The local TAP project has been spearheaded by a CACF donor and the Foundation encourages other donors to support a local component of this program. Our goal is that each dollar raised by the TAP Project be matched with funds to go toward two specific local water-related projects.
The Local Food Hub is a non-profit organization that offers local food purchasing, processing, wholesale and direct distribution, warehousing and essential services to the Thomas Jefferson Planning District to address the growing demand for local foods and support expansion of local agriculture.
Performers Exchange Project (PEP) requests funding for the development of an original performance that will be premiered in collaboration with Live Arts in December 2009.
On August 1, 2009, local residents will enjoy the Eleventh Annual Westhaven Community Day, in the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s oldest neighborhood. This yearly event was initially intended to encourage residents to get to know each other better. The celebration now embraces a much broader vision of community, connecting neighbors to each other and the wider community. Please consider making a tax-free donation to support this important event.
JABA’s FISH Program addresses the community need of closing the achievement gap in our public schools. Over 50 FISH volunteers (aged 18-80) tutor elementary students in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle, Greene and Fluvanna Counties, as well as in an after school program within a Senior Housing facility. The focus is on tutoring elementary students one-on-one in reading and math, helping ESOL students understand cultural concepts and supporting four year olds to get off to a good start in school. Students who are “academically at-risk” are chosen by their teachers to participate. Progress is measured throughout the school year.
For five years a Red Hill Elementary outdoor performance space has been placed by teachers and parents at the top of a wish list, for the purpose of dramas, readings and assemblies. For the last two years, the Parent Teacher Organization and students have worked hard to accomplish this community and school facility and need some final financial help.
The stage is near completion, and Red Hill Elementary only needs $3,500 more to complete the basics, and $4,000 in addition to that to put in electrical service, speakers and lighting system. A gift from a donor advisor will successfully complete the necessary parts of this project in the next month, in time for the June graduation.
The Women’s Center is seeking to create a paid residency in August 2009 for a newly graduated counselor working toward licensure who is interested in serving low-income community residents, UVA staff and students who lack the resources to pay for private care.
Better World Betty is a local non-profit organization whose primary mission is to make environmentally-conscious daily living choices easy, fun and accessible to the community. The site offers innovative, yet practical tools for green living: an online directory of local businesses, an events calendar, search tool for hard to recycle items, a Betty blog. This approach, which has gained wide-spread community support, encourages more sustainable living and promotes protection of our natural resources.
The Rivanna Conservation Society (RCS) is seeking funding to implement its Drink Up Campaign: RCS was one of ten winners of the 2008 Charlottesville Community Design Center’s Design Marathon. Each winner received the complementary services of two Charlottesville Graphic Designers who developed a unique community based programs for the selected nonprofits. The RCS public education Drink Up Campaign - created by Wes Boyd and Ben Eppard – will place thematic advertisements in community busses and public buildings throughout the watershed. The Campaign will be launched this spring with the advertisement rotated periodically to assure that each pollution source (Motor Oil, Old Tires, Pesticides, Battery leakage, Pet Waste) will be displayed by summer’s end.
www.rivannariver.org...
The Piedmont Workforce Network (PWN) has the central role of providing leadership and direction on local workforce issues.
Light House Studio is seeking funding for the Home Again Documentary Workshop with refugees from the International Rescue Committee. In this video workshop, 5-8 refugee teens will tell their personal stories in carefully crafted video diaries. Through a series of in-class exercises and at-home assignments, students craft videos that document their own lives, their family stories, as well as their hobbies and interests. These new Virginians, who come from places as diverse as Zaire, Zambia, Afghanistan and Bosnia will not only learn basic filmmaking techniques, they will find a voice in their new community. This 100% scholarship workshop, led by professional filmmakers, will run for 9 weeks in the Fall of 2009.
People in conflict often do not know where to turn to get resolution, particularly when they are in an ongoing relationship with the other person: parents or siblings, co-parents, neighbors, co-workers, for example. Mediation Center of Charlottesville (MCC) provides affordable and accessible dispute resolution services through mediation and education, enabling clients to transform conflict into an opportunity for growth and change.
The Bridge Ministry, an independent 501(c)(3) serving men and families in central Virginia for more than twelve years, has taken major steps to provide our own support through a professionally staffed vocational center that includes a state-of-the-art auto body shop and a manufacturing facility. While these businesses are growing, we are looking for a few people to stand beside us through this critical transition as we seek to establish greater financial independence and stability.
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The McIntire Botanical Garden (MBG), a non-profit corporation, has been created to work towards the establishment of a Botanical garden in the eastern portion of McIntire Park. MBG has been granted its 501(c)(3) status and thus contributions are tax deductible. MBG has a Board of 8 members which will be expanded to 15 in the near future. President is Helen Flamini; Vice President is Peter McIntosh; Secretary is Diane Weber; and, Treasurer is Donna Arehart.
The Oakland Museum is planning an event to mark Hurricane Camille’s 40th anniversary on August 20, 2009. In just eight hours, the storm drenched parts of Nelson County with 28 inches of rain. The resulting floods, rain-induced landslides, and property damage indicated that this event was the worst natural disaster ever to strike the state of Virginia, where 125 people lost their lives or were not found.
The Community Cupboard is a program of the Louisa County Resource Council. Opened in December 1999 with 75 participants today, the Cupboard serves approximately 1,000 families a month or 1600 individuals. The Community Cupboard provides monthly bags of non-perishable foods to income eligible individuals and families. The Cupboard distributes over 15,000 pounds of food each month to Louisa County residents.
The group’s mission is to educate the public regarding alternatives and solutions to foreclosures, using the collective strength of its members. Many local and federal agencies offer programs to help homeowners in distress, but there is no central clearinghouse locally to disseminate the available options and to keep up with the constantly changing landscape
A project of the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District
serving the Counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Louisa and Nelson and the City of Charlottesville
The proposed “Make Your Own Rain Barrel Workshop” series introduces rainwater harvesting to the general public. These workshops offer basic instruction and supply a barrel and parts to every participant. One thousand rain barrels will be dispersed in the next two years in Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District’s service. At the end of two years, the sum of water captured and reused per year will be over a million gallons.
Each year, the Music Resource Center provides full scholarships for approximately 100 Charlottesville students who are free or reduced lunch eligible. These students typically have economic hardship that would prevent them from paying even the most nominal fee to the Music Resource Center. Most of these students live in city neighborhoods where there is a high incidence of public assistance cases, a preponderance of single-parent homes, and signs of low academic achievement (for example, less than 40% of students passed a math Standard-of-Learning test).
Too often, people infected with HIV and AIDS lead isolated, lonely lives. The stigma associated with AIDS can keep people from reaching out for the support and medical care they need. This is why the AIDS/HIV Services Group (ASG) was created in 1986—to reach out to these individuals with a compassionate and professional response.
The Women’s Initiative seeks funding to support its Stress Management for Teachers program. This program will bring a minimum of 6 workshops to more than 240 teachers and administrators in 2009. Teachers and other front-line providers such as nurses and social workers are under a tremendous amount of daily stress. If left untreated, this stress can result in anxiety, depression, heart disease and diabetes.
Workshops give teachers the opportunity to learn concrete stress management strategies that they can incorporate into their daily routine. And when teachers are healthier… the students benefit too! Stress reduction training has been proven in numerous studies to improve employee productivity, reduce absenteeism, decrease fatigue, reduce burnout, and increase job satisfaction. Please donate today and help The Women’s Initiative bring these valuable, lifelong skills to the hardworking public school teachers in our community.
As a comprehensive destination for children’s outpatient healthcare, the Barry and Bill Battle Building at UVA Children’s Hospital will provide an extraordinary service to our community. It will be an outstanding resource for children and families across the region, designed with their comfort and special needs in mind.
Despite the best efforts of the CHS Yearbook staff to sell ads to control prices, a yearbook for the 2008-09 school year costs $54. This price puts yearbooks well beyond the reach of many students at CHS. What do these students do? One CHS science teacher notes: "I know the cost has been prohibitive for so many of our kids. I see them at the end of the year walking around with stapled-together sheets of construction paper to get signatures.”
Every summer millions of children attend summer camp, where they learn social, leadership and independent living skills along with music, sports and arts and crafts. A three year study by the American Camp Association showed that children who attend camp show increases in confidence, self esteem, social skills, leadership skills and independence. Unfortunately, people with special needs have a much more difficult time finding places where they can experience the joy and growth that comes with attending summer camp- especially if they wish to do so with peers who don’t have disabilities.
A local author is seeking funds for the design and printing of a pocket-sized book to help those undergoing cancer treatments or seeking to recover from other serious illnesses. The author is an accomplished writer who has been the beneficiary of the caregivers at the University of Virginia’s Cancer Center. A year ago, he was diagnosed with a stage IV case of large B cell Lymphoma. Now his cancer is in remission, and he has a new lease on life.
For 27 years the Alliance for Interfaith Ministries (AIM) has been helping the working poor in this area with financial assistance during times of emergency situations. These are people who can take care of themselves...most of the time. But once in awhile, even those who can take care of themselves may have a sudden emergency and no reserve fund. AIM is there to help.
CACF welcomes proposals for the Community Endowment, the Foundation’s unrestricted fund, twice a year from nonprofit organizations working to improve the quality of life in the Charlottesville area. On September 8, 2008, the CACF Governing Board approved $144,500 in grants. Due to limited funds, CACF is not always able to fully fund grant proposals. Please consider recommending a gift to one or more of the organizations below or, if you rather, a gift to CACF to help build the Community Endowment.