Good Tidings News from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation
S p r i n g / Su m m e r
2022
Helping Seniors Thrive Lee Dear
Marshall McCorkle considered herself to be fairly Primeplus wanted to offer a diabetes lifestyle change healthy. Since retiring as a school reading specialist in program in response “to some sad data we were starting to 2010, McCorkle has regularly participated in classes at the see among seniors during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Bob Primeplus Senior Center in Norfolk, where she now teaches Batcher, the nonprofit’s executive director. Diabetes testing tai chi. Two hip replacements have helped her stay active plummeted during the pandemic because seniors were not despite osteoarthritis. going to the doctor as much. As seniors resumed doctor visits, So McCorkle, 81, was Batcher said a “sky-high” caught off guard last fall when problem with prediabetes her doctor diagnosed her as became apparent. prediabetic. The grant from the Determined to do community foundation everything she could to avoid helped Primeplus prepare developing Type 2 diabetes, the program and promote McCorkle signed up for the it to local residents — new, free PreventT2 Program primarily through doctors’ at Primeplus. A two-year, offices, senior services, and $100,000 grant from the churches — as a structured Hampton Roads Community program using an approach Foundation funded PreventT2, proven to prevent or delay which recently started with diabetes. 17 seniors who will meet “The key is, you’re not regularly for a year to support alone,” Batcher said. “It’s each other as they learn about better to do things in an nutrition, exercise, and stress accountable community.” management. Another cohort Based on national The PreventT2 program is helping seniors overcome diabetes is in the works. research, adults who lose with the help of a community foundation grant. McCorkle soon found that five to seven percent of their lifestyle changes the program weight can cut their risk encourages — such as walking regularly, tracking what she of developing diabetes by 71 percent among adults over 60 — eats, and drinking enough water — gave her more energy an age category that includes many taking part in PreventT2. and lifted her overall mood. She also dropped six pounds Participants maintain activity logs and action plans to stay on within a few weeks. track, and the program creates a supportive environment. “It’s a whole new opening of my eyes to see what I do and “I love teaching people that the things they think they what I’m capable of doing,” said McCorkle, a member of the can’t accomplish, they can,” said Brittany Acevedo, Primeplus Primeplus board. wellness coordinator who leads the program. Acevedo According to the Centers for Disease Control and transitioned from working part-time to full-time because of Prevention, one out of three American adults has prediabetes. the grant. Their blood sugar is higher than normal, raising their risk of “Health doesn’t have to be this big scary monster,” she Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Many don’t know said. “You can take it in bite-size pieces and make a they are prediabetic. lifestyle change.”
Giving Black® Hampton Roads:
The Genesis of American Black Philanthropy Philanthropy is for everyone. To learn more about the diversity in giving, the community foundation commissioned the Giving Black® Hampton Roads study in 2021. The project engaged more than 600 Black residents and uncovered important insights, such as the fact that 98 percent of Black donors gave to charitable causes during the past year and that 30 percent of them gave $5,000 or more. “Black philanthropy is the economic engine which powers and empowers our community – sustaining social, business, educational, and religious institutions all while supporting friends and families in need,” said Vivian Oden, vice president for equity and inclusion at the community foundation.
Study Highlights Throughout time, Blacks have used their resources to help those in need. For example, in the 1850s, Blacks who
were not enslaved risked their livelihoods and lives to assist enslaved people seeking freedom. People like John Minkins of Norfolk, a free Black man, helped Henry “Box” Brown flee from slavery by hiding in a box aboard the City of Richmond steamship where Minkins worked.
Black Donors have left a lasting impact on Hampton Roads,
like Dr. Sam Coppage, a professor who died in 2014. His estate created four funds to benefit two local churches, Tidewater Community College, and Hampton University, which is a historically Black school.
Learn more at HamptonRoadsCF.org/GivingBlackHR Dr. Sam Coppage
Creating Brighter Futures Through Scholarships Scholarships can take students far in school and in life – literally. Just ask Coley Stone, who earned a scholarship from the community foundation after he graduated from Norfolk’s Granby High. Courtesy photo
Stone now serves as assistant to the registrar of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. The registrar oversees operations of the 15-judge world court. Stone, who graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University, was the first in his family to attend college. A 1992 bequest from the late Ettie Fearing Cunningham created the scholarship Stone received. Cunningham taught math at Blair Junior High in the 1920s, and because of her generosity,
is still helping young people today. Since 1950, charitable people have established more than 90 scholarship endowments at the community foundation. As a result, we are southeastern Virginia’s largest scholarship provider, helping students in need afford college. For the 2021-22 school year, we provided over $1.4 million to help 417 students. Visit HamptonRoadsCF.org/ Scholarships to learn about the students and where they’re going to school.
Coley Stone
Soundings
The Importance of Childcare
region had access to high-quality early care and education. Years later, in 2016, we stood up Minus 9 to 5 in partnership with the M. Foscue Brock Institute for Community and Global Health at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Deploying a collective impact framework, this This is the third year that we have program focuses on conception through the been living with the coronavirus. Indeed, child’s fifth birthday. Its vision is to ensure that with the myriad mitigation vaccines and each of the region’s families is “equipped and protocols, most of us have made peace with supported to raise children who are healthy, its disruptive forces. thriving, and ready to learn.” These efforts, as At the Hampton Roads Community Deborah DiCroce well as such state-wide organizations as the Foundation, we have also gained powerful President and CEO Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and insights into the business of work — both Elevate Early Education (E3), have become ours and yours. Throughout the pandemic, for example, we informed advocates for the vital role that early education plays in have marveled at our technological infrastructure as it powers a providing equitable opportunities for a child’s future success in transparent “open for business” presence to the public and our kindergarten and primary school. multiple stakeholders. And while today the doors of our physical And then, in 2020, came the coronavirus, which closed most offices have fully reopened, we have a newfound appreciation for schools and daycare facilities, often leaving parents to fend for the efficiency of technology in conducting Foundation business and themselves. The result forced mostly mothers to quit their jobs. It outreach. Where exactly the Foundation lands in its deployment of also left childcare workers, who were already in short supply with the lessons learned on the technological front remains to be seen. hourly-rate pay below the minimum wage in most cases, to be For now, we are piloting a hybrid work arrangement that provides laid off. Of course, the eureka moment here is that childcare is a most staff with the flexibility of a two-day remote option within public as well as a social good and, as such, is a crucial piece the work week. We also no longer presume that every meeting or of the infrastructure that advances the American economy. event is “in person” and have become more strategic about setting The pandemic uncovered this structural hole in our the location — i.e., face-to-face or virtual — within the context of childcare system at multiple levels, forcing us to find a more what best advances the individual activity’s goals and deliverables. strategic answer to the questions of cost for one — i.e., what Of course, what remains steadfast from our pre-Covid world is our should quality childcare cost — and, for another, who should pay commitment to providing superlative stewardship and service to for it. While there are no easy answers here, the questions are our donors and other partners in philanthropy. critical to a thriving economy. Public policymakers at all levels of That said, perhaps our most insightful lesson from the past government, private businesses, and consumers all have a stake two years is the vital role that childcare plays in undergirding a in them. So, too, does philanthropy, which needs to rethink its thriving economy. On the one hand, this area is not new to the historically short-term programmatic approach to the childcare Foundation. For example, some fifteen years ago, the Foundation crisis and find its role in helping to recognize the greater public was instrumental in launching Smart Beginnings networks across good inherent in early care and education. Hampton Roads with a goal of ensuring that every child in the Stay tuned.
Here Is How You Can Leave a Legacy Choose to give now or leave a gift in your will. Give cash, stocks, or other assets. We welcome any size donation. Gifts of $25,000 or more let you start a named fund for your chosen charitable cause. The best part? It lasts forever. Explore the options at right, then contact Kay Stine, vice president for development, at (757) 622-7951 or KStine@HamptonRoadsCF.org.
Types of Charitable Funds Available: Unrestricted funds tackle an array of critical community needs now and those we can’t foresee.
Field-of-interest funds provide grants to nonprofits working in key areas such as the arts, education, or the environment.
Donor-advised funds let living donors recommend grants to specific nonprofits. Scholarship funds help college students pay for their education. Designated funds forever provide annual grants to specific nonprofits you name. Organizational funds are for nonprofits wishing to start an endowment.
Giving Together
How the Community Leadership Partners Give Back
Recent grant recipients are:
...........................................................................
Big Brothers Big Sisters Services, Inc. $5,000 ........................................................................... Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, Inc. $15,000 ........................................................................... Communities In Schools of Hampton Roads $20,000 ........................................................................... Community Harvest Outreach $2,000 ........................................................................... ForKids, Inc. $15,000 ........................................................................... Hampton Roads Workforce Foundation $20,000 ........................................................................... Neighborhood $12,000 ........................................................................... New Vision Youth Services, Inc. $2,500 ...........................................................................
Courtesy photo
The Community Leadership Partners, a giving group at the community foundation, recently awarded $200,000 in grants to 15 area nonprofits. These organizations provide programs and services to young people ages 16-24 who are neither working, in school, nor in military service. Their programs meet basic needs, support health and wellness, and help young people achieve educational success, workforce training, and/or employment placement. Since 2010, the Partners have awarded more than $2.5 million to local nonprofits. Learn more or join at CommunityLeadershipPartners.org.
Communities In School ...........................................................................
StandUP for Kids Hampton Roads $17,000 ........................................................................... The Literacy Lab $8,000 ........................................................................... Tidewater Friends of Foster Care, Inc. $24,000 ........................................................................... Tidewater Youth Services Foundation $15,000 ........................................................................... Together We Can Foundation $17,500 ........................................................................... Virginia Beach CASA $20,000 ........................................................................... Wesley Community Service Center, Inc. $7,000 ...........................................................................
Recent Grants
The Hampton Roads Community Foundation recently awarded competitive community grants to these nonprofits from its unrestricted and field-of-interest funds to support a host of charitable causes in the region, some over a multi-year period. For full details, go to HamptonRoadsCF.org/RecentGrants. Grant recipients include: ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Arts Alliance $493,000 The Hermitage Museum and Gardens $10,000 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Chesapeake Humane Society $100,000 Tidewater African Cultural Alliance $15,482 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Community Outreach Coalition $45,000 Tidewater Arts Outreach $3,200 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Don Carey REECH Foundation $18,000 Tidewater Friends of Foster Care $60,000 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Eastern Virginia Medical School $14,979 Trails of Purpose $22,500 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Families of Autistic Children of Tidewater $35,100 Urban Renewal Center $150,000 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Help and Emergency Response, Inc. $34,706 Virginia Arts Festival $500,000 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... KD Entertainment, known as Shark City Drums $30,000 Virginia Beach SPCA $100,000 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Joy Ministries $30,000 Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities $10,000 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Minus 9 to 5 $197,807 Virginia Dental Association Foundation $7,500 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Norfolk Botanical Garden $7,500 Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition $50,000 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Norfolk SPCA $100,000 Virginia League for Planned Parenthood $45,000 ............................................................ ............... ........................................................................... Peninsula Community Foundation of Virginia $10,000 Virginia Symphony Orchestra $250,000 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Primeplus Norfolk Senior Center $100,000 Virginia Wesleyan University $47,500 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Reinvent Hampton Roads $200,000 Wesley Community Service Center, Inc. $30,000 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... Samaritan House $20,296 YMCA of South Hampton Roads $18,260 ........................................................................... ........................................................................... T2 Fitness Foundation $30,000 YWCA South Hampton Roads $122,538 ........................................................................... ...........................................................................
Giving Hearts
Meet Randy and DeAnne Williams Courtesy photo
Randy and DeAnne our goal to just help financially. Williams are partners in life and We also aim to impact people in philanthropy. a way that equips them to help Randy is the founder others and build generational of Talley & Twine Watch wealth in their communities. Company, and his wife, DeAnne, serves as an account supervisor What do you believe is our at Blue Water Communications region’s most pressing and is the founder of The issue? One of the region’s most Precise Pen Writing & Editing pressing issues is inequity in Services. They are founding education. Children, often those members of Visionaries for who are zoned for predominantly Change, which is a giving group Black schools, are not afforded launched at the community the same quality of education foundation by Black business as those in other districts. Lack and civic leaders in 2019. The of exposure and resources for members pool their resources these children sets them behind into an endowment and award Donors Randy and DeAnne Williams students in other districts. As grants to nonprofits doing work with their daughter, Nyla. parents, we were faced with this in the Black community. Randy challenge as our child reached school age. We opted for a private serves as co-chair of the giving group, which has grown to school for our daughter because we could afford it. However, that more than 80 members. search came with a new set of challenges: Finding a school where Randy and DeAnne live in Portsmouth with their daughter, our daughter would receive an education with respect to diversity. Nyla. Giving back through Visionaries is just one way to support Some area private schools had very few Black employees. One the community they call home. In fact, the company is named school we reviewed had none. Fortunately, we were able to find a after an intersection – Talley Circle and Twine Avenue – in school to suit our needs, but the options were few. We are faced the once-blighted Ida Barbour neighborhood near downtown Portsmouth. Randy drew inspiration from the revitalization of the with the reality that those options will diminish significantly as she completes her primary education and matriculates to secondary neighborhood when launching his company. As the company’s story states: “It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.” school. Randy grew up in Camilla, Georgia, and is a graduate of Discuss a nonprofit organization you admire and why? Albany State University. He lived in Atlanta for several years We truly admire the work of St. Jude Research Hospital. The before relocating to Hampton Roads. DeAnne is a Norfolk native very tangible way they touch families in need during one of their and attended Norfolk State University and formerly worked as a most difficult moments really touches our hearts. Too often, the journalist for The Virginian-Pilot. insurmountable weight of medical bills causes stress that could lead to sickness. By covering the expenses of treatment and Learn more about Randy and DeAnne: providing a safe space, St. Jude Research Hospital contributes to How would you define a philanthropist? A philanthropist is the parents’/caregivers’ healing while treating the children. someone who has dedicated themselves to a life of service. What philanthropist(s) do you admire and why? We most admire those everyday heroes from our communities who enrich Why did you decide to join Visionaries for Change? We the lives of others without much recognition. These are the people wanted to have a direct impact on the success and development who keep the spirit of philanthropy alive. of the communities we identify with the most because these communities have been historically underserved. Share one of your earliest memories of giving. DeAnne: What do you like most about being a member of One of my earlier memories is a moment of giving with the church Visionaries for Change? Being a member of Visionaries for I grew up in, New Calvary Baptist Church. Our youth group Change has shown us the power we can have through working gathered food and toys for a family in need before Christmas. We together. It’s exciting to meet other people who are as passionate visited the family at their Norfolk apartment and presented them about serving their communities as we are. with what we collected. The children in the family weren’t much younger than I was, and it brought me such joy to make them As a couple, how do you discuss your charitable giving? feel the happiness of the holidays that I had been afforded every We want to impact people in underserved communities. It isn’t Christmas and was looking forward to that year.
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage
PAID
Norfolk, VA Permit No. 3253
101 W. Main Street, Suite 4500 Norfolk, VA 23510 (757) 622-7951 HamptonRoadsCF.org Change Ser vice Requested
B oard Of Directors James A. Squires, Chair Sharon S. Goodwyn, Vice Chair L.D. Britt, M.D., Treasurer Deborah M. DiCroce, Secretary President & CEO Frank Batten Jr. Joan P. Brock Thomas R. Frantz Dawn S. Glynn
Hon. Jerrauld C. Jones Howard P. Kern John R. Lawson II Miles B. Leon Lemuel E. Lewis John F. Malbon Vincent J. Mastracco Jr. Suzanne Puryear Cynthia C. Romero, M.D. Rony Thomas
Cherise Newsome, Editor • Bart Morris, Graphic Design Sonja Barisic, Sally Hartman, Writers • Lee Dear, Photographer
The mission of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation is to make life better in Hampton Roads through leadership, philanthropy, and civic engagement. Its vision is a thriving community with opportunity for all. Established in 1950, the community foundation is a 501(c)3 public charity that helps residents of southeastern Virginia lead better lives.
Full Sail Ahead
Giving Your Way with a Donor-Advised Fund Successful business leaders often want to give back to the community. That’s one of the things I like most about Jim Squires, the CEO of Norfolk Southern Corporation, who also serves as the Foundation’s board chair. Jim and his wife, Karen Jones Squires, have established multiple charitable funds at the Foundation, including a donor-advised fund, through which they direct grants to nonprofits they choose. “We just really believe that to whom much is given, much is expected,” Karen said in a recent interview. I especially admire how Jim and Karen use their donor-advised fund to support diverse organizations, including groups led by women and People of Color. Jim and Karen said they like helping small community groups introduced to them by the Foundation. “Our deal was, you bring us good people and organizations, and we’ll fund them,” Jim said. “Then, let them decide how the money can best be put to use.” A donor-advised fund is an easy, tax-smart way to give back. Why? You can get an immediate tax
Confirmed in Compliance with National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations
deduction and actively support charitable causes, all while we handle the paperwork. To maximize impact, donor-advised funds can be opened with a $25,000 minimum. Contribute cash, stocks, or other assets. Receive the maximum charitable deduction now and then have the joy of recommending grants to nonprofits for years afterward. And, you can add to your fund at any time. Unlike private foundations, donor-advised funds allow you to enjoy charitable involvement without having to worry about all the administration that goes with it. Our staff takes care of that for you and is here to help you create a giving plan, do research, award grants, and take care of investments and IRS filings. You can recommend grants to support local nonprofits or organizations anywhere in the United States. Explore giving opportunities with help from our staff, including nonprofit site visits. At the community foundation, we offer 24-hour secure, online access for recommending grants, checking fund balances, reviewing past grants, and more through our online portal called Fund Xpress. You can even name successor advisors to continue your good works after you are gone and leave a lasting legacy that benefits Hampton Roads for generations to come. If you’re interested in learning more, simply give me a call at (757) 622-7951 or email me at KStine@HamptonRoadsCF.org.
Kay A. Stine Vice President for Development