One Hundred Shares awards 1st grants to nonprofits
When Amy Tankersley learned about a program in Atlanta called One Hundred Shares back in 2017, a friend encouraged her to start a chapter in Birmingham. She knew it was a big undertaking but just couldn’t shake the idea after hearing about it.
The premise was simple. Have 100 women partner together to give $1,000 per year and the money would be pooled together and given to Birmingham-area nonprofit ministries that serve those in need and proclaim the gospel of Jesus.
“I thought it was such a great idea that makes so much sense,” Tankersley said. “Very few of us can write checks for $100,000, but we can all come together and come up with that kind of money.”
In the spring of 2018, Tankersley and eight other women traveled to Atlanta to see a One Hundred Shares chapter in action. It wasn’t long after that the Birmingham chapter of the nonprofit was formed. In the spring of 2019, more than 100 women were invited to a country club in Vestavia Hills to hear about the project and invited to sign up to become a partner.
“We believed God was leading us, and we were right,” Tankersley said. “Women just really started saying yes and being excited and having momentum around the whole idea.”
The group currently has 115 members. Because the money from the 14-member board goes to cover things such as its 501(c)3, website and more, a total of 114 women were needed to reach the $100,000 mark.
After taking this huge step of faith, they waited to see if 100 women would join and if they would receive applications. At midnight on the night of the deadline, the 17th application came in.
On Oct. 29, One Hundred Shares Birmingham hosted a luncheon at the Inverness Country Club to introduce the program’s first two grant winners. All of the partners give their input, and then the board of directors makes the final decision.
Grace House Ministries, Is-Able Ministries, Oak Tree Ministries and WellHouse were the top four nonprofits chosen. Out of those, two were given grants that totaled $107,000.
An award of $75,000 was given to Oak Tree Ministries, a nonprofit that works with children and families in the Mark’s Village community hosting Bible clubs, reading clubs and also teen and women’s fellowship gatherings.
Director Raquel Patterson said she was grateful and honored to be a recipient, and said the grant will allow them to continue to serve in the housing community and purchase a “tree house” for a permanent location to continue to provide a safe place for kids.
The second grant was awarded to Is-Able Ministries in the amount of $32,000.
Founded by Lorenzo Brown, its goal is to enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities, including social development, support groups, accessible computer labs, employment services, life skills and health and wellness classes.
“With the grant, we will update our computer lab with accessible equipment to better serve those visually impaired and provide computer training and adaptive assessments to help find employment for low income disabled individuals,” Brown said.
One Hundred Shares will host its next event in the spring and hopes to double its number of participants next year.
“What if that 115 could double to 230? What could God do with $230,000?” Tankersley said.
Applications for the next round of grants are due Feb. 1, 2020, and can be completed at 100sharesbirmingham.com.
“We want to bring Birmingham women together for a kingdom purpose and mobilize their talent and resources,” she said. “We want God to use this group for His glory to Birmingham and beyond.”