Women’s Club, Community House Unify to Further Philanthropic, Outreach Efforts

By Clara Helm

After the Dana Point Women’s Club’s (DPWC) decades-long partnership with the Community House, the groups have legally unified. Now a single nonprofit corporation renamed Dana Point Women’s Club, Inc., the new streamlined organization can focus on heightening its charitable goals.

DPWC has been a part of the community since 1951 as a philanthropic organization working to serve South Orange County and empower the women and families that live within it. The Community House, which DPWC has used as a clubhouse since 1971, is a 70-year-old historic landmark in the Lantern District.

DPWC President Kathy Belanger hopes the official unification with the Community House will mean a larger presence in the community, with the help of a couple of changes.

“Community House has been the best-kept secret in Dana Point for decades. We want to change that,” Belanger said in a media release. “We’re actively pursuing grants to upgrade and renovate the building and want to see Community House become a well-known and well-used community venue.”

The meeting place will allow other nonprofit organizations and community groups to meet in the space, with the DPWC hoping this will bring renewed public impact.

Able to hold up to 130 people and maintain lawn areas, the Community House presents a spacious environment to host groups of all types. The Community House not only hosts nonprofit groups but also more intimate events such as birthdays and small weddings.

“I want to see Community House filled with nonprofits and other community groups, especially Mondays through Thursdays,” Community House Director Jody Hughes said in the release. “We want the community to enjoy this wonderful local venue as much as we do.”

DPWC gives back to the community through its rental of the building itself. After putting rental revenue toward building preservation, the rest of the rent can go to philanthropies such as Project Scholarship, Project Literacy, and SparkPoint OC.

Combining worthy causes and increasing public use of the community center, the DPWC is making efforts to create a new chapter in its organization’s history.