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Cameron Foundation Gives $2M in Grants

By Staff Reports, The Progress-Index

PETERSBURG — The Cameron Foundation has awarded $2 million in grants to support 25 nonprofit organizations in the Tri-Cities.

The $2,066,337 in grants, which stemmed from a competitive application process, were approved by the foundation’s board at its June meeting. A second round of responsive grants will be decided in the fall.

“Each of these organizations provides important services to the community in ways that also align with the Foundation’s mission for a healthy, vibrant and economically vital region,” said Grant Committee Chair Cleveland A. Wright.

He also noted how the grants reflect the foundation’s support for broader work that contributes to a culture of health, ranging from efforts to attract and keep jobs in the region, to organizations delivering youth development programs.

Among the larger grants was,a $555,000 award to YMCA of Greater Richmond to provide continued support for youth development programs at the Chester branch, renewed funding for diabetes programming at the Petersburg branch, and multi-year support for the organization to make capital improvements to the Petersburg facility. The improvements will enable the local branch to deliver expanded out-of-school programs for children and teens, to offer more community meeting space, and to improve fitness and wellness offerings.

Additionally, a renewal grant of $250,000 to Virginia’s Gateway Region (VGR) will provide support for the organization’s efforts to expand and enhance economic opportunities in the area.

“VGR plays a critical role serving as a conduit across communities and businesses to promote the region and stimulate sustainable economic growth and vitality,” said Board Chair Pam Martin Comstock

Through collaboration over the last five years, VGR has contributed to bringing 5,600 new jobs and $2 billion in investment to the region.

Cameron President J. Todd Graham said the foundation offers an assortment of resources to the nonprofit sector in the region. In addition to two responsive grant cycles each year, the foundation is undertaking a number of proactive efforts to improve the foundation’s impact through increased collaboration with community partners.

With its proactive work, priority is given to visible, high impact projects that transform the community and that address the social determinants of health. Examples of these determinants include food access, safe and affordable housing, educational attainment, income, and improved work and neighborhood environments. The foundation also continues to make multiple capacity-building investments to strengthen nonprofit management within the organizations serving the region.

The full list of grants for the June cycle includes:

• Alzheimer’s Association–Greater Richmond Chapter – $20,925

• Army Quartermaster Foundation, Inc. – $5,000

• Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities/Preservation Virginia – $40,000

• Central Virginia Health Services – $312,000

• Chesterfield CASA, Inc. – $20,000

• ChildSavers of Richmond/Memorial Child Guidance Clinic – $30,000

• City of Petersburg Department of Planning & Community Development – $81,060

• Communities In Schools of Virginia – $90,000

• Downtown Churches United, Inc. – $56,000

• Friends of the Waverly Library – $18,152

• GReat Aspirations Scholarship Program, Inc. (GRASP) – $10,000

• Greater Richmond Fit4Kids – $45,000

• Hopewell Downtown Partnership, Inc. – $30,000

• Hopewell Food Pantry – $35,000

• Hopewell-Prince George Healthy Families – $30,000

• Learn to Earn, Inc. – $70,000

• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Virginia – $100,000

• Petersburg Health Department – $160,000

• Reach Out and Read Virginia – $4,600

• Southside Health Education Foundation – $40,000

• St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church – $25,000

• Virginia’s Gateway Region – $250,000

• Washington Street United Methodist Church – $25,000

• Willcox Watershed Conservancy – $13,600

• YMCA of Greater Richmond – $555,000

The Cameron Foundation, founded in 2003, is a private foundation that was formed from the proceeds of the sale of Southside Regional Medical Center by the Hospital Authority of the City of Petersburg. Since the Foundation began grantmaking in 2004, it has awarded more than $75 million to organizations in the area.

The foundation’s region includes the cities of Petersburg, Colonial Heights and Hopewell; the counties of Dinwiddie, Prince George and Sussex; and the portion of Chesterfield County lying south of Route 10.