Funding Second Chances with Our Largest Grant Yet

We are thrilled to share that Wiley’s Wish Animal Rescue has been selected by our members as the recipient of Santa Rosa Women for Good’s $10,000 Grow the Good Spring Grant!

This award represents a meaningful milestone for our community as we celebrated reaching 100 members. What began as a small group of women committed to collective giving has grown into a powerful force for local impact, and this grant is a reflection of what’s possible when generosity is multiplied through community.

This quarter, we received 14 incredible nonprofit nominations, each representing important, inspiring work happening across our region. After thoughtful consideration, our members narrowed the field to three exceptional finalists. From there, we held our largest member vote yet.

It was not an easy decision.

Each organization brought forward a compelling mission and real impact. We are deeply grateful to every nonprofit that participated and shared their work with us. One of the core values of our giving model is continued opportunity: organizations that are not selected can absolutely be re-nominated in future cycles, and we look forward to supporting even more of this work as our membership grows.

About Wiley’s Wish Animal Rescue

Wiley’s Wish Animal Rescue is doing truly unique and meaningful work that extends far beyond traditional animal rescue.

At its core, their mission is to save dogs from overcrowded shelters and give them a second chance at life. But what makes their approach especially powerful is how they pair that mission with a deep investment in human transformation.

Through their prison-based training program, Paws of Hope, Wiley’s Wish partners with incarcerated individuals who help train, socialize, and rehabilitate rescue dogs. These participants commit to caring for animals who have often experienced neglect or trauma, building trust, patience, and responsibility along the way.

Dogs leave the program better prepared for adoption into loving homes, while participants gain valuable skills, purpose, and a renewed sense of self-worth. It’s a model rooted in compassion and accountability, and one that recognizes the value of second chances for both animals and people.

This kind of work sits at the heart of what Santa Rosa Women for Good aims to support: organizations that are not only addressing immediate needs, but also creating lasting, human-centered impact.

A Message from Wiley’s Wish

We are honored to share words from Kaersten, ambassador for Wiley’s Wish and a valued member of our community:

“I’m not sure words can fully express the depth of our gratitude, but on behalf of all of us at Wiley’s Wish, I’m going to try! A sincere thank you to the Santa Rosa Women for Good membership. Wiley's Wish Animal Rescue is incredibly honored to be selected as the recipient of the Grow the Good milestone grant. And a sincere thank you to Stacey Burkman for the nomination.

We are so grateful that our mission resonated with each of you. We appreciate that you see the value in second chances, not just for our rescued dogs, but for the people who help heal them. This recognition means everything to us. We want you to know that your support will be met with full transparency. Every dollar will go directly toward saving more dogs from overcrowded shelters and supporting our prison training program and our participants who show up every day to put in the work and change their lives for the better.

Thank you for supporting these incredible transformations. Thank you for believing in us. We are incredibly humbled, proud and excited.”

We are incredibly proud to support Wiley’s Wish Animal Rescue and the life-changing work they are doing every day.

To every member who contributed, nominated, and voted—thank you. This is what collective giving looks like in action.

And we’re just getting started!