Our vital programming includes support groups for caregivers and siblings, who seek connection and understanding with fellow community members; social groups for teens and adults with autism, who learn valuable social skills and build relationships; and member events with our community partners, offering educational programs, movement activities, and social opportunities for children, parents, and individuals feeling stuck at home. These funds would help cover our increased costs to plan and facilitate these programs that our community has come to rely on during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Blue Sky Fund has quickly and creatively
pivoted to continue serving our students with experiential education. While Richmond Public Schools (RPS) are closed, there is an increasing need for students and families to access hands-on outdoor learning activities that can be facilitated at home or any outdoor space to which they have access. Our Explorers and Adventure teams are using their experiential education expertise to create outdoor learning resources for families to use at
home.
CARITAS is the largest provider of homeless services in the Richmond region. What started out more than 30 years ago as a cold weather shelter has grown into a family of programs that not only meet people where they are in their crisis but leads them to true independence.
A Fresh Start for Single Mothers & Their Children Community Outreach Project, hosts weekly Christian faith based positive life advancement groups for single mothers and their children in our Greater Richmond community. We have a topic and expert educational guest speaker for each week of the program, dinner and small group discussion time, dinner and childcare are free. We are an all volunteer, independently run organization with no paid staff. We rely heavily on donations from the Richmond community to sustain our ongoing program.
We began the Resiliency Garden Initiative. We created an online page that allows
community members to register to receive a raised bed. The response was tremendous. Practicing social distancing we figured out the logistics necessary to cut the wood, build the raised bed and have it delivered to the community member all without any physical human contact. Community volunteers would help cut wood. Once the wood was cut, volunteers would pick up the wood and drop it at the address of the community member who registered for a raised bed by coordinating with them by phone email or text.
Oakwood Arts provides an array of arts and technology classes and community engagement programs that advance our organization’s mission to make art and careers in creative industries accessible to all. Our Arts & Technology Program focuses on middle- and high-school students from Richmond’s East End and comprise semester-long classes and week-long intensives that focus on the digital and technical skills students need to succeed in the creative workforce.
Rebuilding Together Richmond (RTR) is a local, non-profit organization that brings skilled contractors and volunteers together to repair the homes of low-income homeowners, typically seniors and those with disabilities, at no cost to them. For nearly 30 years, volunteers from various churches, civic groups, and corporations have participated in our rebuilding program. In recent years, additional funding and support have enabled us to hire skilled contractors to provide critical home repair services in order to deepen our impact on our neighbors in need.
ReEstablish Richmond was founded in 2010 to fill service gaps within refugee communities, provide support to resettlement agencies, and empower refugee families to thrive after their transition. We provide Transportation, Health + Wellness, Economic Empowerment, and Community Engagement programs. Our programs areas have been developed in consultation with refugee communities and our partners to best address and support unmet needs.
The Sacred Heart Center, a non-profit community center located in south Richmond, Virginia, continues to be one of the few organizations in the Richmond area dedicated to serving the low and moderate income Latino population. Our current mission, adopted at the end of FY 2018, is to connect Latino families with tools to thrive and flourish. We envision a Richmond community that actively embraces each other in our shared humanity.
Side by Side (formerly ROSMY) is dedicated to creating supportive communities where Virginia's LGBTQ+ youth can define themselves, belong, and flourish. For nearly 30 years, Side by Side has provided support groups to LGBTQ+ youth in Richmond and we continue to grow and expand to meet the needs of our community. Today, we offer support groups to 450 unique youth ages 11-20 in Richmond, Charlottesville, and at Petersburg High School.
We turned our energy to finding a way to help care for our community. Our network of chefs and our generous partners allowed our UGK+Soup: Community First initiative to develop. We are now able to those who are who are in need in our community due to the Coronavirus. The project has also brought those from all different walks of life throughout the Richmond community together in the effort to help their neighbors
