Soroptimist International of Davis awarded $12,000 in grants this spring through its signature Live Your Dream program, providing cash and mentorship to women seeking education and training.

Women are encouraged to apply for the annual awards if they are the primary wage earners for their families, and need financial assistance to further their education or training. Recipients often persevere through hardships or challenging circumstances.

This year, SI Davis gave a boost to five women, with cash awards ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. These unrestricted grants may be used to offset costs that a scholarship would not cover, such as child care, transportation, or other financial obligations that hinder a woman’s ability to reach her goals. Soroptimist International of Davis members remain in contact with the recipients, offering them mentorship and support.

The club’s top 2025 awardee is Molly Malm, 36, of Yolo County. Soroptimist International of Davis members offer her support and an award of $5,000. Her application was selected for another $3,000 award at the Sierra Nevada Region, which covers all clubs in Northern California and Nevada. Malm has four children between the ages of 11 and 5. She attended Santa Rosa Junior College, Woodland Community College and Sacramento City College, earning an associate’s degree. In December, she expects to complete her bachelor’s of Science in nursing from Sacramento State.

Malm’s family has multiple generations of addiction, but she broke the cycle before she had her first child. After helping care for her grandfather, who had heart disease, she knew that nursing was a good fit. Other challenges include being forced from her mobile home when it was destroyed by a flood. She serves as the primary caregiver and wage earned for her partner and children. Since 2021, she’s tutored fellow classmates with their anatomy and physiology classes. She also volunteers as a birth doula at a local hospital. After earning her nursing degree, she wants to earn a certificate in public health and support mothers and their babies.

“Molly’s educational and professional journey is especially impressive, given the numerous obstacles she has had to overcome,” said Danielle Crawford, Malm’s supervisor in the Supplemental Instruction Leader program at Woodland Community College.

Madeline Duncan, 29, of Yolo County, was awarded $3,500. She has an associate’s degree and is pursuing a bachelor’s in English at UC Davis, which she will complete in June. She wants to attend graduate school to earn a master’s in fine arts in creative writing, then possibly a Ph.D. in literature, so she can teach. She overcame heroin addiction, coming clean when she got pregnant with her son, now 6.

Marissa Weiss, co-director of the Child Care Access Means Parents in School program, said Duncan “is an accomplished student with a high GPA. She takes her studies very seriously and is a fantastic writer. I am sure that she will graduate with high honors.”

Monika Timsina of the Bay Area received $1,500 from the club. In June, she hopes to complete her bachelor’s degree at UC Davis in community and regional development. She moved on after an arranged marriage and hopes to pursue a master’s degree to provide a better future for her young daughter. Madeleine Thompson, her academic adviser, called Timsina “an exemplary woman, parent, scholar and mother.”

Jessica Garcia, a 50-year-old mother of two young adults, received a $1,000 grant. The Rancho Cordova resident is attending American River College, and plans to transfer to Sacramento State for a bachelor’s degree in horticulture and minor in nutrition. She hopes to continue on for a Ph.D., and become a teacher. She has overcome homelessness and been sober for 10 years. After paying back restitution for “the wreckage of my past,” her criminal records were expunged.

Jennifer Penrose, 34, of Davis, also received $1,000. The mother of two is attending Solano Community College and hopes to go on to nursing school. She became a mother in her senior year of high school. She said the money will pay for shoes and cleats for her daughter, and transportation costs to get to college.

The Live Your Dream Award provides more than $2.8 million in cash grants to head-of-household women in need each year. Since the program’s inception in 1972, more than $35 million has helped tens of thousands of women achieve their dreams of a better life for themselves and their families.

A study conducted by The Fels Institute of Government, a research and consulting organization based at the University of Pennsylvania, confirmed the efficacy and impact of this program. It improves the recipients’ quality of life; builds their confidence; strengthens their self-determination and makes them want to, in turn, help others. Helping women in this way has the demonstrated effect of leading to stronger communities, nations, and the world.

Soroptimist is a global volunteer organization that provides women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. It was founded in Oakland in 1921. Soroptimist International of Davis was chartered in 1954. Local members join some 65,000 Soroptimists in 118 countries and territories to contribute time and financial support to community-based projects benefiting women and girls. Its core values are gender equality, empowerment, education, diversity and fellowship.

In addition to the Live Your Dream Award, Soroptimist International of Davis provides local girls with tools to achieve their education and career goals through its Dream It, Be It: Career Support for Girls program at King High School. It also funds high school scholarships, an annual grant to a nonprofi that aligns with the Soroptimist mission, and anti-trafficking efforts.

Learn more at https://www.sidavis.org/. To help more women, donate to its Big Day of Giving campaign at https://www.bigdayofgiving.org/organization/sidavis.