Good Tidings Winter 2022-23

Good Tidings

News from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation

New Ideas and Vision Launch the Arts Alliance

Until recently, receiving grants for Mosaic Steel Orchestra was how Dr. Anthony Hailey, its president and CEO, connected with the Business Consortium for Arts Support. Over 35 years, BCAS has awarded more than $25 million to 71 South Hampton Roads arts and cultural organizations, including the steelpan orchestra Hailey founded in 2008.

But as BCAS morphed into the Arts Alliance in 2022, Hailey discovered the Alliance’s new Wills for the Arts program. It linked him with an attorney who created a will, power of attorney, and advanced health directive for free. Hailey is among 72 area arts employees benefitting from the Alliance’s wills program.

“It feels good to have this level of security in place,” Hailey said. “When running arts organizations, we often don’t look out for ourselves as we pour everything into our work.” Hailey teaches steel drums annually to 500 students ranging in age from 9 to 81 and leads public concerts with a Caribbean flair.

The Alliance, which this year awarded $663,000 to 33 organizations, sees new programs as a way to help grow financial support for cultural groups. Within five years, “we want to give $1 million in grants annually,” said Lisa Wigginton, the Alliance’s executive director, who joined the BCAS in 2008.

That goal requires attracting donors through “new ideas and vision,” said attorney Lewis Webb III, Alliance Advisory Council chair and Kaufman & Canoles attorney. He believes the Alliance must expand beyond its traditional role of taking in corporate and foundation money and giving it out as arts grants. With corporate mergers and departures, “we hit a fundraising plateau,” Webb said.

Webb envisions the reinvigorated Alliance

gaining momentum by sponsoring the first Americans for the Arts economic impact study in the region and starting an Arts 100 patron group. The Arts 100 group consists of individuals and couples who are arts lovers and work together on arts projects.

Wigginton, who previously worked for Virginia Stage Company and other arts groups, is “excited about the services we provide arts employees to help them and their families,” such as Wills for the Arts and financial planning workshops.

“We are converting to an ideas and advocacy organization that also fundraises for the arts,” Webb explained. “Forty arts advocacy groups around the country have already made this conversion.”

Studying organizations in Louisville and other cities while listening to area arts leaders inspired the Alliance’s new name and mission: “to foster a strong, vibrant, and inclusive community through arts leadership, advocacy, services, and support.”

Robert Cross, Virginia Arts Festival executive director, said the BCAS “was instrumental in the festival getting off the ground in 1995 and its support grew as the festival grew.” He is among arts leaders providing input helping shape the Alliance and believes its expanded focus will help “smaller arts groups and also larger ones like ours and Virginia Symphony,” where he is principal percussionist.

Decades ago, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation studied united arts funds around the country before recruiting 12 area foundations and businesses like Webb’s law firm to launch the BCAS in 1987. Since then, corporate and foundation members have pooled donations annually to provide critical operating support to South Hampton Roads

Winter 2022-23

Recent Grants

The Hampton Roads Community Foundation recently awarded competitive community grants to 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:

Vibrant Places

Chrysler Museum of Art, $500,000 over five years to support the expansion of the Perry Glass Studio to become the Center for Advanced Education in Glass Arts and Sciences

Habitat for Humanity of South Hampton Roads, $50,000 to renovate their headquarters

Hospice House of Hampton Roads, $150,000 to construct and operate a new hospice facility in Virginia Beach ........................................................

Judeo Christian Outreach Center, Inc., $500,000 over five years to support the rebuild of their campus on Virginia Beach Boulevard in Virginia Beach

Partnership Development Foundation, $25,000 to renovate and outfit the new location of Bloom, a nonprofit coworking space in Portsmouth ........................................................

Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, $225,000 to protect and repair its 100-year-old building ........................................................

The Hermitage Museum and Gardens, $100,000 to support the renovation and outfitting of the Visual Arts School

Wesley Community Service Center, Inc., $255,000 to renovate and improve its building, including the addition of two Head Start classrooms

Western Tidewater Free Clinic, $100,000 to expand its current building to serve more patients in need of dental care ........................................................

Environmental Stewardship

Elizabeth River Project, $50,000 for youth education programs on environmental resilience across the region

Dr. Anthony Hailey

Visionaries for Change Awards First Round of Grants

The Visionaries for Change giving circle awarded its first round of grants to three Black-led and Black-serving nonprofits working in mental health and racial trauma. The grant recipients are:

• G.I.R.L.S. Club, $3,000

• Hearts Full of Grace, Inc., $10,000

• Quality of Life, Inc., $5,000

Visionaries for Change is a giving circle of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. It was founded in 2019 by Black business and civic leaders. Members come together to donate money to a pooled fund, and together they provide support for charitable causes in the Black community.

The nonprofits will provide services in the following priority impact areas:

• Mental Health Professional Services

• Racial Trauma Professional Services

The giving circle is unique in that members develop solutions for Black communities, which are often underrepresented in large philanthropic institutions. Visionaries tap into the power of endowment and collective philanthropy by giving their time, expertise, and resources. They strategically invest in organizations that build a healthy community, increasing everyone’s opportunity for success.

Learn more at  VisionariesforChange.org.

From left: Deuene Hickman, executive director, Quality of Life; Nikkia Tolbert, executive director, Hearts Full of Grace; and Janelle Smith, site coordinator, G.I.R.L.S. Club.

Vivian M. Oden Honored for Innovative Work to Build Relationships with Communities of Color

Historically, philanthropy has not always valued the voices of Communities of Color. Because they often were missing from this narrative, many People of Color did not see themselves as philanthropists.

For her work to help change this, Vivian M. Oden, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation’s vice president for equity and inclusion, was recognized for Outstanding Innovation in Fundraising by the Hampton Roads chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She was among the honorees celebrated at a National Philanthropy Day event on Nov. 7.

Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Vivian M. Oden, in yellow, at the National Philanthropy Day event with, from left, Associate Vice President for Development Kate Hofheimer Wilson, President and CEO Debbie M. DiCroce and Board Chair Sharon S. Goodwyn.

At the Foundation, Oden collaborates with nonprofits, civic leaders, and donors on strategies to make Hampton Roads a thriving community for all.

“In 2018, I saw the need to intentionally engage, build authentic relationships and trust

within Communities of Color,” Oden said. That’s why she created the “Missing Voices in Philanthropy” project.

This involved understanding the racial and ethnic demographics in Hampton Roads and then making connections within these communities.

Oden engaged the Black, Asian-Indian, Filipino, and Hispanic communities.

“I learned more about their cultures, how they gave, what’s important to them and introduced them to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation,” Oden said.

Oden also spearheaded the first celebration of Black Philanthropy Month in Hampton Roads in August 2018, securing proclamations from all seven local cities in support of the celebration. Her engagement of Communities of Color led to the creation of the Visionaries for Change giving circle, founded by 66 Black community and civic leaders in Hampton Roads in 2019.

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arts groups. Over the past 35 years, the community foundation has awarded the BCAS (now Alliance) more than $13 million so it can help arts and cultural groups thrive.

For arts groups, “it is a challenge raising operating money,” Hailey said. Before the curtain goes up or art exhibits open, organizations must pay employees, buy insurance, build sets, and cover a multitude of expenses.

As she looks to the future, Wigginton is “grateful the community foundation helped start the BCAS 35 years ago and that it supports our change into the Alliance.”

Lisa Wigginton

Experts Examine the Affordable Housing Crisis

With rising rent and housing costs and the end of pandemic eviction protections, finding affordable housing is increasingly becoming a challenge. The Hampton Roads Community Foundation held a virtual forum on Nov. 9 to look at the state of affordable housing in the region and strategies to address the issue.

“Housing problems can be tough for some folks to grasp,” said speaker Jonathan Knopf, executive director for programs, Housing Forward Virginia, a nonpartisan think tank that researches best practices to increase housing affordability. “In fact, a lot of people don’t often think about housing beyond their own front door.”

However, the issue of affordable, available, and safe housing is important to understand and address because “everybody needs housing that they can afford,” Knopf said. “It’s not just very low-income people. It’s you, me, everybody.”

The Foundation sponsored the free, public forum as part of the Understanding Hampton Roads Series to advance civic engagement

and bring people together to help improve life in our region.

“Communities cannot thrive without safe and affordable housing,” said Foundation President and CEO Deborah M. DiCroce. “Philanthropy has the power to make an impact.”

Knopf said solutions include reforms to make zoning more inclusive, project-based and tenant-based rental assistance, subsidies, tax credits, nonprofit development, rent restrictions, increased minimum wages, homebuyer grants, and rehabilitation assistance.

Knopf was joined by panelists Shernita Bethea, housing administrator for the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, and Steve Lawson, chairman of Lawson, who has experience building affordable housing.

Andrew M. Friedman, principal, Progressive Housing Solutions LLC, moderated. Friedman formerly led the City of Virginia Beach Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation.

Watch a recording of the event and find housing crisis resources at: HamptonRoadsCF.org

Declining Local Journalism and

Risk to Democracy

Join us on Feb. 8, 2023, at 7:30 a.m. at the Westin Hotel, Virginia Beach.

Featuring Penny Muse Abernathy, journalism professor and author of News Deserts and Ghost Newspapers: Will Local News Survive?

Sponsored by Hampton Roads Community Foundation in partnership with WHRO. See HamptonRoadsCF.org for details.

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Educational Success

ACCESS College Foundation, $194,467 over three years to expand advising services at First Colonial and Salem high schools

An Achievable Dream Virginia Beach, $600,000 over three years to expand their program to 10th through 12th grades in Virginia Beach

Communities In Schools of Hampton Roads, $199,320 over three years to support a full-time site coordinator at Manor High in Portsmouth

G.I.R.L.S. Club, $85,500 over three years to expand their program to a Norfolk elementary school

Together We Can Foundation, $91,934 over three years to bring the Life-Work Portfolio program to middle school students

Virginia Beach GrowSmart Foundation, $75,000 over three years to support the Lena Grow coaching programs at early care centers in Virginia Beach

Walk In It Inc., $100,000 over three years to expand the Ladies of Distinction program to Portsmouth middle schools and a Chesapeake high school

Cultural Vitality

Arts for Learning, the Virginia Affiliate of Young Audiences, $97,500 over three years to support I.D.E.A.L. (Intentional Designs of Expression in Artistic Languages)

Economic Stability

Hampton Roads Workforce Foundation, $50,000 for one year to support the Hampton Roads Veterans Employment Center

Survivor Ventures, $100,000 for one year to support the Survivors to Entrepreneurs initiative, a 24-month employment program for survivors of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation

The Salvation Army Hampton Roads Area Command, $108,956 over three years to support Pathway of Hope in providing targeted services to families with children to take action to break the generational cycle of poverty

Virginia Legal Aid Society, $146,308 over two years to expand the eviction prevention and outreach program

Health and Wellness .........................................................

Foundation for Rehabilitation Equipment & Endowment, $10,000 for one year to refurbish and distribute durable medical equipment to individuals in need ..........................................’...............

Postpartum Support Virginia, $25,000 over two years to expand their care coordination program and provide training in South Hampton Roads

A Place for Family and Friends:

Chesapeake Nonprofit Opens Multipurpose Facility

Could they do even more to assist the residents in their Chesapeake community? Were there ways to boost their minds and overall health, too?

So their nonprofit organization, Buffalow Family and Friends, remodeled an 8,000-square-foot building in the same shopping center that’s home to the agency’s food pantry.

The July ribbon-cutting drew more than 150 people, including local and state leaders, healthcare partners, and supporters. BFF will provide mentoring, STEM training, and additional outreach among the various programs there.

“We have to do the holistic approach on food insecurity,” said Nischelle Buffalow, “feeding the mind, body, and soul.”

The Hampton Roads Community Foundation has supported the multifaceted agency with grants totaling $40,000 since 2020. Some of the Foundation’s funding assisted the group’s clients during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A dozen years ago, the Buffalows started out with a modest Thanksgiving dinner for 25 people. Their efforts have grown into something much greater.

The Thanksgiving tradition continues, with roughly 2,000 meals served. Senior lunches and a mobile pantry occur throughout the year. Another project in August provided more than 300 backpacks full of school supplies to children headed back to the classroom.

When board members and the Buffalows decided it was time to expand, they jumped at leasing the new site. BFF then spent $25,000 on renovations. The facility provides lots of space to concentrate on health, education, and more.

Inspirational messages dot the front of the building, including “Believe in Yourself,” “Dream Big,” and “Focus on Greatness.”

The CROP Foundation (Community Resource Opportunity Project) is among the organizations with an office at the center. Its partnership with the Buffalows started a half-dozen years ago.

“We’re kind of her armor bearers,” Brian Jay Glover, board president of the nonprofit CROP, said of Nischelle Buffalow. “We support her with technology, elbow grease, and whatever she needs.”

Glover said voter registration and anti-violence programs will take place there. He added that it will be an asset to have a permanent office, something the group lacked before.

New to the Team: Tracie Paige

Tracie Paige has joined the Hampton Roads Community Foundation as communications manager.

Recently, he served as the public relations and media coordinator for The Salvation Army of Hampton Roads. Previously, he worked for local news affiliates WAVY-TV10/FOX43 as an on-air personality.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from Norfolk State University and an MBA in digital entrepreneurship from Strayer University.

Through creative storytelling and community engagement strategies, he continues to use his skills to support the Foundation and help our region thrive.

The mother-daughter duo of Delena and Nischelle Buffalow has been feeding their neighbors in South Norfolk since 2010. Like another famous chef, they decided it was time “to kick it up a notch.”

Tracie Paige

Delena (l) and Nischelle (r) Buffalow, along with Delegate Cliff Hayes, cut the ribbon at the grand opening of Buffalow Family and Friends’ new facility.

Kay A. Stine Vice President for Development

Full Sail Ahead

Your Individual Retirement Account Can Help the Community

Your retirement assets can help you become a philanthropist in an easy and meaningful way.

It’s true. Taxpayers who are 70½ and up can directly transfer up to $100,000 each year in Individual Retirement Account (IRA) assets to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation without this counting as taxable income. This counts toward your required minimum distribution (RMD). After decades of diligently putting money into IRAs to grow tax-free, it can be puzzling to figure out how best to use those accumulated assets.

The IRA charitable transfer can benefit you and your favorite nonprofits. Donors must:

• Have an IRA.

• Be at least 70 ½ years old.

• Make a direct IRA transfer to a qualified organization like the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

Use your IRA assets to start or add to a charitable fund at the Foundation, including designated, field-of-interest, scholarship, or unrestricted funds.*

We have helped donors use their IRA assets to start or add to designated, field-of-interest, scholarship, or unrestricted funds.

To explore options, contact Lynn Neumann, senior director of planned gifts, at (757) 622-7951 or LNeumann@HamptonRoadsCF.org.

*Note: For now, the Internal Revenue Service does not allow IRA transfers to donor-advised funds. Please contact your qualified tax advisor for detailed guidance.

Virginia Dental Association Foundation

Say Cheese: Giving Healthy Smiles to Those in Need

Robin Worrie has been craving crunchy tacos and fried chicken for ages. The 63-year-old Portsmouth woman hasn’t been able to indulge in such greasy goodness for years because her damaged teeth –following stage 4 colon cancer and harsh medical treatments –prevented Worrie from eating many foods.

She’d had cancer surgery and received experimental, aggressive drugs. “Everything that touched my teeth felt like metal,” Worrie said. “Even eating a cracker, they

would chip off.” The cancer treatments caused nerve damage and altered her smile.

The Donated Dental Services program, part of the Virginia Dental Association Foundation, came to her rescue.

The program assisted 227 people like Worrie around Virginia in 2021, and the group expects to help a similar number this year. The organization targets seniors with low incomes, adults

The Donated Dental Services program has helped thousands of Virginians with oral care since 1997.

The First African American Chairwoman of the Board

In June, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation Board of Directors elected Sharon S. Goodwyn as its chair. She is the first African American and the first woman to serve in the prestigious role.

Established in 1950 as Virginia’s first community foundation, the organization is southeastern Virginia’s largest grant and scholarship provider. Since that time, the community foundation has provided more than $344 million to improve life in the region and beyond. In 2021 alone, the community foundation provided more than $20 million in grants and scholarships, including nearly $1 million to Black-led nonprofits as a part of its commitment to racial equity.

“I am deeply grateful for the board’s faith in my ability to uphold and advance the community foundation’s vision, mission, and values,” said Goodwyn. “There’s no place quite like the community foundation, and there’s no better time to lead its work in addressing racial inequities in our region, growing its charitable footprint, and working together to create a thriving community for all.”

Sharon S. Goodwyn Board Chair

Goodwyn is an attorney at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, where she’s worked for more than 30 years since earning her law degree from the University of Virginia. She also earned an undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard University. Goodwyn serves along with the newly-elected vice chair, Frank Batten, Jr., chairman of Landmark Media Enterprises. L.D. Britt M.D., chairman of surgery for Eastern Virginia Medical School, was re-elected as treasurer. They lead the 15-member Board of Directors, which serves as the governing body for the community foundation.

The board provides oversight of the organization’s $532 million in assets and supports its mission to make life better in Hampton Roads.

“I am thankful that a distinguished board leads the community foundation,” said President and CEO Deborah DiCroce, who also serves as board secretary. “Each officer brings a distinct perspective and expertise that assists the community foundation in accomplishing its mission, engaging the community, and stewarding resources that help Hampton Roads thrive.”

In 2019, the community foundation formally affirmed its commitment to racial equity and has been working diligently to learn about and address racism, collaborate with the community on solutions, and provide funding to mitigate racial inequities in the region.

In addition to its work in racial equity, the community foundation continues to focus on regional economic competitiveness, early care and education, mental health and wellness, the environment, and cultural vitality.

Goodwyn has a long track record of community service. She has participated as a board member of Eastern Virginia Medical School, Virginia Wesleyan University, St. Mary’s Home, and the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, among others. She most recently served as vice chair of the community foundation board for three years. She lives in Chesapeake with her husband, S. Bernard Goodwyn, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

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who are permanently disabled, and people who are medically fragile.

Because of those successes, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation donated $7,500 to the organization to hire a case manager for the region.

Donated Dental has helped thousands of Virginians with oral care since 1997. The free, comprehensive aid makes its work unique, said Tara Quinn, executive director of the dental foundation. The value of Donated Dental’s aid per patient was more than $4,100 last year.

Keeping your mouth, teeth and gums free of problems is important.

“This meets a need that’s far beyond what a patient could access in safety-net dental clinics,” Quinn said. Many applicants have major, long-neglected oral health conditions, often linked to lacking dental insurance or being unable to afford regular treatment. They also might suffer from diseases like cancer, forcing delays in treatment.

Local dentists, hygienists, and other oral care specialists provide their services for free in their own offices. Donated Dental also partners with laboratories to fabricate oral appliances. The value of those services over the past quarter-century? A whopping $16.6 million.

Patients pay nothing: “In many cases, they don’t have insurance or the financial resources to access care,” Quinn said.

Worrie, now cancer free, has been treated by Dr. Lawrence Leibowitz in Virginia Beach. He extracted her remaining teeth, many of which no longer functioned.

She had impressions taken, and she’ll soon have new dentures.

Besides the crunchy food, Worrie looks forward to something more basic: “I was blessed with a million-dollar smile, and I missed it.”

She has nothing but praise for the people at Donated Dental Services. “It’s a godsend,” Worrie said. “There’s so many out there that need this help.”

101 W. Main Street, Suite 4500 Norfolk, VA 23510

(757) 622-7951 www.HamptonRoadsCF.org

Board Of Directors

Sharon S. Goodwyn, Chair

Frank Batten Jr., Vice Chair

L.D. Britt, M.D., Treasurer

Deborah M. DiCroce, Secretary President & CEO

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

Suzanne Puryear Cynthia C. Romero, M.D. James A. Squires

Rony Thomas

Sonja Barisic, Editor • Bart Morris, Graphic Design

Roger Chesley, Sally Hartman and Cherise Newsome, Writers

Change Service Requested

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.

Donor-Advised Funds:

Use Area Experts to Support Our Area

Chuck Plimpton wanted to stay involved with his philanthropy. At first, he considered starting a donor-advised fund at a national, commercial investment firm. Then he realized that firm couldn’t help him learn about local causes to support.

Plimpton found that important local expertise close to home by connecting with the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, which specializes in southeastern Virginia philanthropy.

In 2001, the former Hertz car rental franchise owner made a charitable donation to start a donor-advised fund he could test drive.

Plimpton said in an interview that connecting with his community foundation followed the same philosophy he adhered to in his business: “If you earn a living in a community, you should give back to your community and also do your business there.”

Plimpton credited Foundation staff with introducing him to key community needs and issues he may not have considered regarding his philanthropy. He especially appreciated how staff members researched his ideas and helped him put them into action through grants to dozens of organizations. He also appreciated having

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Norfolk, VA Permit No. 3253

Confirmed in Compliance with National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations

the option to remain anonymous and still make grants.

Plimpton died in 2015. His widow, Starr, continues to advise and recommend grants to help nonprofits. Ultimately, this fund will support the community foundation’s competitive grantmaking program and the Plimptons’ legacy of generosity will live on in perpetuity.

Leigh Evans Davis, vice president for donor engagement, said she was honored to have worked with him “to help make his giving fun. Working with Chuck was a wonderful experience because he brought such heart and passion to his giving.”

You have many options for starting a donor-advised fund at the Foundation:

Endowed Fund – During your lifetime, you make grant recommendations to the causes and nonprofits you care to support. Your successor advisors get the opportunity to make recommendations, too. (Initialcharitablegift:$25,000 ormore.)

Current-use Fund – You make one gift to the community foundation and then make grant recommendations to a variety of causes and nonprofits until you spend out the balance of your donor-advised fund. (Initialgift:$50,000ormore.)

Quasi-endowed Fund – You recommend grants to nonprofits in any amount as long as your fund keeps a minimum balance of $50,000. Your successor advisors have the same opportunity. After the advising period ends, your fund will become a permanent fund with the purpose you specified. (Initialgift: $50,000ormore.)

Customized Fund – We can create a customized donor-advised fund for you, with an initial gift of $2 million or more.

The end of the year is a great time to set up a donor-advised fund. Learn more by contacting Kay Stine, vice president for development, at KStine@HamptonRoadsCF.org or (757) 622-7951.

Chuck Plimpton