Women United in Philanthropy

01/31/2026

In June 2024, Women United in Philanthropy (WUIP) awarded the YWCA of Northern New Jersey a $40,000 Impact Grant to support the launch of Operation Sisterhood, a comprehensive initiative designed to provide wraparound services addressing the social, physical, and mental wellness needs of women veterans returning from military service. Over the past year Operation Sisterhood has successfully built a culturally competent, mission-aligned team to oversee operations and deliver services. With dedicated professional staff in place, the team focused on infrastructure development, program design, ex*****on planning, and community partnership building. Operation Sisterhood now provides a continuum of services including individualized case management, peer support, mental health counseling, benefits navigation, housing referrals, and service coordination. A core component of the program is case management, which supports participants in identifying needs and navigating behavioral health, housing stability, benefits access, and other health-related services.

Expanded staffing capacity enabled the launch of a robust schedule of programs in collaboration with community partners. During the second half of 2025, approximately 350 women veterans participated in wellness, educational, and community-building activities across Northern New Jersey. WUIP is proud to have provided the funding to help launch these critical programs that support women veterans as they return to civilian life from their military service.

WUIP is a giving circle of women who care. We invite you to join us to explore how you can make a lasting difference in these difficult times - Impact Starts Here.

https://womensfoundationnj.org/wuip/

Women’s Economic Empowerment:Women United in Philanthropy As our membership grows, so does our impact on the lives of women around us.  Women United in Philanthropy (WUIP) is our premier women’s […]

12/23/2025

Women United in Philanthropy’s 2025 Impact Grantee Families for Families (F4F) has been actively reaching out to their existing clients as well as new potential clients through a series of outreach programs. The addition of the fulltime social worker, facilitated by the WUIP Impact Grant, has been essential to these programs. The social worker has facilitated the intake of 29 new referrals in this quarter, bringing the total to 52 since the start of the grant period and the hiring of the social worker (the goal is to reach 100 new referrals in the grant year ending June 2026).

Outreach programs include workshops to strengthen and develop financial and management skills, Mom-to-Mom meetings, and Community Dinners. Through these programs the clients can learn about GED, vocational training and educational opportunities. Additionally, F4F has met with various agencies in our area to help them in both the development and presentation of these programs. These agencies include OneStop, Bergen County Job Center, Equus Workforce Solutions and Renew Life Center.
For more information about their programs, visit:
www.families4families.com

11/10/2025

Women United in Philanthropy hosted a Fall Gathering on November 5 at Bacari Grill where 60 members and friends dedicated to community service gathered for an evening of important conversation, and to learn how women who care can make a significant difference as a giving circle during these uncertain times.

The evening featured guest speakers Liz Corsini, Founder and CEO of the Collaborative for Organizational Change, and Kate Duggan, Executive Director of Family Promise of Bergen County and a long-time member of WUIP. Both speakers inspired us with their words of commitment and their many years of dedication in making a positive difference through their work.

WUIP believes in women helping women and is making an impact in our community every day. In the past 20 years WUIP has granted over $1.3 million to support programs and services helping thousands of women and children in Bergen County. Recent grantees include: The Food Brigade (2023) to strengthen and expand their home-delivery food program by purchasing a commercial vehicle for home deliveries of food, diapers, and feminine hygiene products; the YWCA Northern New Jersey program Operation Sisterhood (2024) to provide case management, resource connections, workforce development, sexual violence survivor services, mentorship, and sisterhood for female veterans as they find their place in civilian life; Families for Families (2025) to support their Strengthening Foundations program which supports women during their crucial transition from homelessness to permanent housing.

If you are looking for a way to make a difference in these turbulent and uncertain times, join Women United in Philanthropy--New Jersey's first women's giving circle focused on funding solutions to the problems faced by local women and families. As our membership grows, so does our impact!

For more information on membership visit https://womensfoundationnj.org/join-wuip/ or email [email protected]

10/31/2025

Our 2023 Grantee The Food Brigade on CBS News. They continue to do great work in providing critical assistance during the government shutdown and funding cuts.

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10/16/2025

Families for Families was awarded Women United in Philanthropy's 2025 Impact Grant to support the expansion of their Strengthening Foundations program which supports women during their crucial transition from homelessness to permanent housing. A key element of the expansion was the hiring of a full-time social worker to perform comprehensive intake assessments and develop individualized stability plans. Families for Families are now able to to expand the interview process to include 3 more appointments per week, which is the first step to the referral and assistance programs. A goal of Families for Families is to increase Bergen County referrals to 100 for the coming year. In the first three months since the social worker was hired in June, Bergen referrals totaled 23.

10/09/2025

As federal funding cuts and policy changes impact the services that non-profits provide to women and their families, Women United in Philanthropy has pledged to dramatically increase its membership in order to respond to the crisis here in Bergen County. We invite you to join us for an evening of important conversations and to learn how we, as women who care, can make a significant difference together during these uncertain times. Click here to register: https://womensfoundationofnj.kindful.com/e/fall-gathering-2025

09/03/2025

When you lift up women, you help families. When women earn a living wage, families benefit. When women have affordable health care and housing, their children are safer.

Here in Northern New Jersey, thousands of women and children live in poverty each year, without access to the basic necessities of safe housing, affordable health care, and a living wage. You can make a difference in their lives by joining Women United in Philanthropy--New Jersey's first women's giving circle focused on funding solutions to the problems faced by local women and families.

We are a membership group, made up of women who annually make a generous charitable gift to a fund that we, together, decide how to grant to a vital local organization helping women. In 20 years together, we have granted over $1.3 million of our own money to start programs and services helping thousands of women and children in Bergen County.

If you are looking for a way to make a difference in these turbulent and uncertain times, join us. We believe in women helping women, and we make a difference here, in our community, every day.

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To learn more, click here: https://womensfoundationnj.org/wuip/

*Women United in Philanthropy is a program of the Women's Foundation of New Jersey. Follow us on Instagram

05/19/2025

The Women's Foundation of NJ (WFNJ) is pleased to announce the recipient of the Women United in Philanthropy 2025 Impact Grant, Families for Families, which was awarded at our Annual Spring Gathering on May 15. The grant will support their Strengthening Foundations program which supports women during their crucial transition from homelessness to permanent housing. Congratulations to Cristyn Madley and the team at Families for Families! Pictured left to right: Maxine Frampton, Founding Member and President, WFNJ, Jenny Wells, Board Member, and Jessica Madley, President, Families for Families, Gina Plotino, Founding member and Treasurer, WFNJ, and Cristyn Madley, Executive Director, Families for Families. www.womensfoundationnj.org
www.families4families.com/

04/21/2025

Please join us at our Annual Spring Gathering when we award our Impact Grant during an evening of Sisterhood in Action!

The evening will include an elegant buffet dinner, a cash bar, and a facilitated discussion with our 2025 Grant Finalists – culminating in a vote by WUIP membership to award this year’s collective grant.

01/03/2025

As we clean up from the holidays and enter the new year, it’s a great time to start thinking about de-cluttering our closets, and deciding what to keep, sell, or donate! Join us for our Third Thursday Happy Hour with a Purpose with guest speaker Jeanine Pedersen, owner of Closet Detox by J9. Jeanine is a self-proclaimed neat freak who loves to organize and help people experience their best home and lifestyle. She will give us tips on detoxing and organizing our closets, focusing on realistic goals with the least stress. Her talk will tie into an update given by our friends at the YWCANNJ on their Operation Sisterhood program.
Reserve your spot here: https://womensfoundationofnj.kindful.com/e/happy-hour-with-a-purpose-closet-detox-by-jeanine-pedersen

11/18/2024

YWCANNJ Operation Sisterhood, recipient of our 2024 Impact Grant, held a launch breakfast last week. We look forward to hearing about their success in providing support and services to our returning female veterans!

10/29/2024

Join us for our Third Thursday Happy Hour with a Purpose on November 21 featuring Janet Sharma who will be speaking about the "Age-Friendly" movement in New Jersey and about the work she has been doing as coordinator of Age-Friendly Englewood. For more information and to register: https://womensfoundationofnj.kindful.com/e/happy-hour-with-a-purpose-janet-sharma