2023-2024
A COMMITMENT TO POSITIVE CHANGE
As your community foundation, we are honored to be part of a legacy of generosity that is rooted in a keen awareness of our interconnectedness as people sharing a place and time. Our founders were convinced that we all have an obligation to offer our individual resources in order to ensure our neighbors — whose current condition is necessarily intertwined with ours — have basic amenities, opportunity, enrichment, and compassionate care. We consider this our calling.
UNITED FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE
As we reflect on this past year, I am inspired by the spirit of generosity and togetherness that has driven our work in the region. Our region thrives when every individual, every family, and every neighborhood is engaged, contributing to a shared vision for a place we all call home. This work takes all of us—united by a commitment to listen, learn, and act together in ways that lift up our communities and honor our interconnectedness.
At the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, our mission is anchored in humility and care, holding both the resources we steward and the responsibility of approaching our work with empathy and openness. We are continually reimagining how we can deploy resources in ways that are innovative, impactful, and lasting. This requires looking beyond the immediate horizon, finding creative paths to solutions, and building an inclusive, resilient foundation for the future.
We are driven by the voices of those closest to the issues, informed by data, and motivated by the insights of individuals throughout our region. By supporting convening spaces and collaborative problem-solving, we foster connections that help shape new possibilities. From local impact investing to supporting bold, forward-looking donors, scholarship initiatives, and relationship-building efforts, we’re partnering with changemakers dedicated to bridging gaps and advancing equity.
By supporting the generous giving of philanthropists whose steady commitment to ensuring that a supportive safety net exists,
we create space for others to innovate and imagine new solutions for our region. It is only through our collective commitment—as fundholders, donors, and community partners—that we can create long-lasting change. Thank you for standing with us, for your trust, and for your shared belief in a brighter future for all.
With gratitude and resolve,
Brennan Gould
President and CEO
OUR MISSION
As a community-centered, equity forward institution, our mission is to improve the quality of life for those negatively impacted by inequitable systems across our region, so that we can be a region in which everyone can belong, participate, contribute, and thrive.
OUR VALUES
We hold ourselves accountable to living the values of curiosity, truth, solidarity, proximity, and repair in all parts of our work, practice, and organization.
CELEBRATING PARTNERSHIPS
Millions of dollars in resources from generous donors and philanthropists pass through the Community Foundation into our region each year. Together with individuals and family funds at the foundation, we're making even greater investments in rural, new and emerging, and Black and ALAANA-led organizations in our region. The Bama Works Fund, the Louisa County Community Fund, the PB&J Fund, the Solidarity Grant, and the Sudden and Urgent Needs Grant are only a few of the competitive grant programs at the foundation that have supported communities that find it challenging to access the resources they need to make an impact.
RURAL
In 2023, we distributed funding across our competitive grant programs to over 200 organizations serving rural communities in our region.
NEW AND EMERGING
Each year, several new and emerging organizations in our region apply for our grants. In 2023, nearly 100 of these organizations received funding across our competitive grant programs.
BLACK AND
ALAANA-LED ORGS
In 2023, nearly 150 Black or ALAANA-led organizations received over $1 million of funding from our competitive grant programs at the foundation.
*ALAANA stands for African, Latine, Asian, Arab, and Native American
As we learn about the ever-changing needs of our region, we can adapt our work to respond in ways that are nimble and creative. Here are examples of the work that we have grown in 2023:
CATCHAFIRE
Four years ago, we partnered with Catchafire to provide small, rural, emerging, and ALAANA-led organizations with access to pro bono capacity-building expertise. To date, the program has supported 163 non-profits in our region with 23,800 volunteer hours, saving them over $4.5 million in expenses. Catchafire is now available to agency funds and all discretionary program applicants.
RURAL COMMUNITY OFFICE HOURS
Our region is diverse, and we want to make sure we’re building deeper and more meaningful relationships. Rather than expecting organizations to come to us, our staff hosts in-person office hours that take place each month in different counties of our region.
SOLIDARITY GRANTS
Our region is diverse, and we want to make sure we’re building deeper and more meaningful relationships. Rather than expecting organizations to come to us, our staff hosts in-person office hours that take place each month in different counties of our region.
UNDERSTANDING OUR REGION
The data reveals that people across our region are experiencing vastly different realities. Disparities in household income, housing costs, and educational attainment demonstrate that our region is not yet one where everyone can thrive.
Household Income
Housing Burden
Educational Attainment by 18- to 24-Year-Olds
LEVERAGING OUR STRENGTHS
Our work makes the biggest impact when we do it with others. We are proud to join as thought partners, co-investors, and conveners in the community to drive new and creative initiatives forward in our region.
BEACON
The Community Foundation joined as a co-investor, thought partner, and convener of funders to support the development of BEACON (Black Entrepreneurial Advancement and Community Opportunity)—a business incubator and accelerator that advances financial opportunity in the food industry for Black entrepreneurs facing barriers to entry. BEACON’s shared-use kitchen will be a licensed commercial space, providing culinary entrepreneurs with a professional facility to prepare food for sale or distribution.
501 Cherry Ave. Project
Home to several historically Black communities, the Fifeville neighborhood holds deep significance to residents, many of whom are grappling with the effects of gentrification and displacement in their neighborhood. With funding from the Community Foundation’s Solidarity Grant, the Fifeville Neighborhood Association is engaging the community to create a proposal for the development of the 501 Cherry Avenue parcel. The project aims to address the lack of affordable housing, community spaces, and food access. By convening stakeholders and building the neighborhood association's capacity, we are working to ensure this project provides lasting resources for a neighborhood that has endured decades of disinvestment.
Local Impact Investing
Impact investments generate both targeted social benefits and financial returns. Unlike grants, these funds are repaid and reinvested in the community. Through local impact investing, we can support communities and initiatives that have faced disinvestment and barriers to accessing critical financial resources.
REDEVELOPING HOUSING
The Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund (AHOF), established by Dave Matthews Band and Red Light Management, is raising funds to revitalize Charlottesville’s public housing and increase affordable housing in the city. Spread over more than 40 acres, the city’s public housing units are deteriorating and in dire need of replacement. Residents living in these failing public housing units have been consistently marginalized and divested from, as Charlottesville continues to face an affordable housing crisis.
Reinvesting in these communities means empowering residents to reimagine their neighborhoods, engaging partner organizations and entities such as the Public Housing Association of Residents (PHAR) and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CHRA), and providing opportunities for local developers to volunteer their time and resources to the effort. Through a multi-phased plan, all public housing units are currently being rebuilt or renovated. Dave Matthews Band, Dave Matthews, and Red Light Management have made a $5 million catalyzing gift. They have also raised approximately $28 million of the $30 million goal in private support to supplement government funding of the initiative.
The Community Foundation leveraged its convening power and resources to invest in relationship building between the City, the Public Housing Association of Residents, and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. By funding a process of relationship building, we helped open lines of communication and trust among groups facing challenges to working collaboratively.
Crescent Halls public housing unit in Charlottesville, VA
THE ALLEN OPPORTUNITY
SCHOLARSHIP
The Allen Opportunity Scholarship was established by Greg and Elizabeth Allen to help Charlottesville High School seniors—particularly prospective first-generation college students—achieve their dreams of earning a college degree. The Opportunity Scholarship awards $10,000 annually for up to four years to four students who are dedicated to continuing their education despite the barriers they face.
As their own children attended schools in Charlottesville, Greg and Elizabeth Allen became acutely aware of the disparities in access between students who were expected to continue their education, and those for whom attending college was not yet an option. They chose to house their scholarship fund at the Community Foundation where they could benefit from the foundation’s scholarship infrastructure and facilitation, while maintaining their role in cultivating meaningful relationships with awardees and their families.
Greg and Elizabeth Allen
“We suspect there are many potential donors who would like to open scholarships, but simply don’t know where to start. The Community Foundation is a great solution because it has the infrastructure to facilitate and manage scholarships. We have been amazed at how easy it is to not only change lives through access to education, but also to have a powerful impact on the greater CHS community at the same time.”
BLACK MOTHERS BLOOMING
On October 1, 2024, we launched the application for Black Mothers Blooming, a reparative gift dedicated to celebrating and supporting Black mothers and women-identifying caregivers of young children in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Black Mothers Blooming is informed by the work of racial repair, which seeks to acknowledge and address the ongoing disinvestment in Black communities, and specifically in Black mothers by providing direct, consistent, and unconditional financial support.
Through a multi-year community collaboration with aligned philanthropists, a steering committee of nine local Black mothers, the Piedmont Housing Alliance Financial Opportunity Center, and The Equity Center, we introduced a reparative giving model focused on addressing ongoing injustices in our region. We also learned that providing consistent and unconditional financial support to moderate- or low-income families when their child is 10 years of age or younger has the greatest long-term positive impact on the child’s development. In January 2025, fifty Black mothers of children ages 10 and younger will be chosen to receive $1,000 per month for the duration of four years. In addition to financial support, participants will have access to complimentary holistic wellness services.
Eboni Bugg, Director of Programs, Community Foundation
“At its heart, Black Mothers Blooming gives us a clear look at what the work of repair can look like in our region. When philanthropists, organizations, and community members work together to reimagine new ways of addressing harm, we all heal together.”
HOW WE WORK
WAYS TO GIVE
1
SUPPORT
OUR
LEADERSHIP
Make an annual gift to support our convening and catalyzing work and to help our team distribute resources across the region.
2
ENSURE OUR LEADERSHIP FOR YOUR FUTURE
Make a difference in our region for the long term by
supporting our endowment.
3
JOIN US
IN MAKING
AN IMPACT
Collaborate with us by opening a fund or co-funding a project.
4
BUILD
A GREATER
LEGACY
Make an impact on future generations in our region by including the Community Foundation in your estate plans.
For questions about giving, or to contribute, please contact Terrel White by emailing advancement@cacfonline.org or visit our online donation page.
THANK YOU
Donors to the Community Foundation consistently demonstrate incredible compassion and care for our region.
Their unwavering support reinforces our core belief that we are all better when we invest in and care for one another.
Each gift we receive is accompanied by stories of people who are deeply committed to their neighborhoods and communities.
Because of your generosity, our philanthropy can be well positioned to be creative, nimble, and responsive to address the needs of our region.
We are grateful for the trust you have placed in us.
Thank you for supporting our community.
Thank you for standing in solidarity as we continue working together to ensure that our region becomes one where all can belong, contribute, and thrive.
GOVERNING BOARD
Andrea Roberts,
Chair of the Governing Board
Kristin L. Henningsen,
Vice Chair of the Governing Board
Jake Zarnegar,
Secretary of the Governing Board
Ashleigh O’Brien
Bethany Teachman
Bob Downer
Bob Sweeney
Charles Lewis
Diane Schmidt
Glenn Rust
Helene Downs
Josephus Allmond
Libby Edwards-Allbaugh
Ray Mishler
Photos by Joumana Altallal, Monica Pedynkowski, and Kori Price; Dave Matthews Band courtesy of Red Light Management