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We are excited to launch the second year of our capacity-building initiative with Catchafire, which matches you with virtual, skills-based volunteers on projects most critical for your organization’s success.  To continue as a Catchafire user or to apply to participate in the program, click here to learn more and complete a brief survey by August 23rd.  

The Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band at the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation is pleased to announce its Spring 2021 grant funding decisions, totaling more than $743,000 and supporting 125 nonprofits throughout the region. With this round of grants, the Bama Works Fund extends its twenty-plus years of commitment to Charlottesville and the surrounding counties.

The Fund supported a wide range of organizations this cycle, including youth mentoring programs, environmental initiatives, and food security causes. As always, funding priority was given to organizations impacting lives in the City of Charlottesville and the Counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson, and Orange. Click here for a full list of Spring 2021 grant recipients.

Established in 1999, the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band has now awarded more than 2,500 grants totaling nearly $27 million. Since its inception, Bama Works has operated under the philosophy that meaningful and long-lasting change begins in the community. Both prior to and during the pandemic The Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band has shown unwavering support for those most vulnerable in our region, supporting nonprofits and initiatives that are working to ensure that everyone in our region can thrive.

Since the pandemic began in March of 2020, the band has further deepened their commitment to the region, including providing leadership and a catalyzing gift of $250,000 to help create the Community Emergency Response Fund (CERF); partnering with the Community Foundation’s Community Recovery & Catalyst Grant program through an additional $1 million gift to support grants that addressed the impacts of COVID-19 and longstanding racial inequities; and awarding $300,000 to the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless to ensure safe shelter for local residents experiencing chronic homelessness. Additionally, the band’s $5 million grant in 2019 to the Charlottesville Redevelopment & Housing Authority, to catalyze the redevelopment of area public housing, saw the groundbreaking this spring for the first phase of both the Crescent Halls and South First Street redevelopment projects.

“Time and again, in conversations with local organizations, we hear about the impact of and appreciation for the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band,” says Katie Kling, Director of Advancement. “For over two decades, the band has created a legacy of generosity through grantmaking that has been integral to the sustained success of so many nonprofits throughout our region, and we are extremely grateful to the band for this partnership.”

Twice each year, the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band at the Community Foundation awards gifts through a competitive grant cycle.  The next application period opened on July 1st and has an application deadline of September 1st. Click here for more info.

We are now accepting applications for the Enriching Communities Grant Program, which supports a wide range of activities that keep our community vibrant and strong.  Enriching Communities grants will be one-time, unrestricted awards of up to $15,000 to be used over the period of one year and there is more than $750,000 available in total to qualified applicants.  Learn more.

Please join us for the Foundation’s Annual Grants Update Meeting on Thursday, June 17. We’ll share overall updates from the Foundation team and information regarding our fall grant programs, including the upcoming Enriching Communities grant as well as grant opportunities through donor-directed funds.

We’ll also share what we have been learning over the past year from our efforts with the Community Recovery & Catalyst Grants, the first year of our Catchafire pilot, and our ongoing conversations with you in the field.

In turn, we are eager to hear your questions and what you’ve been experiencing and learning over the past year as your input is invaluable to our community engagement.

We look forward to connecting with you!

Date: Thursday, June 17th

Time: 10 am – Noon

Register here.

Thank you to the 160+ nonprofit leaders, philanthropists, and community members who joined us for an update on the foundation’s annual grants.  If you were unable to join us, you can view a recording to learn more about our fall grant programs, including the upcoming Enriching Communities grant and additional grant opportunities through donor-directed funds. 

We also shared what we’ve learned over the past year from our efforts with the Community Recovery & Catalyst Grants, the first year of our Catchafire pilot, and our ongoing conversations with you in the field.  

The Louisa County Community Fund is pleased to announce its Spring 2021 grant funding decisions, totaling nearly $84,000 and supporting 16 nonprofits in Louisa County. 

Administered by the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, this competitive grant cycle is supported by a diverse group of Louisa County community members who are uniquely positioned to review applications and identify organizations working to improve quality of life for all residents of Louisa County. 

The Fund supported a wide range of initiatives this cycle, including housing repairs, food security, childhood wellness, the arts, and education. See below for a full list of Spring 2021 grant recipients.

In 1997, Ruby and Albert Bazzanella, long-time residents of Louisa County, established a donor advised fund at the Community Foundation to benefit Louisa.  In 2007, the Community Foundation received a significant bequest of $1.5 million from Mr. and Mrs. Bazzanella with the stipulation that the income be directed in perpetuity to benefit Louisa County.  Since then, the Louisa County Community Fund has made 146 grants (totaling $1,006,877) to organizations impacting lives in Louisa County through its annual grant cycle. 

“Each year we are deeply impressed by the important work that these organizations are doing to improve lives in Louisa County,” says Ethan Tate, the Community Foundation’s Donor Relations Manager for Grants and Scholarships.  “The last year has challenged all of us, while highlighting disparities, and these nonprofits have doubled down to meet the needs of the community.  We are grateful to be able to play a role in helping all members of the Louisa County community reach their full potential.”

Applications for the next cycle of the Louisa County Community Fund will open in January of 2022.

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Full list of Louisa County Community Fund grant partners in 2021:  Adult Community Education; Animal Care Assistance Program; Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, Inc.; Child Health Partnership; Community Investment Collaborative; Fluvanna/Louisa Housing Foundation; Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville; Louisa County Emergency Fund, Inc. (LCEF); Louisa County Historical Society; Louisa County Resource Council; Louisa Downtown Development Corporation; Piedmont CASA; ReadyKids; Santa Council of Louisa County; Sexual Assault Resource Agency; and The Journey Home, Inc.

Like many in our local community and across our nation, we at the Community Foundation are deeply grieved by the repeated and escalating attacks targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Over the past year, we have witnessed random beatings of individuals and planned mass murders that have targeted our fellow Americans for no other reason than their race and heritage. These hate crimes are part of a long legacy of terror, violence and murder that has occurred on American soil and that seeks to preserve systems of concentrated power and privilege.

On May 20, 2021, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act was signed into law. This legislation aims to acknowledge the rise in hate crimes as well as make reporting more accessible, expedite investigations, and prevent future crimes. It is notable and important that the hate crime legislation became law during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. In the last year, there have been over 6,600 instances of hate crimes against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. And we know that many instances targeting these communities go unreported.

It is not enough to acknowledge and condemn the hatred and violence. We have a responsibility also to wrestle with the ways in which we have been complicit as a society in perpetuating manufactured myths of Asian Americans as the model minority and perpetual foreigner. Narratives and tropes like these are tactics of systemic racism that hold in place a hierarchy of human value. In many ways, the recent violence is making visible to the public consciousness an identity and experience that for so long has been deemed acceptable in our society because of its invisibility and ‘proper’ or ‘good’ assimilation. We must resist the persistent temptation to look away.

Tragedy—however close or far—hurts. It hurts us all. At the Community Foundation, we believe that we are deeply interconnected as people sharing a time, a place, a history, and a humanity. We are interconnected both in our victories and in our suffering. While each person feels each tragedy differently based on unique lived experiences and truths, we also know that every human is affected by violence, death, injustice, trauma, loss and pain. Now is a moment to pause and truly listen to the grief expressed by those around us and to hear their stories. In so doing, we can gain the awareness and understanding that allows us to stand in solidarity, to see one another’s humanity, and to pursue together a future where we all can belong and thrive.

The Charlottesville Area Community Foundation is pleased to announce the establishment of the Elizabeth and Greg Allen Opportunity Fund, a yearly $10,000 scholarship for Charlottesville High School seniors. To qualify, students must plan to attend full time a two-year community college or four-year college or university.

The Allen’s created the scholarship to assist Charlottesville seniors in achieving their dreams of earning a college degree, and they hope, in particular, to help those students who would be the first in their family to do so. Providing assistance to this first generation will make an important difference for future generations and for the community more broadly.

“For generations, our family has emphasized the importance, and the gift, of education,” Elizabeth Allen said.  “We are excited to help first generation college students in Charlottesville who have worked so hard to continue their journey through college!”

For the graduating class of 2022, the selection committee will choose three students to receive $10,000 annually for up to four years. Payments may be used for tuition, fees, housing, food, books, and other education-related needs.

Applications for the scholarship’s inaugural class will be due to the guidance department at Charlottesville High School by October 1. The scholarship will be administered in accordance with all guidelines and policies established by the Community Foundation’s Governing Board.

In case you missed it, you can view a recording of the Catchafire Peer Learning event. Hear from Catchafire “super-users” such as Lisa Woolfork and learn how this service can help your nonprofit build capacity. You’ll also learn tips on how to initiate your project, how to interview prospective volunteers, and how to manage multiple projects at once.

View Lisa’s presentation including a video that shows how to post a project in 5 minutes or less.

Learn how Catchafire works and about the impact this program has created for our nonprofit community.