Every quarter, we donate to two local nonprofits doing great things in the Seattle area. We pick one, and you pick the other. Here’s our summer 2014 report from the Gals Giving Fund:

Your Pick: Sonja Sivesend recommended the Northwest Network. It’s a great organization that helps LGBT survivors of abuse. We were happy to donate to its mission!

$500 to The Northwest Network

Bisexual, Trans, Lesbian, and Gay Survivors of Abuse

“Founded in 1987 by lesbian survivors of battering, the NW Network works to end abuse in our diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities. As an organization founded by and for LGBT survivors, we’re deeply committed to fostering the empowerment of all survivors of abuse. The NW Network increases our communities’ ability to support the self-determination and safety of bisexual, transgender, lesbian and gay survivors of abuse through education, organizing and advocacy. We work within a broad liberation movement dedicated to social and economic justice, equality and respect for all people and the creation of loving, inclusive and accountable communities.”

Our pick: Immigrants face innumerable difficulties, but a few organizations are trying to help them out. We’re proud to support Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.

$500 to Northwest Immigrant Rights Project

Immigrant Rights are Human Rights

“Northwest Immigrant Rights Project promotes justice for low-income immigrants by pursuing and defending their legal status. We focus on providing direct legal services, supported by our education and public policy work. Founded in 1984, NWIRP’s roots were in addressing the legal needs of Central American refugees and others who were able to legalize their status under Amnesty programs. NWIRP has grown significantly in scope and currently serves low-income immigrants and refugees from more than 100 countries across Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Eastern and Western Europe and Africa.”

We had a good last quarter, which means we could donate MORE! We picked three other organizations that deserved help:

$500 to Emerald City Pet Rescue

Love can save lives

“Our primary focus is finding safe, loving homes for unwanted, neglected and/or abused animals. We rescue dogs from high kill shelters who could be loving pets, but are about to be put to sleep due to overcrowding, illness or disease. Emerald City Pet Rescue also helps, whenever possible, animals who are in need everywhere. The homeless, the abandoned, the unwanted. Emerald City Pet Rescue spays or neuters and provides the proper vetting needed with every animal we take in, as well as giving them required inoculations and microchips each animal to ensure if they are ever lost, we will always be contacted.”

$1,000 to MEOW Cat Rescue

All nine lives are precious

“In the early 1990s, a small group of animal-loving friends made a commitment to create a better life for homeless animals. With little more than determination, they started MEOW, a non-profit organization with a no-holds-barred no-kill philosophy. MEOW is staffed almost entirely by volunteers. It’s still all about the animals. MEOW’s goal is to help create a “no-kill nation,” where people are responsible for their pets, where there are no helpless creatures abandoned in boxes or left to fend for themselves in parking lots, where there is no longer a need for any healthy companion animal to be euthanized. There are many worthy organizations and individuals working toward this end. The rescue network is communicative and non-competitive. Certainly, progress is being made. But there is so very far to go.”

$1,000 to Mary’s Place

Empowering homeless women and children to reclaim their lives

“Mary’s Place was established in 1999 in response to homeless women’s cry for a complete resource center. Women were walking from service to service carrying their home on their backs trying to get their physical needs met. They were waiting in line for hours for meals, laundry, medical care, benefits, to use a free phone, to apply for housing and employment. With a $32,000 grant from the Boeing Community Fund and the passion of a dedicated Board from the Church of Mary Magdalene, Mary’s Place was born in October 1999. Several major planning sessions involving 50+ homeless women were held to develop the program. Women were asked what they needed to rise up out of homelessness. Together they developed the structure and daily schedule that remains in effect 12 years later: two meals a day, hygiene facilities, showers, laundry, medical care, support groups and ample resources for housing, employment and benefits.”

If know a great local nonprofit, let us know! We’re looking for a place to donate to next quarter. You can leave a comment on our Facebook page or Johnine’s Facebook profile. Thanks!