June 19, 2013

Cameron Foundation awards over $1.2 million in June cycle

The Cameron Foundation announces $1,270,929 in grant awards to 20 area nonprofits working in the Tri-Cities area. Headquartered in Petersburg, Virginia, the Foundation supports work across multiple program areas ranging from health to human services, education, community and economic development, conservation and historic preservation, cultural enrichment, and civic affairs. The most sizable grant this cycle was made to Central Virginia Health Services for $364,924. As the state’s largest organization operating nonprofit community health centers, Central Virginia Health Services provides medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services. The Cameron Foundation’s support benefits local clients using these services. Central Virginia Health Services has two sites in the Tri-Cities area, the Appomattox Area Health and Wellness Center as well as the Petersburg Health Care Alliance.

Cameron’s Board Chair Larry C. Tucker noted that The Cameron Foundation was formed from the sale of Southside Regional Medical Center, making it a health legacy foundation. He explained, “Because of this history, healthcare has always been at the core of this institution’s mission. Central Virginia Health Services provides affordable healthcare for low-income individuals, nearly 40% of whom are at or below the Federal Poverty Line.” Through its two local centers, Central Virginia Health Services provided approximately 22,000 medical, dental and behavioral health visits to thousands of patients last year. “Through these efforts, Central Virginia Health Services is improving lives and helping to foster a healthier community, and we are proud to support their efforts,” Tucker added.

Complementing this major grant, the Foundation also approved funding to two different organizations for efforts to address some of the mental health needs in the community. A $100,000 commitment to District 19 Community Service Board supports the South-Central Crisis Intervention Team’s Crisis Assessment Center, a central intake and crisis assessment facility located at John Randolph Medical Center. The grant provides for staffing the center with key mental health professional positions. As noted in the Foundation’s 2009 behavioral health needs assessment as well as its recent findings to appear in the upcoming 2013 report, the establishment of a central intake center to allow for early intervention and treatment has been identified as a priority for improving the service area’s behavioral health status. Additionally, a grant of $7,268 was approved for the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Central Virginia for the planning and coordination of mental health support group services and programming in the Tri-Cities area.

The Foundation’s grant awards this cycle spanned across several other areas of interest to broadly serve the region. A $49,005 grant to Colonial Heights Department of Planning and Community Development helps to fund the archeological and environmental studies for Phase IV of the agency’s Appomattox River Greenway Trail/Historic Indian Site project. In earlier phases of work, a multi-use trail was developed along part of the Appomattox River in Colonial Heights to provide public access for biking, jogging, walking, and fishing. This next phase will extend the trail along the north bank of the river from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge to Appamatuck Park. “Greenways projects such as this are important to The Cameron Foundation because they help to promote healthy communities,” explained President J. Todd Graham. “The Appomattox River Greenway Trail project provides greater access to the river, increases the aesthetic value of this natural resource, and also serves as an asset to the community for recreation and leisure activities. All of these considerations contribute to a better quality of life,” he added.

The full list of June grants include:

Big Brothers Big Sisters Services, Inc. – $18,000
Central Virginia Health Services – $364,924
Chesterfield CASA, Inc. – $20,000
Children’s Home of Virginia Baptists, Inc. – $40,000
City of Colonial Heights Department of Planning & Community Development – $49,005
Crisis Assistance Response Emergency Shelter, Inc. (CARES) – $70,000
District 19 Community Services Board – $100,000
Equal Justice America – $8,000
Goodwill of Central Virginia – $60,000
Henricus Foundation – $16,692
Legacy Media Institute – $30,000
National Alliance on Mental Illness of Central Virginia (NAMI-CVA) – $7,268
Petersburg Area Art League (PAAL) – $7,500
Petersburg Health Department – $192,000
Petersburg Library Foundation, Inc. – $55,590
Prevent Blindness Mid-Atlantic – $15,134
Rebuilding Together * Tri-Cities – $38,071
St. Joseph’s Villa – $47,000
Waverly Rescue Squad, Inc. – $75,000
YMCA of Greater Richmond – $56,745