Our Fall survey results might give you a fright 👻

Volume 08| October 2022

Hello and Welcome! We're so glad you are here and hope that you find these newsletters to be informative and will reach out to us with any ideas/feedback.

If you are new to FHF, please find an overview here.

Share this newsletter freely. It takes a village to raise a child and we hope that together, we can make it a bit easier!

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Upcoming FHF Meetings:

Recurring Zoom Link

Thursday, October 27, 2022: 2-3 pm

Dr. Eric Irizarry, Director of Equity, Family and Community Relations, Albemarle County Public Schools will be there to share about the work that they do and how we can best work together!

Tuesday, January 24, 2023: 2-3 pm

Monday, February 20, 2023: 2-3 pm

Friday, March 17, 2023: 2-3 pm

Friday,April 28, 2023: 2-3 pm

We want to send a HUGE thanks to the African American Pastors Council, Albemarle County and UVA Police Departments and UVA’s Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and especially Pastor Lehman Bates for the donation of cleaning supplies to 190 families between 18 schools.

If you’d like to support this drive and others (we hope to also have a spring drive to support ACPS families) you can write a check to the African American Pastors Council with memo “Community Cares” or drop off supplies directly at Ebenezer Baptist Church 113 6th St NW, Charlottesville, VA 22903.

You can also call Pastor Bates at 434-227-6465.

Families Helping Families had the opportunity to meet with Sherry Taylor of Z95.1 to chat about the cleaning supply drive. You can take a listen HERE.

There have been reports of students going hungry at lunchtime. In response, the Solutions team met with ACPS staff and the following is happening across the board and we’d like to make sure the community is aware of these things:

They do actively reach out to Alumni to fill out the hardship forms to donate their leftover balances for students who need the money.
Here is the Hardship donation form that individuals can use to help students

Per our school board policy, no student should ever receive an alternative lunch and can always receive a full meal regardless of their balance. They might not be able to buy extra, like bagged chips or bottled drinks, but they do have access to the full lunch. If you know of a school that isn’t following this standard please let us know and we will work to correct it.

ACPS is always looking at continuous improvements for our schools and what they can do to make sure all students feel comfortable purchasing lunches to be fed and healthy at school. If you know of other barriers or worries to this, please provide that feedback and we will be more than happy to pass it on.

Schools are working on adding shields to POS stations in the cafeterias so that negative account balances are not visible to other students in line and be a source of embarrassment.

We all know that there is a shortage of bus drivers. For some families this can be a greater hardship than for others. If you CAN drive your student, we’d like to encourage you to give up your seat on the bus so that routes can be shuffled in order to serve families that don’t have the ability to drive their students.This is ONE way we can provide action to helping ACPS live up to its equity mission statement. If you would like to join a carpool, please email us and we’ll do what we can to connect families!

Gnome emergency funds can be accessed by ACPS counselors/family support workers to fill gaps in community resources by submitting a help request on behalf of their families thru our website.

FHF Help Page

Thank you for taking the time to complete the fall survey. We truly value the information you have provided. Your responses will contribute to our efforts and inform our strategies and decision making. Please stay tuned for follow up information in regards to how this information will contribute to our work this year.

Point of contact: Greta Fleming-McCauley, gmccauley@albemarle.org

Rumi Forum Charlottesville is organizing an art contest for middle school students in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. The Annual Peace and Dialogue Art Contest provides a creative environment in which our youth explore different social issues.

This year, students are invited to submit an original artwork based on the theme of "Toward A Greener Planet". Students are expected to explore the environmental issues in our world, whether from a local or global perspective. Some of the topics to consider include but not limited to: reducing waste; conserving water; preventing pollution; recycling/composting and waste management; lowering greenhouse gas emission; renewable energy.

For more information about the contest, please contact cville@rumiforum.org. The submission deadline for the contest is Friday, December 9, 2022. Please circulate this announcement with those who might be interested in it.

Dyslexia Awareness Month

National Depression and Mental Health Screening Month

Global Handwashing Day

October 15th

ADHD Awareness Month

“In the coming year, we’re hoping to raise even more funds to be able to meet an increasing number of requests for emergency needs,” said FHF co-organizer Amanda Alger. “Mental health and transportation are two key needs that come up again and again.”

Any and all donations are greatly appreciated and tax-deductible.

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