Positive relationships build healthy families. They shape children’s development and enhance parents’ capacity to provide care. Positive relationships also build healthy communities. When people work together to solve challenges, they can make a lasting difference.
This understanding has influenced the work of Moms Connect Dubuque, a nonprofit that helps mothers access resources and feel supported, as well as the Community Foundation’s Women’s Giving Circle, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2026 and recently made a grant to Moms Connect.
The Women’s Giving Circle began when a small group of women gathered with a simple but courageous belief: Women should have a visible, collective voice in philanthropy. They could learn together, decide together and invest together.
“They did something bold,” says Angela Gallogly, the current Women’s Giving Circle president. “They didn’t just host a conversation. They created an endowment, something permanent and enduring that would outlast them.”
Through the contributions of members, that endowment has surpassed $600,000 and granted over $225,000 to nonprofits across the Dubuque region that address the needs of women and children – needs that continue to evolve as the group evolves.
Twenty years ago, for instance, the Moms Connect founders didn’t imagine that an organization like the one they started in 2023 would have been as important as it has proven to be. Like many nonprofits, Moms Connect formed out of personal experience. Founders Kristina Heinzen and Gina Martin were foster parents raising children while also watching the biological mothers of those children struggle to navigate a system that seemed to compound their challenges.
“We recognized that these moms are living in isolation, and any support they have is often very unhealthy,” Kristina says. “Through Moms Connect, we’ve had the privilege of building relationships with these moms and seeing the effect of healthy relationships in their lives.”
The Women’s Giving Circle gave Moms Connect a grant in 2025 to support its new Parent Advisory Council, which empowers mothers who have been part of the group to lead the relationship-building process with new parents and assist with program decision-making.
“This is philanthropy that doesn’t just serve women – it trusts them,” says Amy McClure, the Women’s Giving Circle’s membership chair.
Making a grant to Moms Connect was a perfect fit for the Women’s Giving Circle. Moms Connect’s approach to empowerment through relationships closely aligns with the Women’s Giving Circle’s approach to grantmaking.
And when moms feel supported and engaged, the positive effects ripple out. “Creating strong families helps create strong communities,” Kristina says.
If you are interested in joining the Women’s Giving Circle, contact Natalie Ludovissy, donor relations officer at the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, at 563.588.2700 or natalie@dbqfoundation.org. Learn more about the Women’s Giving Circle at Dbqfoundation.org/wgc.
This article is made possible by a partnership between Julien’s Journal and the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque.
Read Julien’s Journal, CHOICES For Fifty Plus and Tri-State Home TRENDS from the Comfort of Your Home!
Click Here or call 563.557.7571 to subscribe for convenient delivery to your home or business by mail of all three magazines for one low subscription price.
Comment here