Greater Wayne County Chapter History

The Links, Incorporated, founded in 1946, is an international organization of over 12,000 civic-minded women. It is a public service, non-partisan volunteer organization that includes 270 chapters in 42 states; the District of Columbia; Nassau, Bahamas; Frankfurt, Germany; and South Africa. The name “LINKS” symbolizes a chain of women in friendship, purpose and service. The mission of the organization is to promote and engage in educational, civic, and intercultural activities in order to enrich the lives of members and the larger community, and to work together towards achieving community goals. The Greater Wayne County Chapter, fondly referred to as GWCC, was the brain child of seven dynamic women who saw a need to expand the reach of The Links Incorporated in the Metro Detroit Area. These seven women sought out like-minded friends and neighbors to support their initiative. GWCC was chartered on August 1, 1981 by 24 charter members in the Detroit community. The Greater Wayne County Chapter has close to 40 years of signature fundraising events and programming that have left an indelible and long-lasting impact upon our community.

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Charter Members

  • Denise Page Hood

  • Yvonne Parks Catchings

  • Cora Collins

  • Alice Combs

  • Vera Heidelberg

  • Betty Johnson

  • Geraldine Roberts

  • Ilene Robinson

The Links Foundation, Incorporated

The Links Foundation, Incorporated is the philanthropic arm of The Links, Incorporated, an organization of professional women of color located throughout the United States, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The Foundation was established in 1979 to enhance and expand the philanthropic endeavors of The Links, Incorporated. The Links, Incorporated has a long tradition of promoting and engaging in educational, civic and inter-cultural activities in order to enrich the lives of members of the African-American community.

The Foundation provides grants to innovative programs that address problems to be solved, or opportunities to be seized, that are of regional, national or international significance. It has served The Links, Incorporated well as the conduit for grant support for special programs. Under Foundation guidelines, grants are made to support the five program facets of The Links, Incorporated which include Services to Youth, The Arts, National Trends and Services, International Trends and Services, and Health and Human Services.

The Links Foundation, Incorporated has contributed more than $25 million to charitable causes since its founding. In 2006, at its 60th Anniversary National Assembly in Philadelphia, The Links Foundation, Incorporated named its third $1 million grantee – the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. Other million-dollar grantees include the United Negro College Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

In recent years, The Links Foundation, Incorporated has made donations to such entities as: Habitat for Humanity, for the rebuilding of homes in Haiti; Africare, for the construction of The Links maternal waiting homes and the assemblage of Mama Kits; and, National Cares Mentoring Movement, for the advancement of mentoring opportunities across the nation. Through its 2012 Grants-in-Aid program, $100,000 in grants was awarded to four non-profits – Club Esteem, Melbourne, Fla.; Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, Kansas City, Kan.; Legacy Media Institute, Petersburg, Va.; and the National Dental Association, headquartered in Washington, DC.

The Foundation also accepts and distributes chapter grants to support innovative programs that provide creative responses to changing needs, in the general fields of health, education, social services, and cultural and international affairs, in communities of African descent. Since 2010, more than $500,000 has been awarded to chapters in support of programming in the areas of STEM education, childhood obesity, heart health awareness, and financial literacy.

The Foundation is a non-profit corporation operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended.