Good Tidings News from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation
Honoring William & Anne Wood
Courtesy photo
New Endowed Funds
For decades, William E. Wood’s name was emblazoned on red and white for-sale signs staked in yards from Williamsburg to Elizabeth City. Equally important to William E. Wood & Associates was Anne Devany Wood, William’s wife and business partner. “He was the driving force. She was the heart of the company,” says Dick Thurmond of Virginia Beach, a long-time colleague and former president of their company. “They both were the brains.” The company they founded in 1972 in William & Anne Wood Virginia Beach grew to be a giant among will be remembered forever. Hampton Roads residential real estate firms. It merged in 2014 into Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. Both the Woods have passed away – William in 1991 and Anne in 2011. Thanks to a 2018 conversion of the private William E. Wood & Associates Foundation, the couple will forever be remembered through two endowed funds that bear their names at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. The new funds mirror the couple’s charitable interests. One will give annual support for scholarships at four area public colleges and universities. The other will provide annual grants to seven area nonprofit shelters that help people in need. The Wood Foundation’s donation of $491,720 to start the two funds “was the right thing to do at the right time,” says Dick Thurmond, a Wood Foundation board member and Virginia and North Carolina board chair for Howard Hanna. The goal was to ensure the Woods’ names and generosity would never be forgotten. “I have long had a very positive feeling about the community foundation and its philanthropy and leadership,” he says. William and Anne started their business when he was 56 and she was 53. He was a Virginia Beach cattle farmer working family land when he got the idea that land could be more valuable with houses on it. Anne, who grew up in Surry County, worked for another real estate firm before partnering with her husband to sell homes. Their company grew from a single office in Virginia Beach in 1972 to 17 offices with 700 The amount of grants employees and associates, including the Woods’ son Breck who passed away in 2006. Along the way the and scholarships we put company developed more than into action in 2018. 5,000 homes in Hampton Roads C O N T I N U E D P. 3
$17.5+ million:
S p r i n g / Su m m e r
2019
Recent Grants
................................................. The Hampton Roads Community Foundation recently awarded competitive Community Grants to area nonprofits. Grants are made possible by donors’ unrestricted and field-of-interest funds. Recipients are: .................................................
Business Consortium for Arts Support , $475,000 to help support 36 performing and visual arts organizations. Grant provided from the Ashinoff Family Fund, Community Fund for Arts & Culture, Lee A. & Helen G. Gifford Fund, William A. Goldback Fund, Paul S. Huber Memorial Fund, Perry and Bunny Morgan Fund and the Tyler Cultural Fund.
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Chesapeake Humane Society , $60,000 from the Alfred L. Nicholson Fund for animal welfare to purchase equipment.
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Elizabeth River Project , $135,000 over
two years for a resilience coordinator and regional expo focused on coordinating sea level rise curriculum and resources for area K-12 educators. Funding comes in part from the Barbara Upton Wilson Fund.
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Fort Monroe Foundation , $250,000
over two years to help convert a building at the former Fort Monroe military base in Hampton into a 16,200-square-foot visitor and education center and gateway to the historic site. Funding comes in part from the Vernon and Judith Cofer Fund.
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Friends of the Elizabeth River Trail Foundation , $200,000 over two years to
help add amenities to the 10.5-mile, multiuse pedestrian and bike trail that connects neighborhoods, businesses, universities and visitor attractions throughout Norfolk. Planned amenities include 11 trailheads with parking, hydration stations, playground and fitness equipment, bike racks and kayak launches. ........................ C O N T I N U E D P. 3
Leave your mark
Kay A. Stine Vice President for Development
Full Sail Ahead
IRAs Give Baby Boomers a Charitable Advantage Every day as many as 10,000 Baby Boomers in the United States gain an extraordinary opportunity to become philanthropists. The reason? They turn 70 ½ years old – the age they first must start taking mandatory annual distributions from their Individual Retirement Accounts. Thanks to federal legislation, taxpayers ages 70 ½ and up can directly donate up to $100,000 a year in IRA assets to qualified charities without it counting as taxable income.
Today’s new mandatory IRA distribution candidates were only about 27 years old in 1975 when IRAs first became available to anyone in the U.S. with If I can help you or a earned income. After decades family member explore of diligently putting money into ways to put IRA assets to IRAs to grow tax free, it can be work helping nonprofits, puzzling to figure out how best please contact me at to use those accumulated assets. kstine@hamptonroadscf.org Ian Holder, a certified or (757) 622-7951 financial planner with Merrill Lynch in Norfolk is always working to help clients who have no idea “what they can get out of their IRAs” once they are 70½ years old. “It’s a process to educate them that the IRA charitable rollover is permanent” and can benefit them and their favorite nonprofits. “Most people I work with don’t really need their IRAs to live on,” says Jim O’Brien of Norfolk, an Edward Jones financial advisor. Jim is a fan of the IRA rollover option to charity for eligible clients. He uses charitable transfers from his personal IRA to make gifts to nonprofit organizations meaningful to him and his family. A direct transfer to charity is “a convenient, stress-free way to give and doesn’t increase my tax burden,” he says. At the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, we have helped donors use their IRA assets to start or add to designated, field-of-interest, scholarship or unrestricted funds. Please note that for now, the Internal Revenue Service does not allow IRA transfers to donor-advised funds. I have a feeling that as more Baby Boomers reach the mandatory IRA withdrawal years, they will increasingly find joy in using those assets to accomplish their charitable goals.
Sam’s will said a lot about him. Dr. Sam Coppage was an Old Dominion University information technology professor who spent much of his life and career in Norfolk. Although he died in 2014, today he supports Tidewater Community College, Hampton University and two family places of worship thanks to his charitable bequest to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. Connect your passion with the causes you care about through an estate gift to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. Order a free bequest guide and learn how easy it is to leave a gift for charity.
What does your will say about you?
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H a m p to n R oa d s C o m m u n i t y Fo u n dat i o n
Adding Charity to Your Will or IRA
A quick guide to the pleas
ure and promise of charitable bequests
Inspiring Philanthropy. Changing
Lives.
www.leaveabequest.org • (757) 622-7951
Ph ot o by Sa l l y K i rby H a r t ma n
and expanded into the title and mortgage insurance businesses. William was outgoing and diligent. He liked to show up at company offices on Saturdays wearing his trademark suit and bowtie to ensure managers were on duty. He was thrifty – bringing his lunch to work and hammering for-sale signs in yards rather than paying someone to do the job. Anne was friendly and looked after people “like they were her children,” Thurmond says. She was a good listener, “and you could talk to her about anything. You could trust her to be your sounding board.” Both Woods cared about the community FROM
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and strengthened it. Building charity houses and running benefit golf tournaments helped the Wood company raise money for good causes recalls Joe Carney of Newport News. He worked for the company nearly 30 years, ran its golf tournament and was president of the William E. Wood Foundation. Kim Georges, treasurer of the Wood Foundation and managing broker of the Howard Hanna Norfolk office, believes transferring assets creates “a legacy for the Woods to give back to the community that was so good to them.”
Wood Funds to Support Scholarships & Shelters The William E. and Anne Wood Fund will benefit these Hampton Roads nonprofits that provide shelter for area residents in need at ForKids Inc., Hope House Foundation, Judeo-Christian Outreach Center, Loving and Caring for the Homeless, Menchville House Ministries, Samaritan House and Seton Youth Shelters.
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Recent Grants
The William E. and Anne Wood Scholarship Fund will provide grants for scholarship funds at Christopher Newport University, Old Dominion University, Thomas Nelson Community College and Tidewater Community College. Scholarships are to benefit students from South Hampton Roads or northeastern North Carolina who are studying business or education.
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Norfolk Botanical Garden , $15,000 from the
Tidewater Community College Educational Foundation , $500,000 over
Virginia Beach SPCA , $100,000 from
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....................................................... Julian Haden Gary and Margaret Savage Gary Fund for the summer Children’s Garden education program Hip Homes & Happening Habitats.
Norfolk SPCA , $100,000 from the Alfred L. Nicholson Fund for animal welfare for improvements to the animal shelter.
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Piano grants , $216,377 from the E.K. Sloane
five years to help build the Perry Center for Visual & Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management in Norfolk’s NEON arts district.
Tidewater Friends of Foster Care ,
$80,000 from the Sue Cook Winfrey Memorial Fund to support the expansion of a tutoring program for foster youth.
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the Alfred L. Nicholson Fund for animal welfare to improve the clinic and care of shelter animals.
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Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities , $10,000 from the Harry F. Wall Memorial Scholarship Fund for student activities and professional development that foster an inclusive community at Hampton City high schools.
Fund for pianos to help six organizations buy pianos. Recipients are Bruton Parish Church, Christopher Newport University, Norfolk Academy, Virginia Wesleyan University, Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools (for Warhill High School) and York County School Division (for Tabb High School).
The Up Center , $28,175 from the Sue
Samaritan House , $20,000 from the Barbara
help renovate a facility in the ViBe Creative District in Virginia Beach for art classes, exhibitions and interactions with local artists.
YWCA South Hampton Roads ,
Upton Wilson Charitable Fund for an animal shelter at one of its emergency housing units in Virginia Beach for victims of domestic violence.
Slover Library Foundation , $145,317 to
Virginia Beach Library Foundation ,
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update 21 interactive touch tables so patrons can better search and retrieve images from the Sargeant Memorial Collection. Grant provided from Landmark Fund for Slover Technology and the Barron F. Black Article VIII Fund.
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Cook Winfrey Memorial Fund for kinship care training for four licensed foster care placement agencies that will lead to placement of foster children with a family member or friend of the family.
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Virginia Beach Art Center , $25,000 to
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VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads ,
$145,000 to support VolunTier Vision, which helps match potential volunteers with nonprofit opportunities in the region.
............................................... $100,000 from the Sue Cook Winfrey Memorial Fund to help four domestic violence shelters safely house victims of abuse who are in imminent danger.
$60,000 for a new bookmobile to serve children in Virginia Beach and bring early literacy programs to childcare centers.
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H a m p to n R oa d s C o m m u n i t y Fo u n dat i o n
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Giving Hope at a Critical Time
C ou r t esy p h ot o
Michael Ma, a University of Virginia law student, credits Seton Youth Shelter in Virginia Beach with propelling him onto a good path at a key time in his life. In 2008 at age 13, Michael was living on his own after his mother was detained during a visit to China. Trouble with authorities left his mom stranded in her homeland just as Michael was gearing up for his freshman year at Kempsville High School. He was sent back alone to Virginia Beach where he and his mother had emigrated in 1999. Michael whiled away the last days of summer in a rented room, hanging out with friends, playing basketball and reading comics. During the school year, he Michael Ma (right) lived with another volunteers as a Seton mentor. family while feeling
documentary and a discussion with panelists (from left): Danielle Robinson and Ke’Shawn Kumsa, who were in the film; Rodney Jordan, Norfolk Public Schools board member; Myaah Hayes, Norfolk State University honors college student; Dr. Aaron Spence, Virginia Beach City Public Schools superintendent; moderator Barbara Hamm Lee, host of WHRV’s Another View show, and Viviana Andrade-Fullwood, owner of All-Academics Plus. More than 600 people attended this forum at NSU sponsored by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation in partnership with NSU and its Robert C. Nusbaum Honors College. Norfolk Southern Corporation was the presenting sponsor.
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Pho to by Ja me s Tho ma s
An April 2 forum on racial equity in education featured the America to Me
depressed, anxious and increasingly disconnected from society. After police were called during a dispute during his sophomore year, he landed at Seton Youth Shelter, which Michael credits with stabilizing his life and turning it around. “If Seton hadn’t come into Michael Ma my life … I’m not sure I would be is now in law school. here today,” he says. Seton, which charges clients nothing, is among 30 Hampton Roads Community Foundation grant recipients helping prevent, intervene or re-engage disconnected youth and young adults. Since 2003, community foundation grants to Seton have totaled $404,336 to give youth like Michael a temporary home and helpful services. Since its founding in 1985, Seton has assisted more than 300,000 youth. Each year it works with more than 7,000 disconnected Hampton Roads youth ages 9 through 17. For Michael, Seton Youth provided a safe place to live and life-changing counseling and therapy. After six months, he moved in with a family while Seton Youth counselors continued to check in and support him. “We are successful in reuniting families or returning youth to a family or home setting 95 percent of the time through our shelters,” says Jennifer Sieracki, Seton’s executive director. “We also assist youth who move on … through graduating from high school, getting their GED, going to Job Corps or on to college.” After high school, a full scholarship helped Michael attend Old Dominion University from where he graduated in 2018. He continues to volunteer at Seton as a youth mentor. His goal after law school at UVA is to practice public-interest law and give back to the community that helped him find his way in life. Michael believes his “success was because of the support system I had and everyone believing in me.”
C ou r t esy p h ot o
Seton Youth Shelter
12.4 % of Area Youth Are Disconnected
The plight of disconnected young people was the subject of an October 2018 Understanding Hampton Roads breakfast forum in Virginia Beach. The Hampton Roads Community Foundation sponsored the forum in partnership with Together We Can Foundation — Smart Transitions. The presenter was Kristen Lewis, co-founder and director of New York-based Measure of America. She co-wrote A Million Reasons for Hope, a 2018 national report on disconnected youth that shows they are disproportionately poor, four times more likely to have a child, and three times more likely to have a disability. By analyzing U.S. Census data, Measure of America found that disconnection rate for Hampton Roads civilian youth is 12.4 percent (8.9 percent if service members are included). The rate
among area cities varies from 19.2 percent to 10.4 percent depending on where youth live and their race. Consequences of youth disconnection are profound, says Tom Crockett, executive director of Together We Can, which strives to prevent youth from disconnecting. Beyond high costs of support services, medical care and law enforcement, there is loss of a potential workforce. Together We Can, which has received $422,818 in community foundation grants since 2010, helps young people build soft skills to ensure they stay connected to school and work and find good opportunities in life.
The following organizations that work to prevent, intervene or re-engage disconnected youth reach more than 20,000 Hampton Roads youth each year. Between 2014 and 2019 these nonprofits received more than $6.8 million in Hampton Roads Community Foundation grants: 200+ Men Foundation An Achievable Dream Middle and High School The Barry Robinson Center Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia Communities in Schools of Hampton Roads Community Outreach Coalition ForKids Inc. Friends of the Portsmouth Juvenile Court Girls on the Run Hampton Roads Hampton Roads Workforce Development Council Hope U Inc.
Horizons Hampton Roads Mosaic Steel Orchestra New Vision Youth Services Inc. Norfolk CASA Samaritan House Seatack An Achievable Dream Academy Seton Youth Shelters The Salvation Army - Hampton Roads Area Command Tidewater Friends of Foster Care Tidewater Wooden Boat Workshop
Tidewater Youth Services Foundation Together We Can Foundation - Smart Transitions The Up Center Virginia Beach CASA Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities Voices for Kids CASA of Southeast Virginia Walk In It Inc. Young Audiences Arts for Learning Virginia Youth Outreach Urban Resources and Services Ministry
Understanding Hampton Roads Upcoming Events Join us for upcoming Hampton Roads Community Foundation forums. May 15: Nurturing Children’s Mental Health
in partnership with Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters. Gregory K. Fritz, M.D., past president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry will speak at a 7:30 a.m. breakfast forum at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott.
May 30: A Conversation About Race with Dr. Beverly Tatum
June 25: Hampton Roads Workforce Gap Analysis
in partnership with Virginia Humanities. Beverly D. Tatum, Ph.D., a psychologist, past president of Spelman College and author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race will speak and lead a discussion at a 7 p.m. forum at the Chesapeake Conference Center.
in partnership with the Hampton Roads Workforce Council will highlight findings of a recent study focused on the gaps between skills employers in Hampton Roads need and skills our available workforce possesses. The 7:30 a.m. breakfast forum will be at the Chesapeake Conference Center.
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Deborah DiCroce President and CEO
Soundings
Why Are We Working in DEI? In April, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation held the second forum under its signature civic engagement series – Understanding Hampton Roads. I introduced this new forum series in my fall Soundings column. To rave reviews and an audience well over 600, the second Understanding Hampton Roads forum focused on Race, Equity and Education. It began with a viewing of the first episode of the America to Me documentary. A robust panel discussion on race followed the film. This forum served as the public launch of our work helping create a more inclusive and equitable community in Hampton Roads. This work is one of six priorities in our recently adopted five-year strategic roadmap for the community foundation.
Check out the America to Me panelists on page 4 of this newsletter and watch their discussion in the video posted to hamptonroadscf.org/americatome
So what exactly is this work about? And why have we chosen to be in this space? The answers to these questions are as complex as the subject matter itself. By any measure, race has long held a defining place in American society. Both explicitly and implicitly, it is embedded in our culture, laws and policies, educational institutions and economy. Such undergirding has resulted in a system of racial bias and inequities that guarantees social instability and economic stratification with too many families and children who continue to lag behind. To be sure, this system is bigger than the Hampton Roads Community Foundation and our region. It is nonetheless a powerful force pushing against “a thriving community with opportunity for all”—what our community foundation envisions for the region and her people. Within that context, the community foundation’s work in diversity, equity and inclusion—what we call our DEI initiative—has four goals:
In partnership with Virginia Humanities, sponsor an 18-month community-wide program series entitled “Beyond the Surface: Race and the History of Race in Hampton Roads.” This will provide a framework for productive dialogue around the difficult subjects of race and the history of race while building a foundation so racial healing can continue beyond the scope of the program itself.
Drawing on the field expertise of a cadre of respected scholars, consultants and practitioners, facilitate an understanding of racial equity and inclusion principles for the region.
Conduct an independent equity assessment of our community foundation’s current internal practices, which will be used to develop an equity plan for us.
Using the lessons learned throughout this initiative, identify external opportunities for helping create a more inclusive and equitable community.
Our DEI initiative constitutes a very tall order. We know that. We know as well that we have one chance “to get it right.” We hope that you will join us on this journey. Take a look at our website for information on upcoming activities. And, stay tuned.
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H a m p to n R oa d s C o m m u n i t y Fo u n dat i o n
Update on Our Team Members Three new team members recently joined the Hampton Roads Community Foundation staff and a long-time team member was promoted. Photos by Glen McClure
Rick Matthews, CPA,
is the new chief financial officer. He previously was a capital partner at Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP. He earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Theresa Newbill
is the new administrative assistant. She was administrative assistant at Yockey & Associates, P.C. She previously was a legal secretary at W. Glover Garner Jr. Esq. and lead technical writer at 3-G International Inc. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology from The University of Tennessee.
Cherise Newsome
Vivian Oden
is the new director for multimedia communications. She was director of communications for Portsmouth Public Schools. She previously was a journalist with The Virginian-Pilot. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in theology and English from Georgetown University, where she was a Hampton Roads Community Foundation scholarship recipient.
Cour tesy Photo
of Norfolk Naval Base and administrative assistant to four commanding generals of The Fleet Marine Force Atlantic. “Frances was very intelligent and a selfstarter,” says Bill Costis of Manassas, her stepbrother. A career highlight was serving as personal secretary to Sen. William B. Spong Jr. in Washington, D.C. from 1966 to 1972. Other than her time working on The Hill, Frances always lived in Norfolk. She cared for her mother until she passed away and always doted on her friends, relatives and dogs. In a 1984 interview with The Virginian-Pilot, Frances described her work supporting numerous military base commanders as being “like the desk and the equipment. I go with the office and adapt FROM
was promoted recently to vice president for special projects. She joined the community foundation staff in 2006 and was director for donor engagement. She earned an undergraduate degree in business administration and a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in nonprofit management from Old Dominion University.
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Frances Facchini with Sen. William Spong Jr.
to the person … and make it all run as smoothly and comfortably as possible.” Visitors to Frances’ home in Norfolk’s Belvedere neighborhood enjoyed lively conversation and the music of Il Volo, an Italian operatic pop trio Frances adored. They typically got a heartfelt “I love you” when Frances bid them goodbye. Frances delighted in being generous during her lifetime and beyond. She donated her body to the Virginia State Anatomical Program where it helped Eastern Virginia Medical School students learn about anatomy. Starting in 2020, the new Facchini Frost Fund at the community foundation, which is named for both sides of Frances’ family, will forever provide scholarships for area students attending ODU. H a m p to n R oa d s C o m m u n i t y Fo u n dat i o n
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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 is a 501 (c) 3 public charity that works to improve the lives of southeastern Virginia residents.
Frances Facchini
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Civil Servant Supports ODU Students
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Photo by Glen McClure
at Old Dominion University. Born in 1938 in Norfolk, Frances was the only child of Francis and Muriel Frost Facchini. Her grandparents, Michael and Minnie Turi Facchini, were Italian immigrants. He was a tailor in Norfolk known for the fine men’s suits he made and also the beautiful “I’d like the memory of me dresses he sewed for Frances, his only grandchild. Frances’ mother grew up in to be a happy one…” the Blackwater area of Virginia Beach, This opening line from the poem where Frances was fond of visiting. Afterglow featured at Frances M. Facchini’s Frances was six years old when March 2018 memorial service captures the her father, who had attended ODU essence of this effervescent Norfolk resident. and worked in sales, died. Her mother, Frances, a retired federal worker, was a waitress at Norfolk’s Snug Harbor “outgoing and engaging and loved having Restaurant, married Gus Costis eight people around,” says her cousin Faye Shealy years later. of Williamsburg. “She was personable and Frances joined the workforce as a loved life,” says former Norfolk neighbor store clerk while attending Maury High Frances Facchini David Pratt. School. She later took classes at ODU Frances enjoyed helping others, which she will be doing before beginning a 33-year civil service career. She started as a forever because of the charitable bequest she left to the clerk-typist and retired after serving as C O N T I N U E D P. 7 Hampton Roads Community Foundation for scholarships personal secretary to seven commanders