A Congolese native who had diligently cared for her comatose husband for more than a dozen years needed $1,000 to restore electricity to their home.
Another woman, whose son had been murdered a year earlier, finally found employment and housing after recovering from a nervous breakdown and needed $650 for a security deposit on an apartment.
When $1,000 or less prevents a woman in dire circumstances from taking a major step toward reversing the downward spiral of her life, the Response Network of the Women's Giving Circle of Howard County comes alive.
The network is an electronic call to action that sets a speedy fundraising mechanism in motion each month by e-mail, which is currently dispatched to 1,000 women and asks them to pledge whatever amount they can.
WGC, which is a fund of the Columbia Foundation, will join in celebrating that organization's 40th anniversary March 3 by presenting a program on philanthropy that is open to all women.
Kim Flyr, who is in her third year coordinating the requests for financial assistance, said working with the Columbia-based network regularly restores her faith in the female half of humankind, which she likes to call "womanity."
"We all have days where we feel disconnected," said the counselor at Cradlerock School and mother of three. "But my spirits are instantly lifted when I see the outpouring of support that comes through."
From its inception in 2003 through 2009, the Response Network has aided 37 women and their children by making them direct beneficiaries of $25,500 given by WGC donors, according to the organization's Web site. Currently, five area agencies make requests through the Response Network on behalf of their clients.
What makes this fundraising formula different is that it deals with individual situations directly.
The network is the brainchild of Arlene Sheff, a WGC founding donor who coordinated the e-mail pleas before handing off the duty to Flyr, her daughter.
"The reason the network has been so successful is the immediate gratification donors receive when they help someone," said Sheff, a licensed professional counselor.
"A lot of these women are like you and me but have suffered through illness or abuse," she said. "It's identifying with that feeling of 'There but for the grace of God go I.' "
The women in need often are escaping domestic abuse or their shoulders are buckling under the weight of an eviction notice or health issue, said Flyr. And to add to the drama, there is usually an imminent deadline that must be met before the situation falls apart.
"The Domestic Violence Center of Howard County is seeking immediate help for a woman who needs counseling in her native language," reads the most recent Response Network e-mail from Feb. 4.
"Their client is a Korean woman who, along with her 5-year-old son, is fleeing a violent relationship. She is seeking counseling, but her English is limited and she needs a Korean-speaking psychiatrist.
"DVC is helping her apply for insurance through Healthy Howard, but that has not yet materialized. This woman has paid the initial $95 fee out of her own pocket. The $355 from the WGC's Response Network will pay for the initial session plus four additional sessions at $65 each."
Within five hours, the entire sum was raised.
Brad Sell, executive director of the Community Foundation of Washington County was so impressed by the Response Network's approach that his organization recently modeled a program after it.
"It is also our plan to raise money to solve a problem and not just treat a symptom," said Sell of the Friends and Neighbors Support network founded in December.
FANS will raise funds for residents in "well-defined situations," he said. "We're excited about being able to meet one-time emergency needs."
Andrea Ingram, executive director of Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center, said the situations that are retold in Response Network pleas are the ones "where you can't not help."
Before the network was founded, Ingram said she and her staff contacted as many as 20 agencies to try to piece together enough money to help someone faced with a true emergency, and even then people frequently had to be turned away.
"When there aren't any other resources that can respond quickly, I go to the Response Network," she said. "I want them to know that the situations I bring to them are really serious."
Jodi Finkelstein, director of the Domestic Violence Center, agreed.
"It is remarkable how they reach out to our clients whose lives are truly saved by their intervention," Finkelstein said. "They take community and empowerment to another level."
"The Giving Circle works because it democratizes philanthropy," said immediate past chairwoman Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz, who is communications director for the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers.
Women donors don't know the women they help and their donations are anonymous, said Beaudoin-Schwartz. After a woman commits to a donation, she sends her check directly to the requesting agency.
"We are giving together and having an impact together on the lives of women and girls," she said.
If you go The Women's Giving Circle will blend its annual meeting with the Columbia Foundation's 40th anniversary celebration by co-sponsoring "Women's Philanthropy: Empowerment, Passion and Impact" at the Spear Center on Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. March 3. The speaker will be noted philanthropist Sondra Shaw-Hardy, co-founder of the Women's Philanthropy Institute, author of the upcoming book "Women's Philanthropy: Boldly Shaping a Better World," and creator of the nine "C's" of why women give. Also featured will be "The Power of the Purse," an auction showcasing purses created by local women artists. Tickets are $50, and registration is available online at womensgivingcircle.org.