As the Atlanta Women’s Foundation works to support organizations serving women and girls, its leaders are gaining a deeper understanding of how financial hardship and mental health are intertwined.
For a single mother struggling to pay rent, keep the lights on and put food on the table, concerns about mental and emotional well-being often take a back seat to immediate needs, said Kari B. Love, chief executive officer of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation. At the same time, many organizations are facing rising costs of their own, making it more difficult to fund mental health programs and services.
“One of the top issues is the economic stressors that lead to mental health and depression,” Love said of women seeking services.
Following commissioned research and conversations with community partners, the issue has become an increasingly important focus for Atlanta Women’s Foundation, which raises money and distributes grants to local nonprofits.
“We recognize mental health issues happen for everyone across the board, and especially nonprofits,” Love said. “Many don’t have funds to do the work that is necessary to help.”
A 2025 survey by LifeStance, a mental health company, found that while 93 percent of respondents believe mental health care is as important as physical health care, 60 percent had avoided seeking mental health care due to financial constraints.
Mental health will be among the themes at Atlanta Women’s Foundation’s annual Numbers Too Big to Ignore luncheon in November, its largest fundraiser of the year. The event, which draws 1,600 attendees and raised $1.2 million last year, will feature actress and mental health advocate Goldie Hawn.
Love said Hawn’s work through MindUP, a program of the Goldie Hawn Foundation, complements the Atlanta foundation’s work with mental health. The initiative helps children develop skills to manage stress, regulate emotions and build resilience.
“I’m sure we will have some women’s empowerment moments,” Love said. “We know she will bring joy, and we are just so excited to welcome her to Atlanta.”
One way that Atlanta Women’s Foundation helps volunteers better understand the challenges facing women and girls is through its Inspire Atlanta program, a leadership and fundraising initiative.
As part of the program, participants take part in a month of exercises designed to build empathy and provide a firsthand look at the difficult decisions faced by women juggling multiple challenges. During the exercises, participants may be assigned scenarios involving housing instability, transportation barriers, childcare challenges or social services.
“They are given a scenario, play money, and some assets … that they might take to the pawn shop,” Love explained. “They are trying to make it through this month of life, walking in the shoes of someone impacted by poverty.”
The simulations help participants understand how quickly a financial setback can trigger a cascade of challenges. In the real world, it’s common for a person who has no support system and is experiencing a mental health crisis to unintentionally create a greater crisis, Love said.
“Sometimes mom is trying to get a job, and she makes the decision to leave her 10-year-old and infant at home, and [the Division of Children and Family Services] comes by and takes the kids,” she said. “Now she’s got to figure out how to get her kids back…”
Love said some women in the Inspire Atlanta program shared that the simulation mirrored experiences they had growing up in poverty.
In May, the foundation announced that the most recent Inspire Atlanta class raised more than $800,000 to support its work.
“I feel like AWF’s role is not just as a funder but an educator and connector,” Love said. “Educating and creating awareness of what’s happening in the community and trying to open the eyes of some [who might not be aware and can help].”
