Friday, April 29, 2016

Doing Good: Teaming Up to Tackle Dental Issues



The Hampton Roads Community Foundation and United Way of South Hampton Roads have
Dental care is a critical need in Hampton Roads.
teamed up to improve dental care and access for low-income residents of the South Hampton Roads region of Virginia

The two regional funders have issued a joint request for proposal from area nonprofits to help economically disadvantaged individuals have free dental treatment and preventive care. May 20 is the deadline for nonprofit organizations, including coalitions, to apply for a total of $50,000 in grant funding.

“This is the first time the community foundation and the United Way have joined forces with a single proposal request,” says Dr. Deborah M. DiCroce, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. “We are leveraging the strengths of two long-standing organizations and modeling the power of collaboration to improve life for area individuals with tremendous dental needs and no resources to address them.”

The community foundation and United Way focused on dental issues as a critical need they could effectively address together. Statistics show that 197,949 Hampton Roads adults have not visited a dentist in the past two years, and 55,000 area youth have not seen a dentist in at least a year. Approximately the same number of youth already have cavities in their teeth.

The American Dental Association reports that record numbers of Americans go to emergency rooms for dental treatment, which can cost up to 10 times more than preventative care. Neglecting dental care can lead to a lifetime of health problems and make it difficult for individuals to eat, speak, get jobs and feel good about themselves.

“Many of us have never known what it is like to live with constant dental pain and to be embarrassed by not having teeth,” says Carol McCormack, United Way of South Hampton Roads president and CEO.  She has seen clients at dental clinics come because “they couldn’t have the heart surgery or kidney transplants they needed until their dental problems were fixed.”

The dental RFP grant guidelines and application are posted to www.hamptonroadscf.org. Both the United Way and Hampton Roads are funding grants and will review applications. Both organizations have separately funded dental needs in the region previously.

“We are thrilled to work with the community foundation as partners tackling one of our community’s most significant needs,” McCormack says. 
 

The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is the largest grant and scholarship provider in southeastern Virginia and supports causes ranging from arts and education to health and human services. The United Way is the largest private funder dedicated solely to human service needs in South Hampton Roads.





Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Giving Back: Physician's Daughter Focused on the Future



Florence Smith’s respect for good doctors came to her naturally as the only daughter of Dr.
Dr. Hy & Julia Smith
Hy Smith and his wife Julia. Hy Smith was a Civil War surgeon who treated Yellow Fever victims in the 1870s and ‘80s and later had a medical practice i Norfolk, Virginia. He passed away in 1915. 

Florence Smith
Thirty-seven years after her dad’s death, Florence Smith left a charitable bequest in her will to her community foundation to guarantee a steady stream of excellent physicians from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Her 1952 bequest provided an initial $460,000, and the following year the Hampton Roads Community Foundation was able to award scholarships to 26 Virginians attending medical school in her name. One of the recipients became president of the American Medical Association.

Barron Frazier
Over the decades, nearly 750 Smith Scholars have benefited from Florence Smith’s generosity and have gone on to be caring physicians and to head various medical societies. The $2.5 million her scholarship at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation has provided paved the way for caring physicians in all fields. Today the perpetual Smith Fund is helping 15 medical students and has grown to more than $2.2 million in value.Soon new medical students will join their ranks as current fourth-year students graduate and move on to residency.

One of the 2016 graduating Smith Scholars is S. Barron Frazier, a fourth-year Eastern Virginia Medical School student from Norfolk. He says: “Miss Smith saw that money only has as much value as you contribute to the future. Her gift is a model that says if you give to the future you will create a better community.”

Friday, April 8, 2016

Doing Good: Judeo-Christian Outreach Center Ends Homelessness for James W. Lewis




In April 2014 James W. Lewis moved into permanent housing in Chesapeake, Virginia and became the
James Lewis is happy in his new home.
inaugural Housing First client of the Virginia Beach-based Judeo-Christian Outreach Center. His new home came with services designed to help him remain there.

Two years later Lewis calls his rescue from homelessness like climbing into “a boat that doesn’t have holes in it. It sits me up a little taller. I feel a little sturdier to push forward.” 

Lewis, 57, is disabled by blood clots and chronic back problems. He is a former carnival worker who spent 10 years bouncing between Hampton Roads homeless shelters and sleeping outdoors. 

JCOC’s Housing First program, largely funded by Hampton Roads Community Foundation donors, alters the traditional practice of moving homeless people into crowded shelters and transitional housing while requiring them to take courses and receive counseling before getting permanent housing.

A federally mandated shift to “Housing First in 2009 was a big culture change for us,” says Todd A.J. Walker, JCOC executive director. “Other services are still important, but housing is the biggest. We now attack that animal at the beginning. We do other assessments and services once someone’s in a stable [housing] situation.” 

Lewis calls Fatima Tomlin 'superwoman.'
Fatima Tomlin, a JCOC case manager, helped Lewis find his new home, adopt good budgeting habits and cover initial costs. Lewis now lives in an immaculate, furnished home in a neighborhood near a supermarket and is happy to be there. 

JCOC is among 10 Hampton Roads nonprofits receiving more than $4.9 million in grants provided by Hampton Roads Community Foundation donors to help end homelessness in southeastern Virginia.

Friday, April 1, 2016

Find Funding: Community Leadership Partners of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation






                                               A grant helped students learn to build rowboats.

The Community Leadership Partners is a fun and effective Hampton Roads Community Foundation giving group whose forward-thinking members pool their resources to tackle community needs. Since 2010, the Partners giving group has put $1 million into action in southeastern Virginia helping more than 45 Hampton Roads nonprofit organizations do their best work – including these 2015 grant recipients: An Achievable Dream, Club Sandwich, Girls on the Run South Hampton Roads and Tidewater Wooden Boat Workshop (pictured in the short, time-lapse video above). Grants typically focus on positively impacting area children from low- or moderate-income families. 

Each year, the Partners selects a specific area of focus for its grants and then seeks applications from nonprofits working in that area. This year, it is looking to fund organizations supporting children within South Hampton Roads, specifically, programs that change the life trajectory of elementary and/or middle-school children who are economically disadvantaged and vulnerable in their social-emotional and/or academic development. 

Each program will be assessed by the extent to which it:

  • ·Addresses the needs of the whole child 
  •  Uses proven program model based on best practices 
  •  Has a plan for measuring program outcomes

      Grants will primarily range between $10,000 and $20,000. The application deadline is May 24, 2016. 


Still have questions? 

Attend the Hampton Roads Community Foundation’s upcoming training on “Understanding Guidelines for Community Leadership Partners Grants” on April 19 at 3 p.m. or April 26 at 3 p.m. To register email akurtz@hamptonroadscf.org.

Interested in Joining? You can make a difference in your community! 

The Community Leadership Partners is a group of Hampton Roads philanthropists interested in solving community problems by using their resources to improve our region. Annual gifts from members are pooled and granted to local nonprofits that members help select. Networking and educational programs are also provided to members as they learn about nonprofit need and philanthropic opportunities. Learn more about joining this dynamic group

Girls on the Run is among organizations whose work is enhanced by Partners grants.