C-VILLE Giving Guide | 2023

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Throughthegenerosityofvolunteertutorsand financialsupporters,LiteracyVolunteersof Charlottesville/Albemarleprovidesfree, one-to-oneEnglishandCitizenshiptutoring foradultlearnersinourcommunity.

City Schoolyard Garden

Urban Agriculture Collective Food Justice Network

Cultivate Charlottesville engages with youth and community to build a healthy and just food system.

Food is a human right, and we aim to create food equity—personally, in community, and across systems and structures.

Our 2023 Community Engagement Cohort is currently amplifying the voices of their neighbors and advocating for increased urban agriculture land in Charlottesville.

Charlottesville's Booker T. Washington Park has a legacy as a thriving hub of the African American community. For decades, Black Charlottesville residents played a key role in transforming the land from a history of injustice to a history of reclamation. Let’ s come together to build an urban farm, bring back land lost, and move food justice forward!

Donate and learn more at www.cultivatecharlottesville.org

Piedmont CASA

Kate Duvall, President and CEO

Piedmont CASA provides best-interest advocacy for children in the courts of the 16th Judicial District of Virginia. We strive to make sure that every child experiencing possible abuse and/or neglect is safe, has a permanent home, and has the opportunity to thrive.

What is the best way for community members to become more involved in your cause?

Become a Piedmont CASA Volunteer, or support the work they do. No special background, work experience, or education is required to become a CASA. We encourage individuals from all cultures, professions, and educational backgrounds to volunteer.

League of Women Voters of the Charlottesville Area

Meg Heubeck, President

The League of Women Voters of the Charlottesville Area is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization whose mission is to inform, educate, and advocate for the voters of Virginia. We do not endorse nor oppose any political party or candidate. Our positions on issues are seen through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our service area includes the counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson and Charlottesville City.

How does your nonprofit represent and support the Charlottesville area?

The Botanical Garden of the Piedmont is a growing community resource bringing people of all ages and backgrounds together to celebrate and nurture our native flora and fauna. BGP embraces inclusion by inviting everyone to participate in the Garden to further our goal of being a place that promotes human and environmental well-being. In nature and in society, diversity matters—we welcome and celebrate it!

Foothills Child Advocacy Center

Hannah Hoffman, Executive Director and Team

Foothills Child Advocacy Center provides a coordinated system of effective response and intervention to children who have been victimized. Our goals are to minimize trauma, promote healing, and ensure child safety by offering forensic interviews, family advocacy, medical exams and mental health therapy. What’s your most successful program and how has it made an impact in your field?

Our forensic interviewers open the door for children to share their stories and disclose abuse without judgement. Children can also have a trauma-informed medical exam with our Medical Director where they receive assurance that their body can be healthy despite what has happened to them.

Solutions start in the South.

We are the Southern Environmental Law Center, one of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted right here in the South. As lawyers, policy and issue experts, and community advocates and partners, we take on the toughest challenges to protect our air, water, land, wildlife and the people who live here. Together, we can solve the most complex environmental challenges right here in Virginia.

WHAT WE DO

The League of Women Voters encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

We do not endorse or oppose candidates for a political office or for a political party.

We are committed to applying the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of our operations and activities.

We support government policies that apply these principles in addressing social, environmental and economic problems in our communities.

We hold government officials accountable for decision-making that promotes widespread informed and civic participation.

Learn more about what we do at our website lwv-cva.org and Facebook page.

JOIN US IN OUR MISSION! Contact us: lwv@lwv-cva.org

United Way

Ravi Respeto, President & CEO

At United Way of Greater Charlottesville, we envision a strong, equitable community where every person can thrive. Through direct services, grantmaking, and partnerships with businesses, local government, and nonprofits, we work to connect our community, so individuals and families can achieve their potential.

What is the best way for community members to become more involved in your cause?

Community members can support our efforts by volunteering, donating, or simply spreading the word about what we do. We have one-time, ongoing, and event-based volunteer opportunities on our website. Our largest volunteer event is Day of Caring, which will take place on Wednesday, September 20 this year. Please visit our website for more information!

www.pcasa.org

Cultivate Charlottesville

Aleen Carey, Co-Executive Director

Cultivate Charlottesville engages youth and community in building an equitable, sustainable food system through garden-based experiential learning, growing and sharing healthy food, amplifying community leaders, and advocating for food justice.

What is the best way for community members to become more involved in your cause?

Community members are welcome to volunteer at our community gardens or as part of our Harvest of the Month program in the city schools! We also send out a monthly newsletter that highlights different events and opportunities for folks to get involved with our work. And, of course, we rely on donations to do this work and are grateful for any contributions.

cultivatecharlottesville.org

Botanical Garden of the Peidmont

Executive Director Jill Trischman-Marks

The mission of the Botanical Garden of the Piedmont is to welcome all community members and visitors to engage in nature, to inspire learning through the beauty and importance of plants, to advance sustainability, and to promote human and environmental well-being. How does your nonprofit represent and support the Charlottesville area?

The Botanical Garden of the Piedmont is a growing community resource bringing people of all ages and backgrounds together to celebrate and nurture our native flora and fauna. BGP embraces inclusion by inviting everyone to participate in the Garden to further our goal of being a place that promotes human and environmental well-being. In nature and in society, diversity matters—we welcome and celebrate it!

WE NEED CASA VOLUNTEERS!

Kids with CASA Volunteers receive more medical, therapeutic, and educational support. They spend less time in foster care because they find safe, permanent homes faster. Plus they have more hope, and kids with hope are more likely to thrive.

Volunteer Donate

“As a dad myself, I was looking for a way to give back to the community and have a real impact on a child’s life. CASA has been a perfect fit.”

Casey Werderman CASA Volunteer

Serving children in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Greene, Louisa, and Fluvanna. Coming soon to Madison and Orange.

IX Art Park

Lisa Capraro, Executive Director Ix Art Park Foundation

Our mission is to spark creativity and inspiration in people’s everyday lives. We seek to empower the community through curating accessible art opportunities and welcoming experiences that provide all community members an inclusive space to thrive creatively.

How does your nonprofit represent and support the Charlottesville area?

Our vision is to continue to build a creative ecosystem that fosters artistic opportunity and accessible art. We do so by managing a 24-hour free mural and sculpture art park as well as the Looking Glass, Virginia’s first permanent immersive art experience, and community-driven event series including weekly markets supporting women and minority entrepreneurs, arts education programs for underserved youth, and creative empowerment programs for the community at large.

Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/ Albemarle

Ellen Osborne, Executive Director

Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle promotes adult literacy through equitable, inclusive, free, confidential English and Citizenship tutoring. Our vision is that all adults will be able to understand, speak, read, write, and communicate in English to fully participate in our community. To that end, we recruit and train volunteers in the community to work one-on-one with adults interested in learning.

How does your nonprofit represent and support the Charlottesville area?

Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle primarily supports our community by helping adults learn to read, write, and speak the English language so that they may fully participate in our society. Also, LVCA provides a rewarding outlet for volunteers to find meaningful work in helping new arrivals to our country adjust to their new community.

Living Earth School

Hub Knott, Co-Founder and Executive Director

The Living Earth School fosters deeper connections to self, community, and the world around us through meaningful experiences with nature and highly skilled mentorship.

What’s your most successful program and how has it made an impact in your field?

Our summer camps have been the most successful because they open the doors to long-term relationships. We’ve seen kids come for a week one summer, then return year after year, growing into overnight camps and participating in our year-round programs. We’ve even seen parents of campers join us for our adult workshops, building community and their own nature connection. We’ve created programs for those 5 to 85 so that participants can grow with us as they deepen their understanding of the world around them.