Robins Foundation, in Partnership with the City of Richmond, Launches $1 Million Family Crisis Fund
Families with children are in direct and immediate need of support during the current states of emergency in Richmond and Virginia due to job loss from the COVID-19 pandemic.
To mitigate the impact on our most vulnerable children and families, Robins Foundation, in partnership with the City of Richmond has launched a Family Crisis Fund. Seeded with matching $500,000 contributions by Robins Foundation and the City of Richmond, funds from this initiative can be disbursed to families soon as April 7-8th, allowing for immediate financial relief for families and immediate impact on the local economy. This will meet critical needs while families and local communities prepare for the federal stimulus to be activated within the next 60 days.
In partnership with Family Independence Initiative (FII), this stimulus program is being launched on a platform that allows us to work closely with three of our four strategic partner communities who continue to work with children and families during this crisis – Richmond, Chesterfield and Henrico.
Through an innovative public-private partnership, The Enrichmond Foundation and the City of Richmond’s Office of Community Wealth Building will coordinate one-time family stimulus gifts for families with children in the City of Richmond.
Chesterfield Education Foundation and Chesterfield County Public Schools will also implement the initiative as will Henrico Education Foundation in partnership with Henrico County Public Schools Office of Family Engagement. The platform also allows us the flexibility to add other nonprofit partners as opportunities are identified moving forward.
Our actions are motivating peer funders and individuals to get involved as well. These donors are pledging to join the initiative and invest in this family-focused, place-based effort to support families during this unprecedented time of crisis while stimulating our economy.
Every commitment makes a difference in addressing a situation of this magnitude. We are thankful for the strategic, adaptable and collaborative efforts between philanthropy, the nonprofit sector, and our local government partners to contribute to relief efforts across Richmond and the Commonwealth through initiatives like this and the many others that have launched in response to the impact of COVID-19.
Robins Foundations Launches the Family Crisis Fund
In service to our neighbors and in line with our founders’ values, we are doing everything we can to address the impact of the COVID-19 crisis for children, families and the larger community we are so proud to serve and call home.
This includes contributing to the Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund, and easing restrictions on grants from 2019 and in 2020, by allowing funds to be used for general operating expenses.
There is still one group in our community hit particularly hard by the current COVID-19 crisis and in need of immediate help in the form of direct financial assistance: families with children.
To address those needs, Robins Foundation today launched the Family Crisis Fund.
Robins has contributed $500,000, and many of our peer funders and individuals will also contribute. We hope to work with over 1,000 families.
Funds from this initiative will be disbursed to families soon as April 7th or 8th, allowing for immediate and direct relief for families and immediate impact on the local economy while our neighborhoods and communities prepare for the federal stimulus and state unemployment benefits to be activated within in the next 60 days.
Every commitment makes a difference in addressing a pandemic of this magnitude. We are thankful for the strategic, adaptive and collaborative efforts between philanthropy, the nonprofit sector and our local government partners to contribute to relief efforts across Richmond and the Commonwealth through initiatives like this and the many others that have launched in response to the impact of COVID-19.
More information about the Family Crisis Fund, its benefits, our partners, and how families can access these funds, please stay tuned for updates, to be announced on Friday, April 3rd. #VirginiaTogether
Board approves $500,000 Contribution to The Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund
As the greater Richmond region works together taking unprecedented action to flatten the infection rate for COVID-19, many institutions, organizations, and businesses are adjusting their practices, or closing altogether. While this will help reduce or slow the spread of the virus it will also create challenges for our most vulnerable children and families. We continue to focus on how that will impact the children who attend area public schools, especially those who attend Richmond Public Schools.
The Robins Foundation board has approved a $500,000 contribution to The Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund – a regional emergency response fund that will support the immediate and ongoing needs of local nonprofit organizations as they respond to the implications of COVID-19 in our community. The fund was activated by The Community Foundation for a greater Richmond, in partnership with the Emergency Management Alliance of Central Virginia and PlanRVA.
The fund will be administered as a public/private partnership between philanthropy, local government, and the nonprofit sector. Seeded with a $500,000 contribution from the Community Foundation, the fund has quickly grown to $3 million (as of this posting) with additional contributions from Altria, Atlantic Union Bank, Bank of America, The Cabell Foundation, Capital One, CarMax Foundation, Dominion Energy, Genworth, Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, VCU Health System, Wells Fargo and several individual donors.
For more information about the fund, please CLICK HERE to read the full announcement released by the Community Foundation.
We are excited to announce that Housing Families First has been awarded the $500,000 Lora M. and E. Claiborne Robins Community Innovation Grant (CIG) for their project Bringing Families Home.
Housing Families First (HFF) is a primary provider of crisis housing services for Richmond-area families experiencing homelessness. In partnership with the Richmond Public Schools McKinney-Vento Program, Bringing Families Home will provide assistance with housing search, rental applications, lease negotiation, and move-in funds so that unserved students and their families can secure stable housing and end their homelessness. This partnership project will provide the foundation – stable housing – on which students can build improved school attendance, reduced behavioral concerns, and/or improved academic achievement, while also providing parents and non-school-age siblings with the benefits of safety and stability.
“A great deal of effort has been made to ensure that every student succeeds academically, but many students, siblings, and their parents have been left behind when it comes to housing,” said Beth Vann-Turnbull, Housing Family First Executive Director. “Housing Families First is thrilled to partner with Richmond Public Schools to help families experiencing homelessness get back into a home of their own.”
CIG funds will be used by HFF to hire a Community Housing Navigator to provide housing search help, as well as financial assistance for leasing, for students and families prioritized by RPS McKinney-Vento staff.
“Each year as we take this journey through CIG grant process we are given the opportunity to learn more about and be inspired by the many amazing organizations in Richmond that are working to improve the lives of children and families in our community”, said Juliet Shield-Taylor, Robins Foundation Board Chair. “We are so excited to partner with Housing Families First and their collaborating organizations. What the Richmond Region needs is more innovative programs and approaches like Bringing Families Homes that have the capacity to really change lives.”
About Housing Families First
Originally founded in 2001 as Hilliard House, HFF supports families with minor children to access shelter and find permanent housing, then connects them with community resources to keep it. Their mission is to provide families experiencing homelessness with the tools to achieve housing stability. The goal is not only to assist families in finding permanent housing but also to ensure that each family has access to the supportive services necessary to sustain housing in the long run.
About the CIG
The CIG provides a unique opportunity, and a $500,000 award, for Richmond’s non-profits to propose actionable solutions that will have a meaningful and measurable impact on complex issues that our region has been wrestling with for generations, including homelessness, housing instability, education, workforce development, and health.
The CIG cycle started in October 2019 with proposal submissions. Organizations were invited to present ideas to the Robins staff and the CEO of the previous CIG winner. Following those presentations, ten non-profit proposals were invited to host site visits to bring their proposals to life. A committee of the Robins Foundation Board then met the top five to determine the top two finalists before announcing the recipient today.
Please take some time to view the videos from our Top 5 finalists for this year’s Lora M. and E. Claiborne Robins Community Innovation Grant.
Help Me Help You – “Reentry Navigation and Continuum of Care”
Housing Families First – “Bringing Families Home!”
Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia (HOME) – “Eviction Diversion Program”
Latinos in Virginia Empowerment Center (LIVE) – “LIVE Center”
YMCA of Great Richmond – “Newcomer Welcome Center”
We are excited to announce the Top 5 finalists for the 2020 Lora M. and E. Claiborne Robins Community Innovation Grant.
Help Me Help You Foundation
Housing Families First
Housing Opportunities Made Equal
Latinos in Virginia Empowerment
YMCA of Greater Richmond
“This dynamic group of finalists embodies the spirit of the CIG,” said Robert Dortch, Robins’ VP of Program and Community Innovation. “They are driven to collaboratively find solutions to help address our community’s unmet needs. It’s been exciting to take a deep dive with each of them and see how committed they are to serving children and families in our community through these transformative ideas.”
Each finalist is committed to finding unique approaches, offering fresh perspectives and using visionary creativity to find innovative, long-term, sustainable solutions to the issues our region has been facing for decades.
For Robins, the CIG presents an opportunity to help organizations make an impact in the community by partnering and collaborating with them over the course of several years to build the innovation, implement it in the community, give the community and opportunity to embrace it, and then measure and report the results.
We asked each of our 2020 applicants to describe their innovative idea and project and its impact in the community and tell us what will be different in the lives of the target population as a result. We also requested they specify the project’s intended change and how funds provided by Robins will be used. Here is what each had to say.
Organization: Help Me Help You Foundation Project Title: HMHY Reentry Navigation Continuum of Care Response: 89% of lived experience expert’s (LEE’s) who participated in the Richmond Family Reentry CoC planning process expressed the desire for their most basic needs to make a difference in their lives. Adequately responding to intergenerational poverty and justice inequities requires funded programs built on the individual and collective strengths of LEE’s and, their institutional knowledge and skills to most effectively assist peers returning to the local Richmond Community.
CIG funding will help provide:
Navigational support and clinical case management for 50 unique Richmond families over a two-year period. Integrated evidenced-based practices and equitable barrier-free access will ensure families are directly connected to appropriate service interventions based on their own needs surrounding family reunification and restoration.
Six weekly intensive in-home counseling services to the entire family to reinforce parenting program lessons and the family’s ability to strengthen communication, build healthy connections, and overcome difficulties.
Support for a local feasibility study to explore the development of a formal data exchange network, systemwide community-based risk need assessment tool that addresses the intersecting needs of returning citizens and their families. This public safety strategy will ensure the target population has equitable opportunities for family reunification and reintegration success, as defined by them and rule of law.
Organization: Housing Families First Project Title: Bringing Families Home Response: Housing Families First (HFF) is a primary provider of crisis housing services for Richmond-area families experiencing homelessness. Originally founded in 2001 as Hilliard House, HFF supports families with minor children in accessing shelter and finding permanent housing, then connecting them with community resources to keep it.
In partnership with the Richmond Public Schools McKinney-Vento Program, HFF proposes a project to provide assistance with housing search, rental applications, lease negotiation, and move-in funds so that unserved students and their families can secure stable housing and end their homelessness.
This partnership project will provide the foundation of stable housing on which students can build improved school attendance, reduced behavioral concerns, and/or improved academic achievement, while also providing parents and non-school-age siblings with the benefits of safety and stability.
Organization: Housing Opportunities Made Equal Project Title: Eviction Diversion Program Response: Many people who are facing eviction have fallen behind on paying their rent due to an unexpected circumstance or unforeseen event. In an effort to prevent a temporary hardship from devastating a family, HOME will reduce the number of children destabilized by eviction, and will intervene in the eviction process and help 450 people annually maintain their existing housing. The program utilizes volunteer legal conciliation, negotiating a payment plan to reconcile the past-due amount owed and a financial empowerment course. Once accomplished, these efforts may enable families to avoid the inevitable anxiety and stress that often accompanies an eviction. contributing to a more stable physical and psychological environment for students and their families to thrive.
Organization: Latinos in Virginia Empowerment Project Title: Latinos Empowerment Center Response: Latinos In Virginia Empowerment Center (The LIVE Center) was established with the belief that members of the Latino/Hispanic Community have the cultural knowledge and language proficiency to best work with and engage Spanish-speaking victims through services.
This project will impact this community by creating a coordinated, consistent, reliable, accessible, affordable, comprehensive, and most importantly, a culturally appropriate approach that ensures access to timely and accurate information about victims’ rights and available services.
Latinos Empowerment Center is a peer model that aims to tap into the abilities of individuals to share critical information and resources, as well as empower the community and promote healthy relationships with other community members.
Organization: YMCA of Greater Richmond Project Title: Newcomer Welcome Center (NWC) Response: An innovative, collaborative effort, the NWC will reduce barriers and increase immigrants’ access to critical health and social needs services. Robins’ support will help launch the YMCA’s NWC, which will serve the immigrant community through tailored programs delivered in conjunction with community partners including schools, nonprofits, houses of faith, and local government, and referrals to a wide variety of other programs and services.
The NWC will promote equity in the Richmond region by engaging newcomers in culturally competent programs and services with the goal of addressing the community’s most pressing needs in accessible location(s).
About the CIG
The CIG provides a unique opportunity for Richmond’s non-profits to propose actionable solutions that will have a meaningful and measurable impact on complex issues that our region has been wrestling with for generations, including homelessness, housing instability, education, workforce development and health. For more information on this year’s CIG, visit https://legacy.robinsfdn.org/cig-2020/.
Robins Foundation Approved $6,385,725 in Grants for 2019
At Robins Foundation we are committed to a deep focus on education with the expectation that a focus on an “education continuum” or pipeline, could lead to better outcomes and reduce some of the challenges vexing this region. We continually look for innovative ways to keep making both incremental and transformational improvements in education policy and programmatic, nonprofit practice affecting children and families.
In support of this commitment, the Robins Foundation Board approved $6,385,725 in grants in 2019, including Community Focus Grants, Strategic Partnerships, the Lora M. and E. Claiborne Robins Community Innovation Grants, Northside Proceed Grants, and Director Initiated Grants.
Community Focus Grants, awarded two times per year, are for organizations and programs seeking funding along the education continuum. The board agrees that every level on the education continuum is critical to long term regional growth and success. We want to partner with organizations working to make the Richmond region the best place for children to learn, grow and thrive. We collaborate with neighborhoods, schools, nonprofits, and peers to move our region to a point where every child is bolstered by a well-coordinated education system. This year, $2,655,000 in Community Focus Grants were approved by the board.
For Strategic Partnerships, funding provides multi-year support for organizational growth in critical operations areas: Governance, Management, Finance, Fundraising/Development (Relationship Building) and Program. We use a number of tools to support leadership development, collaboration and the strengthening of resources “from the inside out” of an organization. The strategic partnership cohort includes Richmond City, Henrico County, Chesterfield County and Petersburg City public schools. Funding for Strategic Partnerships totals $505,000 for 2019.
The Lora M. and E. Claiborne Robins Community Innovation Grant (CIG) is awarded annually and funds proposals that celebrate the imaginative, cooperative spirit of Greater Richmond. The award is designed to support a project that addresses unmet community needs or issues in emerging neighborhoods. Successful proposals for the CIG demonstrate an innovative approach to solving the need, strategic collaboration, and the potential for a wider, long-term impact on the affected audience. CIGs totaled $1,310,000 in 2019.
In support of their commitment to children and families in Richmond’s Northside, Robins invested proceeds from the March 2019 sale of the Lora M. Robins Family Learning Center to help build the capacity of anchor organizations and support programs in Richmond’s Northside. The Northside Proceed Grants total $781,865 in 2019.
Each member of our Board of Directors has the opportunity to sponsor a limited number of Director Initiated Grants to organizations they consider deserving of support. These recommendations are strictly at the discretion of individual Board members and they may not be solicited for these funds. This year, the board funded $1,000,000 in Director Initiated Grants.
We strongly believe that serving the community isn’t just about funding. It’s about time, energy and ideas. Our staff welcomes the opportunity to align and strengthen our community by learning how to best support our nonprofit partners and their activities and initiatives. We are delighted to meet with organizations and engage in thoughtful dialogue that fosters innovation and drives transformation.
Let’s have a conversation about community, together.
What an honor to receive the Transformational Philanthropy Award from the Central Virginia Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals alongside our partners at Community Foundation of Greater Richmond, the City of Richmond and Altria! We’re thrilled to be a part of this collaboration working to improve access and quality of support services for Richmond children by providing quality, year-round, out-of-school time activities.
Many thanks to our board members Sheryl Robins and Reggie Jones for accepting the award at last week’s National Philanthropy Day luncheon.
As we work daily to build upon our founders’ vision of improving quality of life and nurturing a greater, stronger Richmond for all, we’ll continue to support initiatives like this as well as organizations that ensure children have access to the necessary opportunities for success
To complete our video series with Board Chair Juliet Shield-Taylor, she talks to us about her involvement with Social, Emotional and Ethical (SEE) Learning, and the importance of kindness and compassion toward students in modern education.
In April of 2019, we had a conversation with president emeritus of University of Richmond and longstanding Robins Foundation board member, Dr. E. Bruce Heilman. We asked him to tell us about an experience that inspired him to partner with Claiborne Robins in their joint mission to help youth reach their fullest potential. We talked about Dr. Heilman’s presidency of University of Richmond, his start working in higher education and Mr. Robins’ foresight. Dr. Heilman will always be a treasured member of the Robins Foundation family.
Dr. E. Bruce Heilman July 16, 1926 – October 20, 2019
Becoming president of University of Richmond
I thought about a lot of things and finally concluded that my experience, above all others, was my first meeting with Claiborne Robins at my office at the Downtown Club, following my having rejected an offer to be president of University of Richmond. It was just the two of us for two hours with a cup of coffee in a closed room.
This was two weeks after meeting with the university committees. I had been with every committee – there must have been a dozen of them – and every one of them said I was their first choice. Still, I turned them down and went back to my presidency at Meredith College. And again, two weeks later, a board member came to persuade me to come back to the university, and I said no.
I can tell you a mistake the university made when I was there talking about being president. I was not even introduced to Mr. Robins, who said that he’s going to give $50 million dollars to the university. He wasn’t on the committee — he wasn’t on the campus.
I said to the board member, “I will do one thing. I will come back to Richmond, but I won’t come back to the university. I will meet with Mr. Robins because I think he’ll have more to do with how this university succeeds. If the university and Mr. Robins are willing to have me come back to Richmond to talk to him, having declined the presidency offer, I’m prepared to do that.”
So, they made that arrangement. I came back to Richmond. Mr. Robins and I met in the Downtown Club in a private room with a cup of coffee, and we talked for more than two hours. That was my first knowledge, first meeting, first experience with Claiborne Robins, and that set the stage, from then until his death. And that was 48 years ago.
Because of that meeting, I accepted the presidency. Mr. Robins told me what he expected, I told him what I expected, and he said, “I believe with all the committees, you’re the right person. And if you are willing to come to the University of Richmond, I guarantee you, I’ll see that you never regret it.”
I don’t know any story that can beat that one. That’s how I came to know him. And after I became president of the university, he put me on the board of his corporation, he put me on the board of the foundation, he invited me to be on the board that oversaw all the Robins’ company businesses, and he was my partner, my support. And as he said, he never allowed me to regret becoming president 48 years ago.
Mr. Robins was a supporter of the university even before he and his wife gifted $50 million dollars, which was the largest gift from a living family in the whole country. We discussed all of those things during our meeting. We discussed my authority as president, the authority of the board, his participation and support of the president, and his leadership of other members of the board. He was giving me his assurance, and obviously he was going to have much power as a member of the board in his persuasion.
From day one, in our first meeting with the University of Richmond Board, he had written to each one of the members insisting that they all be present and support me as the new president. We unleashed many different aspects, in our conversations, of how the future would unfold and his working with me as a board member. I am sure he knew – I certainly knew – he was going to have much influence simply because of his capacity of him making a great investment.
Already serving as a president before, I already knew what I had to do, I knew how the board had to function, and I knew certain members had great influence. We discussed all of that. And that’s why he said, “I guarantee you’ll never regret becoming president.”
He knew he had influence and he stood by me as president and he believed, as the other members did and all the committees that had offered me the presidency, that I supported what he believed in and he supported what I indicated I would be able to do with his money, my authority as president and our working as a team.
My life in higher education
I flunked out of high school. I was a farm boy, and I never dreamed of going to college. I joined the Marine Corps during World War II and I spent four years growing up, and that’s when I became more interested in college. Not having a full high school education paired with the benefits of the GI Bill, I tried to see if I could get into college. Without the GI Bill, there was no possibility. I applied to a senior college and was turned down because I didn’t have a high school diploma. So, I went to a smaller junior college in Kentucky that had 198 students and would take anybody. Thank goodness for it. I’m on the board today, have been for years, and I’m a very strong supporter. And I think of my time there as the foundation in college that provided for my future.
At this junior college, I was in a barrack of World War II veterans — there were 18 of us. We were all on probation because none of us had gone to high school or done well. I spent two years at this college, met my wife there, married there, graduated with a 3.9 average, and then went from there to Vanderbilt University. When I finished, I joined a public accounting firm. Then I went to audit a college and they employed me as the chief financial officer, so that’s where my higher education administration experience began. I was the president and the chief financial officer of three colleges.
Then, I decided if I was going to spend my life working at a college, I needed a Ph.D., because one day I may want to be a Dean. So, I went back to school and got a Ph.D. I had a wife and six kids at the time.
I later became the head of the Tennessee State Institution of Higher Education as the coordinator of the state system of higher education and headed up the finances of all colleges and universities there.
From there, I became vice president and dean of another college. From there, I was selected as president of Meredith. While at Meredith, I was on some national committees that highlighted my successes (and we really were successful). I was there for five years, and that’s how University of Richmond got word of what I had done, and what I was doing. That’s when they invited me up to be a candidate with 97 others for the presidency of University of Richmond. And lo and behold, I ended up being the one they selected.
How I got off the farm and back into education after flunking out of high school… folks say, “How’d you do that?” I’m not sure I know even today. Happenstance.
Most people give up when they’re not succeeding rather than fighting the battles of succeeding. And the world, as I have found, is always open if you’re working hard on your own to succeed and you discover the place where you’re capable of succeeding – for me that was my financial background. I majored in accounting at the undergraduate level, and that’s how I became a business officer, and then I moved on up to the dean position and so forth until I got to the presidency.
Opportunity in the good old USA — keep trying and doors will open
Bruce Heilman with E. Claiborne Robins
Mr. Robins’ foresight
Early on, Mr. Robins made the legal action to found the Robins Foundation. But before then, we would just meet and do pretty much what he thought we ought to do. And then when he passed away and left more money to the Foundation that’s when it became more impressive in what it was able to do. I joined the Robins Foundation Board 48 years ago and served until just a year or so ago.
Before he passed away, in fact, 10 years after I became president, he gave me a letter saying, “more has happened than I ever dreamed could happen in these 10 years.” So, I kept it, along with a few things like it where he’s responded to what his ambition was for the institution and the results of us working together to get it done.
But he was a great friend and a great promoter of everything I was able to do. So, I think of him in positive ways, no matter what age or at what point. And I spoke at his funeral and said much of that at that time because he was a great man and I had worked with him in so many dimensions. We traveled together and he inspired me, and he is the essence of why the University of Richmond is what it is today. It was not just his money, but his participation and his generous spirit and his good will.
One statement I have in my memoirs about him and the family is this…if they had simply given the $50 million dollars – the word simple sounds funny there – and said, “We’ve done our part,” it would’ve been almost nothing compared to what it became. Because they became involved and never left eminent association with the institution.
The Foundation today and those with whom I served over the years, and in more recent years the children and grandchildren as board members, have all been a great source of satisfaction to me. And I sense that with the leadership of the current person, who is doing a great job, it will continue to be even stronger into the future. So, I am very proud to have served with all those folks, and I know it’s going to carry and continue to support the other entity which I’m a part of, and that’s the University of Richmond.
If I had not come back to Richmond, and I had not said, “I will talk to Mr. Robins because I think he’ll make the difference in the future,” who knows where I’d be. The university arranged the meeting, I met with him, and when I left the meeting, I went directly to the university and accepted the presidency.
You never know where the chips will fall or where the ships will sail.
Abigail Farris Rogers, Barbara Couto Sipe, Damon Jiggetts and Sean Miller column: Don’t leave Richmond’s children behind
By Abigail Farris Rogers, Barbara Couto Sipe, Damon Jiggetts and Sean Miller Oct 21, 2019
A swim instructor worked with second graders from Bellevue Elementary School at the Downtown YMCA in Richmond last year. Out-of-school time activities can help improve academic and social-emotional outcomes for children living in poverty. DANIEL SANGJIB MIN/TIMES-DISPATCH
Richmond’s children need quality, year-round, out-of-school time (OST) activities; students who aren’t involved in structured, supervised learning during out-of-school hours have the greatest danger of accidents, victimization and high-risk behavior, including crime and drugs. This need is acute for our under-resourced children. These students often begin school unprepared and continue to fall behind peers without quality OST programming.
Our local United Way chapter has reported 63.2% of children in Richmond are under-resourced, living below 200% of the poverty level. The third-grade reading SOL passage rate, an important indicator of learning and future performance, is just 40.9% for low-income Richmond students and has declined steadily in recent years. The on-time high school graduation rate of 75.4% is well below the state average of 91.6%. These issues cannot be solved by schools alone.
Our children are our future, and their future depends on a quality education, both in and out of school. From our schools, students need a strong pre-K to 12 instructional experience. Equally important is providing for the 80% of learning occurring informally outside of school. By one estimate, middle-income sixth graders have already spent 6,000 more hours learning than those born into poverty, and the biggest portion of that learning gap happens after school and during the summer. We need to ensure all our children have access to quality learning opportunities, providing working families with relief and equipping children with skills to live and thrive in a dynamic and rapidly changing local and global society.
It is imperative that our community provide out-of-school time opportunities for our youth.
Quality OST programs have a demonstrated positive effect on academic and social-emotional outcomes for youth living in poverty. The Promising Afterschool Programs study observed approximately 3,000 students, 85% of whom were Latinx or African American, from low-income families attending 35 afterschool programs nationwide. The study determined that those who regularly attended high-quality OST programs over two years saw gains in standardized math test scores compared to non-participants. Additionally, misconduct and drug and alcohol use decreased.
What is the answer locally?
A number of Richmond organizations have championed youth development challenges for many years. In 2017, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney charged a group with developing a vision for a city-wide OST system to improve access and quality of support services available to all Richmond children and uphold the city’s pledge to reduce and mitigate poverty.
This group, which includes Richmond Public Schools, nonprofits and members of the philanthropic community, was tasked with increasing access for students and quality at elementary and middle school afterschool and summer programs. In January 2020, there will be an OST provider at every elementary and middle school in the city of Richmond and approximately 1,300 students participating in quality OST programs who did not previously have access.
As partnering organizations, we are committed to creating equity of access for all students. We recognize that the circumstances and challenges many of our students and families face require us to be strategic and innovative in aligning our efforts and investments to increase both short-term and long-term success, in and out of school.
We are making progress. Expanded before- and after-school and summer school programs improve academic outcomes, develop social-emotional and 21st-century skills, and inspire children to learn.
The impact of OST programs is critical for the success of Richmond’s students and families, and this collaboration must continue to grow and expand. Additional resources are needed to enhance the continuum of high-quality programming by building capacity and closing gaps in services to promote ongoing student development and reinforce in school learning. By creating a sustainable infrastructure to address barriers to access, collect and analyze data, and assess program quality and outcomes, we will ensure all students and families can benefit from OST.
This is just the beginning of a new chapter. It is our privilege to be part of this growing effort to create a world-class learning environment for Richmond’s children. It will require additional capacity and financial commitment to successfully sustain and scale this initiative to ensure all children have an opportunity to thrive. We are committed to this effort because our city, our families and most importantly, our children deserve it. As we join a national movement to celebrate Lights on Afterschool on Oct. 24, we ask you to champion and support our collective efforts to help ensure the growth and education of Richmond’s youth by supporting a local OST program through a donation, volunteering and/or mentoring a child.
Abigail Farris Rogers is executive vice president and chief advancement officer of the YMCA of Greater Richmond. Contact her at: rogersa@ymcarichmond.org Barbara Couto Sipe is president & CEO of NextUp RVA. Contact her at: bcsipe@nextuprva.org
Organization: Help Me Help You Foundation
Organization: Housing Families First
Organization: Housing Opportunities Made Equal
Organization: Latinos in Virginia Empowerment
Organization: YMCA of Greater Richmond
