Celebrating its twelfth year, The
Roanoke Women’s Foundation (RWF) has announced the recipients of its grant
awards, the largest total given to date.
The latest grants, a total of $324,000
awarded at a luncheon held at Roanoke Country Club on October 27, 2016, brings
to $2,726,000 the total in grants funded since the organization’s inception in
2004.
“As we celebrate our 12th
year of philanthropic giving to our community, we are excited to once again be
able to support our community with impactful grants to worthy non-profit
organizations. With 164 members, our
highest to date, we are able to provide important and transformational funding
to organizations within the Roanoke Valley and surrounding areas. We commend all of those organizations who participated
in our rigorous grant making process this year,” says Roanoke Women’s
Foundation co-founder, Kandy Elliott.
Elliott and co-founder Ginny Jarrett established the RWF as a way for
women in the Roanoke and surrounding communities to share their philanthropic
goals and pool their resources in order to make significant gifts to the
community.
“We appreciate the significant
work of The Roanoke Women’s Foundation as demonstrated by their high-impact
grants to this year’s worthy recipients,” added Alan Ronk, executive director
of Foundation for Roanoke Valley, which administers RWF’s fund.
Blue Ridge Autism and
Achievement Center – BRAAC - (A St. Vincent’s Home Program) - $110,000 to
fund the total costs of converting BRAAC’s existing gymnasium into a Life
Skills Center for teaching independent living skills to its older
students. It will be called the Joseph
W. Webb Center, named for one of the first students of the program, and will
teach the students to cook, clean, shower, toilet, practice job skills, and
enjoy leisure activities. It will also
use the space for parent support groups, cooking classes, summer programming,
and other community outreach activities.
BRAAC provides a licensed year-round private school for its students,
ages 2-22, with unique learning challenges, including Autism, Asperger’s,
Verbal and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities.
It also provides social skills group training for its students, a
transition program for special needs individuals, and in-home training for
parents of its students. Parents of
these students worry constantly about what will happen to their children as
they become adults. The Joseph W. Webb
Center will provide students the tools they need to become as independent as
possible, remain in our communities, and live productive lives. BRAAC is already undergoing a significant
capital expansion project, including the Joseph W. Webb Center. This expansion will allow BRAAC to not only
address the needs of current students, but serve 30-50 additional students as
well as allowing it to address an even larger growing need – adult
services.
Sexual Assault Response &
Awareness, Inc. (SARA) - $85,000 to fund the expansion of its current
building to add office space, a training room, and a handicapped-accessible
bathroom, In addition, the grant will
provide for enhanced security and lighting to the property that serves as its
organization’s headquarters. SARA is the
only program of its kind in the Roanoke Valley, providing an array of direct
services to victims of sexual violence.
Core services include comprehensive trauma-informed counseling and
recovery services, outreach, hospital visits and hotline calls. According to
the Virginia Department of Health, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 8 men have experienced
sexual violence. The physical and mental
health consequences of sexual assault are enormous and long lasting, especially
without support and counseling. The
RWF’s funding of an electronic security system will increase SARA’s ability to
accommodate the safety and security needs of clients, while also providing
increased protection for staff. The new training space will allow SARA to train
more people efficiently and will be available to local nonprofits for training. Once fully staffed, SARA will be able to
serve 500 additional people annually in this updated facility.
Greenvale School, Inc. -
$74,000 to renovate program space in three classrooms allowing them to
increase their capacity by 14 child care slots. The reorganization and renovation of these
areas will include offering closer access to restrooms, leaving teachers to
concentrate on student activities.
Currently serving 120 children annually, the school, established in
1934, serves children age 6 weeks through 5 years. Students come from low-income families who
seek to provide their children a base of early knowledge that is needed to
establish a foundation for educational and life successes. Families who are served at Greenvale must be
working, in school, or in training programs.
Cultural Arts for Excellence
(CAFE) - $55,000 to purchase a cargo van to transport musical instruments
and a passenger van to transport students for performances and other off-site
activities. CAFÉ is an after-school and
summer camp program for low-income, middle school students in northwest
Roanoke. Academic support at CAFE
includes daily tutoring from volunteers.
The program also engages students in community service projects and
utilizes low- or no-cost partnerships.
The signature activity of CAFE is its Caribbean Steel Orchestra. Participation in the orchestra is a huge
incentive in the program's success. It
keeps young people engaged and complements academics by fostering
self-confidence, teamwork, and the desire to learn. In 2015, CAFE received a grant from
Foundation for Roanoke Valley to purchase its own 29-piece steel drum set,
allowing considerable savings in rental fees.
In addition, to honor and
recognize the role of RWF co-founder Virginia B. Jarrett the board, with
donations from RWF members, established the Roanoke Women’s Foundation Founders
Fund of Foundation for Roanoke Valley.
The fund will be advised by Mrs. Jarrett and board, and will be used to
support their purpose to strengthen the community through increasing charitable
contributions in our region, and promoting women’s leadership in philanthropy.
The Roanoke Women’s Foundation is
open to any woman who makes the commitment to support the RWF for at least
three years at a level of $2,100 per year.
Members have no other obligation than to fulfill the annual contribution
and to participate in the voting process determining the recipients of the
pooled fund grants. For more
information, visit www.roanokewomensfoundation.org
or Foundation for Roanoke Valley’s website www.foundationforroanokevalley.org. Foundation for Roanoke Valley, the region’s
community foundation, currently administers over 300 named
endowment funds on behalf of the community.
Submitted by: Kandy Elliott
