The DC Abortion Fund (DCAF) is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization that makes grants and no-interest loans to DC area women and girls who cannot afford the full cost of an abortion. DCAF is the only organization in the DC region that focuses solely on providing this service for women in our community.
DCAF affirms women as decision-makers. When women choose to have an abortion, they face a multitude of state and national restrictions designed to deny their access to it. These restrictions disproportionately affect low-income women. We hope to make “choice” a reality because we believe that a woman’s right to health care should not depend on her wallet.
DCAF believes in fully embodying the pro-choice principle by:
- Offering an equitable distribution of direct financial assistance in the form of grants or no-interest loans to women seeking abortion services who are unable to raise the full amount of the procedure themselves;
- Raising awareness in the DC metropolitan area about how abortion restrictions – like the Hyde Amendment which limits or forbids Medicaid coverage of abortion services – harm women’s health and are linked to a rollback of women’s rights.
We have 9 volunteer board members who oversee DCAF’s work. The board supervises case managers who staff our free, confidential helpline, and raises money for the small grants we disburse. The Board of Directors is joined by a task force of highly dedicated volunteers: 23 case managers, a pro bono attorney, an accountant, a graphic designer, and a few great bloggers.
How We Started
In 1995, a social worker at the DC Rape Crisis Center was working with a rape survivor who learned she was pregnant.
In an effort to raise quick funds for the woman, who wanted an abortion, the social worker email blasted her entire address book asking for money. She raised enough money for the procedure and even had leftover resources.
When she asked her colleagues what she should do with the extra money, they told her to “save it for the next time…” thus the DC Abortion Fund (DCAF) began.
For nearly 6 years, a handful of volunteers staffed our free, confidential helpline. By 2005, DCAF’s call volume had increased so much that the organization had to grow significantly to keep up with the demand for our services. So a group of committed volunteers formally established The DC Abortion Fund.
In 2006, our current Board of Directors started fresh. We standardized operating procedures for the fund, incorporated as a non-profit organization in the District of Columbia, obtained 501(c)3 status through the National Network of Abortion Funds, and implemented systematic fundraising efforts. Despite our organizational growth of nearly 500% in workers, we hold true to our roots as an all-volunteer, woman-led fund.
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