You women are a precious gift to me. Your faces are like a mirror reflecting myself, saying I believe in you. You can make it. You do not deserve to live in fear and violence.

— AWS former resident

AWS is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization; all monetary donations and gifts are tax-deductible.

At AWS, we insist that no one lives in fear and violence. Although many people share this vision, we still seek support to keep AWS open and available to survivors. We cannot rely on city, state, or national government funds alone. In 2005, federal family-violence prevention- service programs were underfunded by $48 million. (Mother Jones Magazine: July/August 2005 issue; Subtitle: "Underfunded shelters. Unenforced restraining orders. Will Cops, Congress and the Supreme Court leave women with no Safe Haven?") In order to continue our work with women and children, we continually strive to prove our worth to the community and our supporters. We rely on a broad range of support, and we appreciate the contributions that come to AWS.

Support Us

Today, AWS has over 20 sources of government, corporate, and foundation funding, and a loyal base of individual donors who consistently give. All of them are invested in continuing and building upon the visionary mission of ending violence in all of our communities. 

Nonetheless, the need for our services continues to be greater than our resources. According to the City and County Department on the Status of Women (DOSW), the vast majority of female survivors and children interviewed for a 2000 report could not access San Francisco’s three domestic-violence emergency shelters and/or were denied shelter. Due to limited resources, staff, and space capacity, domestic-violence shelters are forced to deny the majority of requests for shelter.   In  2003, the Asian Women’s Shelter (AWS), which has a bed space capacity of 18, was forced to turn away approximately 75% of shelter requests due to limited space, resources, and staff capacity. In 2004, the percentage rose to 83%.

Over 30% of domestic violence-related homicides in San Francisco involve Asian women, and 1 out of 3 of the city’s residents living below the poverty line are Asian.

With continuing government cuts in social welfare funding, particularly for services that support women and immigrants, AWS is in need of new sources of funding and is committed to diversifying its funding base by reaching out to more individual donors and private sources of funding, including foundations, local businesses, and responsible corporations. Although our organization faces new challenges in meeting our annual budget, our Finance/Fund Development/Program Reporting team is committed to raising the necessary funds rather than cutting back on programs or staff. 

Funding supports a range of activities and operations at AWS:

• Meeting the emergency-shelter needs of women and children, including: maintenance of a clean and safe house, culturally appropriate food, clothing, hygiene needs, and funds for emergency needs, such as legal or medical
• House supplies
• Funds for women’s and children’s activities, such as outings to zoos, museums, and movies
• Operating costs, including staff salaries, utilities, house/car maintenance, etc.

For more information regarding funding from foundations/corporations/local businesses, please contact the AWS Community Resource Coordinator.

For more information regarding funding from individual donors, please contact the AWS Program Development Coordinator.