Presenting our 2019 CIG Recipient – Commonwealth Catholic Charities
Congratulations to Commonwealth Catholic Charities!
We are thrilled to announce the award of the 2019 Lora M. and E. Claiborne Robins Community Innovation Grant of $500,000 to Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC) for their Youth Housing Stability Project.
Focused on ending youth homelessness and housing instability in Richmond communities, Youth Housing Stability Project is a partnership between Commonwealth Catholic Charities, Advocates for Richmond Youth, The United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg, and VCU School of Social Work.
“Commonwealth Catholic Charities is committed to ending homelessness across our service area, and we have learned from youth with a lived experience of homelessness about the gap in housing services for this population – we are honored to be a part of this project which has been developed and led by young people,” said Jay Brown, CEO, Commonwealth Catholic Charities. “Our project is another step towards ending youth homelessness and housing instability in Greater Richmond. We are grateful to the Robins Foundation for seeing our vision and we welcome them as a new partner in making it a reality”
“The Youth Housing Stability Project proposal from Commonwealth Catholic Charities perfectly represents the compassionate, giving spirit of our grandparents and we could not be happier with our selection of them today,” said Juliet Shield-Taylor, Chair of the Robins Foundation Board of Directors and granddaughter of the foundation’s founders, for whom the grant is named. “We look forward to working with them toward ending youth homelessness and improving outcomes for kids and families in our region.”
The project will impact the community in three primary ways. First, building a collective network of community resources to support youth will help them avoid the trauma of housing instability or homelessness. Second, it will develop our community’s ability to achieve the benchmarks set by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness which include the ability to identify the often-invisible population of youth experiencing house instability. Finally, it will foster a space where innovative ideas can be incubated and cultivated among providers and youth committed to ending youth housing instability.
“Today is the culmination of a long and thorough process for all the amazing organizations who submitted proposals as well as for the board committee and our staff,” said Kelly Chopus, President and CEO Robins Foundation. “We are thrilled to partner with Commonwealth Catholic Charities, and their collaborating organizations. The Richmond region needs innovative approaches like the Youth Housing Instability Project that have the potential to really change lives.”
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 2018 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. Next, a committee of the Robins Foundation Board will meet the top five to determine the top two finalists. The recipient of the CIG will be announced by Robins Foundation March 5th.
Robins Foundation was established in 1957 by E. Claiborne Robins and Lora M. Robins. The vision of the Foundation is to advance the greater Richmond community through strategic partnerships, collaborations and education, all of which will serve as a model for creating an environment of fairness and opportunity for everyone to thrive. To achieve this vision, Robins continues to conduct and support initiatives that encourage policy shifts, align with peers and nonprofits around community issues, and make investments that cultivate and support innovative solutions.