Community Foundation announces $800,000 in grants

A dating auction raised more than $5,000 for the Central Virginia Foodbank.

Members of 30s/40s Richmond Singles raised the money.

A social group, which regularly volunteers at the Foodbank, auctioned dates with six men and six women at the Capital Ale House in Midlothian during its largest fundraiser last month.

The Foodbank can buy one pound of food with every 17 cents, said Tam Evans, the group's volunteer coordinator for the community. With the proceeds "we can buy 49,000 pounds of food. That's just mind-boggling that so many children won't have to go bed hungry."

For Evans of Henrico County, helping the Foodbank is a personal passion.

At one time her family was "extremely poor. My kids' tummies were rumbling before they went to bed and it just killed me. Now I'm in position where I can help other families, and their babies' tummies don't have to go rumbling."

. . .

The Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia announced 30 grants totaling $800,000 to nonprofits working in the areas of community and economic development, community enrichment and health.

The largest two grants, $100,000 each, will aid efforts to prevent homelessness.

Housing Opportunities Made Equal will provide continued support for a foreclosure intervention program with its $100,000 grant.

Homeward will use its $100,000 grant to support the agency's Rapid Re-Housing Program, designed to place homeless families in permanent housing quickly and connect them to services for achieving long-term independence.

Other community and economic development grants are:

• Drive To Work, $15,000 to help develop a driver literacy course to assist low-income and previously incarcerated adults in reinstating their drivers licenses.

ElderHomes Corp., $35,000 to pay for safety and accessibility home repairs for low-income people, older adults and disabled individuals.

• Habitat for Humanity -- Powhatan Inc., $30,000 to purchase wells and engineered septic systems for three Habitat homes.

• Metropolitan Richmond Sports Backers, $15,000 to help create Riverrock, a free, family-oriented, community event to promote the James River and the surrounding park system.

• Tricycle Gardens, $25,000 to help pay for the director of community organizing and community garden builder, a part-time horticulturist, contract services from a carpenter and bookkeeper, and funds for technical services.

Community enrichment grants are:

• American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar, $22,000 to aid the "Take Our Stand: African American Military Service in the Age of Jim Crow" exhibit in cooperation with the Black History Museum.

• Richmond Jazz Society, $25,000 to support the Jazz Preservation Initiative, the Guest Educators Series and outreach programs for area seniors and youth.

Four health-promotion and access-to-care grants totaling $70,000 come from the foundation's Richmond Eye & Ear Foundation Fund. They are:

• Barksdale Theatre, $10,000 to support the American Sign Language Interpretation Initiative, which increases accessibility to performances at Barksdale Theatre.

• Prevent Blindness Mid-Atlantic, $25,000 to support the Certified Children's Vision Screening Program in Chesterfield and Richmond.

• Saint James the Less Free Clinic, $10,000 to provide operating support for the Eye Care Clinic and the prescription eye-glass program.

• Virginia Voice for the Print Handicapped, $25,000 to expand the part-time marketing and development director's outreach.

Other health-promotion and access-to-care grants are:

• Fan Free Clinic, $1,000 to purchase GRTC Go Cards and Community Assisted Ride Enterprise tickets for clients living with HIV/AIDS who have difficulty accessing medical and support services.

• Senior Connections, $1,000 to support a new HIV/AIDS educational outreach initiative geared toward seniors. (supported by the AIDS Endowment)

• Serenity, $1,000 to support educational conferences and seminars for service providers, parents and educators. (supported by the AIDS Endowment)

Youth and Family Development grants are:

• Area Congregations Together In Service, $30,000 for salary support for the program director, who provides resources to Greater Richmond residents to prevent homelessness.

• Assisting Families of Inmates Inc., $30,000 to support the Milk and Cookies Children's Program, which provides counseling and support to children and adult caregivers while the children's parents go through the criminal justice process and during incarceration.

• The Carver Promise, $15,000 for mentoring and other services for Carver Elementary School students.

• Coal Pit Learning Center, $15,000 help fund teachers' salaries in the preschool program that serves low-income children in Henrico County.

• Commonwealth Parenting Center, $15,000 to support parent education programs in North Richmond.

• Communities In Schools of Richmond Inc., $50,000 to support resources for at-risk students in seven Richmond middle schools.

• Family Lifeline, $35,000 to help expand senior care programming for home-bound elderly through the Personal Care and ElderFriends programs.

• Hilliard House, $25,000 for general operating support. The nonprofit provides housing and services for women and children in the Richmond area.

• Lobs & Lessons, $10,000 to support its 2009 summer camp offering athletics, academics and enrichment opportunities for children in the communities surrounding Virginia Commonwealth University.

• The READ Center, $25,000 in continued support for the Tutor Training program, which trains tutors of adult learners in the latest research-based methods.

• St. Joseph's Villa, $35,000 to aid the Day Support and Weekend Respite program, which works with children with severe developmental and intellectual disabilities to improve social behavior, communications and self-sufficiency skills.

• Senior Connections, CAAA, $25,000 to support health, wellness and other programs at the senior center on Monument Avenue.

• United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg, $25,000 to support the STAR program, the United Way's quality rating and improvement system that supports local child-care centers.

• Virginia Foundation for Community College Education, $25,000 to develop and implement a training program on the special needs of foster youth for Virginia Community College System career coaches and to pilot the program at J. Sargeant Reynolds and John Tyler Community Colleges.

With assets of $510 million, TCF has given more than $400 million in grants since 1968. For more details, go to http://www.tcfrichmond.org.

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