsh Youth Theater
MYT provides youth ages 2-18 with a high quality theater arts experience integrating music, dance, drama, stagecraft and performance into one holistic program. Open to all young performers without audition and regardless of financial limitations, MYT exposes children to the vast world of multicultural arts by working with a diverse group of professional performing faculty. The Eva Foundation has supported scholarships to MYT.

Mission Graduates
Mission Graduates, a non-sectarian non-profit organization, provides academic support, youth leadership, arts, and personal enrichment programs for youth ages 5-22 and their families. The Eva Foundation has supported Talking Circles, a peer to peer support program.

My New Red Shoes
Join My New Red Shoes in the South Bay in its mission to empower homeless and very low-income youth to succeed in school by providing them with brand new clothing so that they may greet the school year with pride and by educating and rallying the youth community around the needs of homeless children. The Eva Foundation provided general support.

New Conservatory Theatre Center
In the warm, family atmosphere of the New Conservatory Theatre Center, students develop self-confidence and social ease in addition to theatre arts skills. Our Youth Conservatory hosts year-round theatre arts classes and vocational internships at our downtown San Francisco theatre arts complex, while our Satellite Drama Education Program sends after-school theatre arts classes to public and private schools that are otherwise unable to provide arts programs. No student is ever turned away for financial reasons, and many attend through scholarships provided by NCTC. The Eva Foundation has supported scholarships for girls.

Oasis for Girls
The mission of the Oasis For Girls is to inspire girls and young women to better their community and enrich their lives through arts, education, and leadership. Opportunities for growth exist through our Arts and Arts Education, Leadership Development and Life Skills Education programs. The Eva Foundation provided general support.

Project AVARY
Project AVARY supports children & youth with incarcerated parents in developing the skills, confidence, and positive life views that promote healthy personal development and responsibility to community. AVARY is made up of four programs that are offered at no cost to participants, including our sleep away summer camp, monthly “adventure days” outings, teen leadership program, and family unity activities for fun and community-building. The Eva Foundation provided general support.

San Francisco Arts in Education Project
SFArtsED is dedicated to bringing arts education into the San Francisco public schools. In SFArtsED Summer Camp, After School, Artists-In-Residence and inside other programs, SFArtsED ignites the unequaled power of imagination. The Eva Foundation provided scholarships for girls.

SMART
Since 1997 the SMART mission is to provide motivated, financially-disadvantaged students with educational opportunities, personal experiences and social support services in order to foster academic excellence and community engagement. SMART is an education-based program providing San Francisco middle-school students with scholarships to attend private schools combined with tutoring, mentoring, after-school and summer academic opportunities. The Eva Foundation provided general support.

Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center
Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center is a 110-year-old nonprofit resource of self-help and empowerment for people who live and work in northeast San Francisco. Extended Learning Program is a free after school academic and enrichment program for students at Francisco Middle School and the Teen Leadership Program is a year-around life skills development program that prepares and supports teens as they make choices and decisions that will guide their transition into adulthood. The Eva Foundation supported the ELP.

The Crucible
The Crucible Youth Program exposes youth of diverse backgrounds to the fine and industrial arts. Through intensive and engaging programs such as classes, fieldtrips, and workshops, this program explores multidisciplinary subject areas. The Eva Foundation provided general support, directed to girls.

Trips for Kids
A national organization with a local chapter in Marin, Trips For Kids provides mountain biking outings, environmental education, bicycle mechanics training and computer education for at-risk youth. Eva Foundation funding dramatically increased the participation of girls in the program.

Turning Heads
The Turning Heads Project provides vocational arts instruction, entrepreneurship, and leadership development training for high-risk youth in San Francisco. The Eva Foundation provided general support.

Willmar Center for Bereaved Children
Willmar Center for Bereaved Children is a non-profit organization designed to serve children and teenagers who have experienced the death of a loved one, or have a loved one with a life-threatening illness. Wilmar has nominated several girls for Fellowships.