City Council Budget Work Session - Outside and Nonprofit Agencies   3/12/2026

I call the Charlottesville City Council work session to order.

This is for outside and non-profit agencies.

Oscar Austin.

Here.

Councilor Glashow.

Here.

We might see him virtually here.

So tonight we're having our work session on outside and nonprofit agencies.

So we have a big turnout tonight, which is great.

After we have our discussion, we will have public comment and

We're going to, because we have so many people, I think we're on the third page now.

We're going to have you all to keep it to two minutes, two minutes when you come up to speak.

So if you have something written down, if you can, you know, you have a little time now to cut and paste or edit what you have.

So we won't be here all night.

So two minutes when it's time.

So I will turn it over now to

Good evening Councilors, good evening members of the public and because we have such a well-attended meeting this evening I'm going to not spend a lot of time but just simply indicate that tonight we are all work session number two in the review of proposed FY 27 budget

As I've described, it's been a challenging year.

It's been an interesting process to try to get through.

We are moving through the process as quickly as we can, and we look forward to you hearing from the community tonight and then beginning the process of finalizing this aspect of the budget so that we can then move to the CIP and the closure of the budget on April 9th.

Good evening, council, public.

Thanks for attending the work session.

We have, as you know, preparing the budget takes a village, and so we have a lot of friends here tonight to talk about different things.

As we go through, computer will work.

As we go through tonight's agenda, we will talk about the Bibert Community Fund first.

We'll talk about the Hops Awards.

We'll talk briefly about the fundamental agencies and the intergovernmental agency budgets.

And then we will move on to public comment.

Hello, everyone, everybody out there.

I'm here to present with the Viber 3D Fund for FY 27.

I don't have a ton of things to go over and I have tried to condense it down to say everyone's everyone's time.

So the priority areas for FR 27 were based on the city council strategic plan, including the following categories, public safety and housing.

Although housing applications are put into different kind of portable, different pools, that is still one of the priority areas.

Transportation, climate action, commitment to justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, education, economic prosperity, and recreation arts and culture.

We did hold information sessions and orientations for applicants in person and virtually prior to the release date.

We have recordings available too on the website along with weekly office hours during the navigation period.

Orientation for review panel members were held and this year we had a large number of panel members.

We want to give, always want to give a shout out to the review teams for city councilors that don't know, staff that don't know.

We have people from the community that do this.

that anyone that's here or watching virtually, we really appreciate that.

Office of Budget and Grants Management participated in reviews as well and offered up to 10 bonus points for priority area alignment and five offered for financial stability.

Those are my words.

Those kind of summarize how we did that.

Next slide, please.

There were a total of 86 applications for the VCF process, and there were nine arts and cultural events applications.

We say it that way because the arts and cultural events applications, although they come through the ZoomGrants portal, they are handled separately.

And so we just separate them out that way as we talk about them.

One VCF application was removed to a housing funding opportunity, HOPS, and six were deemed ineligible due to not having a 5013C status or due to having an existing MOU with the city.

The ineligibility issue came to light after applications were received and reviewed, and so I know some folks understand that that was part of the instructions, but we found that out during the process.

The most updated VCF report does list those programs that were being ineligible in the summary section at the end.

Is that up, Krisy?

The newest one?

The new report.

It's updated on the website if anyone wants to see it.

The total amount requested for FY 27, not including the one application moved to the housing opportunity, was 5.4 million plus.

The total number of funded applications was 71 and that number would increase to 80 with including the arts and cultural applications.

Next slide.

The report reflects percentage award levels of 91%, 48%, and 27% of each grant proposal.

The review teams read, reviewed, and scored applications based on the scoring matrix that's available on the VCF web page so that anybody wants to see the matrix or the orientation or any of those things, all that's available on the website during the whole process.

Applications with average scores of 90 or higher, we're in the 91% award level, 80 to 89, we're in the 48% level, 70 to 79, we're in the 27% award level, and scores below zero, 70, we're not funding this year.

The primary factor of funding level is due to the total amount of funds requested compared to the total available funds.

That number is wrong, by the way.

It should be 5.4, so I have the wrong number there.

That's 5.4 plus versus a $2.6 million budgeted amount for BCF.

That's probably a reason.

We have a lot of folks asking for funding.

We don't have the same amount of money available to award out.

Again, thanks to the community reviewers out there that spent their time with Reggie and I. Reggie, help me out this year.

I want to add a couple quick notes on top of that.

The eligibility issue, some folks in here,

We probably didn't do the best job handling that as a team.

It was a new thing that happened this year.

We weren't prepared for that.

And so I don't know that we did the best job reaching out to those few folks.

I think it was six that were being ineligible.

We should have reached out to you guys during the process.

We didn't.

So we reflected on that and made some adjustments for next year.

Should that happen again?

And I do appreciate the folks at Ben's Village reach out to me.

It brought that to my attention and I appreciate that feedback.

And so it helped.

And so it did help us kind of reevaluate how we handle those changes that were unexpected.

I also want to say for me the award levels and the percentages don't reflect the programs here it just reflects how the applications are reviewed and scored by our review panels these programs out here are amazing I know a lot of good people out there everybody does a really good job I just wanted to say from the review team and the department that the results are not indicative of what programs do or how they operate so I still

That's all I have, I believe.

Do you want to talk about arts and culture?

I didn't look at these this year.

So I don't have a ton to say about these wonderful arts events programs.

I didn't work on them.

But these are the award levels that these programs are receiving this year.

Again, they were reviewed in a separate process.

And you can see, which I can't quite see because I don't have my glasses with me.

I'm going to look at Krisy's computer but excuse me.

You can look on the first column is the requested amount for FY 27 and the proposed amount is in the second column and then the percent change is just I think from the request to the proposed.

And I'll add in regards to the management of these requests, by pulling them out of the VCF fund, the desire for me was to remove where possible requests that we were processing that could be funded in a different way so that more funds could be available for actual program related activities.

So by pulling them out of the PCF proper, we're now using what is labeled the quality of life fund.

That is my discretion.

And I'm using that to basically make grant contributions to events that are aimed at really focusing on the enrichment of our broader community at large and the requests that come in.

We look at those and we make contributions based on size and scope of the project.

So the reach, the number of people that are attending

The initial allocation was $500,000.

We are in year two of that, so it is far from that today.

So it came in through VCF.

That's just a way to receive it so that they submit a request.

So that review team never saw these.

OK. Also, everybody comes through.

Yep, I'm, oh, and good evening Council and everyone that's here.

I'm Madelyn Metzler, the Acting Housing Program Manager, and I'll be presenting FY 27, HOPS, grant program funding, and HOPS stands for Housing Operations and Program Support.

As Hunter mentioned, these would have really been a part of VCF, but starting in FY 24,

They were pulled aside into their own lane.

And there is a separate committee that reviews these.

That is the CAF Committee, the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund Committee.

And they are also made up of resident volunteers as well as staff.

They review those applications and then make funding recommendations for you all to consider.

Notice of funding was released in August and we received 14 applications including the one that was moved over from VCF into HOPPS because it was really clearly aligned with the HOPPS program and those 14 applications totaled just under $1.4 million in funding requests and there is $575,000 available to award so it's

It's a tough decision every year for the committee.

They do a really great job trying to balance all of the requests with that pool.

But it gets tough because again, like Hunter mentioned, all of the programs are offering really important services to the city.

We also had workshops and technical assistance when the application period was open.

Applications were reviewed using the effective rubric with a maximum possible score of 105 points.

The rubric evaluates program effectiveness, organizational strength, alignment with city housing priorities, and the impact on vulnerable populations among other more detailed criteria that are on the screen there.

And each application was scored by the committee members individually, then discussed collectively before final scores were averaged.

Based on the final scores, applications were grouped into four tiers.

The first year was over 100 points for those that did receive some of the bonus points.

Oh, and I should have mentioned that the

One of the factors that goes into those bonus points is if the program is serving the homeless community or helping to reduce homelessness or impact it in a positive way in the city, as well as for just a really exemplary application that stood out to the committee.

Oh, yeah, so

Three applications were in the over 100 points category, eight applications were between 90 to 99 points, two applications were at 89 points, and one application was below 80.

So you can see there was a really overall very high scores.

And yesterday we published the HOPPS report in advance of this budget work session based on feedback from previous years.

And one important thing we found, there was an error that we found.

So you'll see on here, there's two funding levels that one was the initial recommendation that the committee made for each tier.

And then we had to make some minor adjustments based on an error that was made, which I'll get into in a moment.

but that results in those applications with the highest scores would get 70% of their requested funding and in the next tier they would get 44.7% of their funding request followed by 19% for the third tier and the fourth tier was not recommended for funding.

So here are the requested, all the requests, well, except for the one that, I should have put that on here, I apologize, that didn't receive a recommendation for funding, but these are all of the recommendations and with the corrections that happened with those percentages.

After publication, we identified a formula error in the internal spreadsheet that affected one application, Pocham's application for case management program,

Mistaken reference pulled in an incorrect amount, and so we were factoring in a request of $30,000, but their actual request was $120,000.

So rather than recommending them for only $15,000 of funding, that was not what the committee's intention was.

This is Pocham, yes.

So they, oh,

Oh my goodness.

Yes.

So it was for the correction.

The corrected column is correct.

But yes, the request is, well, you can see how it happened in the first place.

So Hope House was really 30.

Hope House requested 30,000 and was recommended for the tier two percentage, which was ultimately $13,410.

Pocham requested $120,000 in funding.

also in tier two, so the same percentage of funding request as Hope House, but that would ultimately mean $53,000 and 640 cents in funding, not 15,000, which would be a really significant decrease in funding for PACHAM and I'm really glad that they reached out when they saw that because that was, again, not the intention of the committee.

And so yeah, because the award percentages were basically based on the request amount, that error happened.

And once it was identified, I consulted the committee and they reached a consensus on the correction.

Can I ask a question about the applications?

They have to show in their budget like the specifics of what that funding is for because right to your point,

You can see, well, if I just ask for more, then I'll get more.

And I think applicants may tailor their applications to think, oh, maybe we should be thinking about a different program or something that is a better fit or asking to cover different expenses associated with the program to be more likely to be funded.

Because I think too, if they came in and asked too much of a large amount, that wouldn't benefit it because we can't really

gives so much money just to one applicant that wouldn't be fair either, which is another factor that the committee really has to balance because it is fair to use the percentages, but it is tough when, yeah, if you have somebody asking for $10,000 versus $200,000.

And yeah, so we have those corrected and the report that was published yesterday will also be corrected.

It wasn't in time for this meeting,

Slides were able to be corrected.

Next slide please.

So after the budget is approved, what happens is the recipients must have their agreements within three months and the funds must be used within 12 months.

Each organization submits quarterly reports and they don't receive their quarterly funding until we receive those reports.

So that's one of the compliance mechanisms that's been incorporated in the last few years, which has really helped with compliance, as you might imagine.

And this table also shows just a little bit about some of the performance over time.

We had 13 out of the 14 applications recommended for funded this year, which was an improvement of 93% of the applications funding compared to you can see NF by 25 was 47% of the applications were funded.

And this is the highest in the four years of the HOPS program.

But as I mentioned, the total requests continue to significantly exceed the available funding.

And the available funding is going down.

Well, so that's the available funding has always been published at $575,000.

But there have been times when council has elected to go above and beyond that.

So that is where the total funded is there.

But we are generally trying to keep it within the budget of $575,000 as we publish.

But to your point, yes, without any additional funding above that amount, and

Just seeing the overall quality of applications improve since we've refined the process and worked with the applicants and the amount, just the number of applications remaining a high amount.

It does mean that if we are funding more applications, then the amount of the awards does go down a bit.

and overall requests continue to outpace funding as I said, but the FY 27 cycle reflects a strong set of applications, really consistent alignment with the city's housing objectives.

And the HOPS program continues to support a broad range of services across the community.

And I know that if it were to go away, we would have an even larger crowd here tonight because all of the recipients of this award are really appreciative of what the city contributes.

And that's it for any questions or comments, I'm available.

So real quickly, we'll just, the next few slides are just a display of this slide here is a display of what the fundamental agencies

requested and what is in the proposed budget.

Generally most of those were about a three percent increase.

There were a few that had some programmatic changes which end up with higher increases that you see here in those situations.

CRHA and FAR both as you see submitted

A large request and we worked on those but did not fully fund those but did fund a larger increase.

And then that's it basically here on those unless someone has, oh, offender aid and restoration.

Part of that increase is the coming home program, which was formerly housed in the Department of Human Services in terms of funding.

And we moved that to the general fund.

So it is showing an increase here, but that was actually about a $10,000 decrease in that program in the funding.

Krisy, sorry, you said for CRHA and FAR, they had requested X money, but it looks like FAR got funded above their request.

FAR requested, oh, that might not be right.

Yep.

I think that must be an error.

I'll check on that for you.

The request was hiring.

Yep.

I apologize.

We'll check on that.

There's a lot of boxes to get right.

Yeah.

We'll check on that and get back to you.

I'm sorry.

So this reminds me of the bottom one, what?

Everything on the borrower requested 100,000, so let's say

We'll confirm.

Everything on this slide are basically the result of submitted budgets.

And this, sorry to back up real quick.

This line item for the jail is just operations, not renovations.

And then finally, this is the last of this group.

So may I ask a question?

Yeah.

So CIC, the Intergovernmental Agency Funding,

Again, more of an operational fund because they also fund our VCS grant, which is a programmatic fund.

Is that the difference?

And that's all we have in terms of a formal presentation.

I just want to remind you, next thing's coming up.

Monday night will be a first opportunity for the public to speak on the tax rate that's currently in the budget.

April 6th will serve as the official public hearing on the tax rate as it needs to be noticed in the newspaper.

And it will be advertised on March 26th.

So there'll be two opportunities for the public to speak on that.

And the first of which is Monday night.

And with that, this is the calendar of what's left.

We have two public hearings on the tax rate I just mentioned.

Next Thursday night will be our community budget forum, which is on the budget overall.

And next week, the same meeting is here at six o'clock.

Correct.

That's for the overall budget.

So before we,

Pick comments from the public.

Oh, sorry.

It's the same opportunity for you to hear from the public.

That was different.

Yeah.

Okay.

I have a question.

Yeah.

Are you surprised that I have?

So generally speaking, do we contribute from the strategic fund to ops or fundamentals?

Or we just

That's not really with that.

So the desire that I've been working with you all on is to receive the requests for the program related funding opportunities that we advertise, people respond to, and the awards are recommended.

that the goal would be for you to consider those as presented, accept those or adjust them if you so choose.

And the reminder that I have for you always is while we're doing this now in March as a part of our budget process for adoption, any decision that you make, you are spending money for effective July 1st.

And that budget that has been set aside for you is for the entire year.

So if you spend 150,000 of it in this process, you technically start July 1 short.

Well, you're operating from the idea that you have $500,000 available.

whatever that balance is, we top it off as the budget.

Yes, the reason why I'm asking is just thinking like- What did we use this year?

That hasn't been the case in the past.

Yeah, okay.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I said, you know, before, you know, I got on council and I got on school board began is that I was on these review committees for 20, 20 some years.

And that's how I really got to know all of the nonprofits and the community by reading applications and getting to know them.

So still an amazing work in the community.

So it's good that we have this opportunity.

I've talked to other counselors across the state and they just don't have this, you know, so it's a good problem to have, but we just don't, you know, I think at 5.4 million of requests and we have like two and a half, 2.3 or something.

So it's just a lot of, I imagine a lot of tough decisions to be made by

The reviewers are now ultimately the five of us.

So I know we have been contacted by a lot of nonprofits about their funding, whether they liked what they had and they may want a little bit more, or they didn't get anything and want some justifications, or they got something and wanted a little bit more.

It's all kind of in there together.

And so it's,

It wasn't enough pie to go around, but we always work through it.

So we have a lot of people to speak.

I think that we probably want to get our discussion now because maybe when it's over, we may not be ready to comment for us to have discussion on it.

And I'll share that the thought is that based on the volume of comments, if there's time left, then you can begin having discussions.

We're looking for answers.

So you've got to make decisions or recommendations or questions that even if we don't get to discussion tonight, the community budget forum is next Thursday.

You don't know how many people will show up.

That's on the global budget.

So there could be even more people.

It all depends, especially because that other work was discussed, and people might come out for that.

So if that turns out to be the case, then we may have time next week.

And if so, you'll have the ability to do that discussion then.

We have the CIP as the following week.

We usually don't use all the time for the CIP so you might be able to have some discussion but the April 2nd work session is the one that is not programmed and that's meant to be the last-ditch effort, final discussions on everything.

Are we ready to determine what amount we want to supplement, if at all?

And then chat at the end.

And if there's 60 slots in, wait, how many slots?

So, Kina, she's coming up.

Next person is Adam Nemet.

Good evening, my name is Kina Al-Khatib and I'm the revenue and partnerships lead for Ladder for Charlottesville Tomorrow.

As this is our first time being considered, I'm not here to request additional funding, but to reiterate the importance of our program.

Charlottesville Tomorrow is a community-focused and equity-centered nonprofit newsroom that's been around for 20 years.

We're dedicated to creating equitable access to trustworthy information and amplifying voices that have historically been excluded from local media and decision-making spaces.

Our news and resources are free to all.

Our program, the Community Growth and Visibility Program offers free marketing opportunities to local small businesses and nonprofits, especially those led by or serving underrepresented communities while strengthening the local news ecosystem.

This program aligns with the city's priority of economic prosperity by directly supporting the financial health and visibility of small businesses and nonprofits.

Through this initiative, we will provide sponsorship grants to help organizations promote their programs, services, and events.

By offering access to our platform, which reaches tens of thousands of engaged local readers each month, we're helping organizations expand their reach, attract customers and participants, and build long-term sustainability.

This program is particularly impactful for small businesses and nonprofits, which often lack marketing budgets or access to traditional media.

We're trying to also solve a timely issue.

Charlottesville's business and nonprofits face increasing barriers to reaching audiences they depend on.

In a survey we conducted, many respondents described feeling stuck between expensive low return advertising options and digital platforms that no longer deliver meaningful reach.

Charlottesville Tomorrow is an online only publication that attracts an average of 45,000 to 55,000 engaged readers each month, a highly local audience that cares deeply about civic life, housing, education, and equity.

And through our proposed community growth and visibility program, we aim to make that visibility accessible to all.

Hi, my name is Adam Nement.

I'm going to talk to all of you too in case anyone wants to partner together in the future.

I'm with MIMA Music.

Founded 25 years ago at Princeton.

We've been here for 10 years in Charlottesville.

MIMA used to stand for Modern Improvisational Music Appreciation, but that's a mouthful.

And then we got funded by the US State Department to go to about 40 countries and the name just became MIMA.

MIMA does collaborative songwriting.

We don't have a set songbook that we go in and ask people to learn.

It's a methodology we created where kids create their own rhythms, their own melodies, their own lyrics and stories, and then we put it together into professional recordings.

All of this is really just a Trojan horse for the social-emotional learning skills that we hope to teach, things like concentration and collaboration and competence.

The aim of the proposed project is to provide MEMA afterschool programs in seven low-income housing communities.

The initiative has been funded by the Vibrant Community Fund for the last two of the city's fiscal years, thank you very much, and builds on the progress of the work made possible by previous funding.

In the current cycle, we provided programs in all seven housing communities that we set out to reach, serving about 300 youth and adult residents.

The school programs in these communities have been very effective with approximately 90% of respondents reporting becoming more adept at creating music and that's great, but also being more engaged in program activities, being more comfortable with working with people they don't know well, that's really big for us.

and then making friends over the course of these programs.

Most recent funding for our work is less than 50% of the funding we requested.

We appreciate it.

We're always looking for other funding opportunities but as a result we've had to curtail the length of our programming in some communities and serve others through one day.

When we're able to work with participants for extended periods, we believe that creating that consistency is really important in building trust.

Good evening.

Before joining the Mahogany Friends Foundation, I really didn't think much about what I just thought it would magically, sorry, appeared from my mom's first.

I learned about saving, budgeting, and making smart choices with money.

Thank you, Jakes.

Jakes's story is exactly why we're here tonight for young people like him, their families, and the long-term health of our community.

Good evening, Council members and Mayor.

I'm Janaisha Bradford, founder and executive director of Mahogany and Friends Foundation.

If any of our board members or community supporters are here tonight, please stand.

Thank you, because building a financially stable community takes partnerships.

Over the past two years with limited city funding, we've served more than 500 youth and families, including over 150 Charlottesville residents.

At Mahogany and France, financial education, stability, and economic mobility are at the core of our work.

This is preventative work, not reactive.

Tonight, we're asking the city to partner with us with a $60 investment.

$60,000 investment to expand financial wellness program.

Of that investment, $35,000 will support our High Five Savings Program at Charlottesville Middle School serving 100 students.

This work directly supports the city's priorities, youth development, economic mobility, stronger families and communities.

So tonight we invite the city to join us in a winning effort to move Charlottesville forward, investing not only in meeting immediate needs, but in the preventative work that helps families

Move Beyond Them.

Because strong communities aren't built by responding to crisis, they're built by preparing the next generation before crisis.

Thank you.

Counselors and Mayor Wade,

I'm Kathy Boyd.

Good evening, Mayor Wade and City Council members.

My name is Julian Toney.

Good evening, I'm Sanju Subba.

I'm also a senior at 12-5, a member of Green Team.

I want to talk about equity for a second.

On a summer day, those neighborhoods can be 20 degrees hotter than the shaded ones.

When you fall in relief from planting programs, you're not just putting a stake in the ground.

We also can't just keep planting small trees and watching the big ones get cut down.

And for the education side, that's where we come in.

Green Team isn't just a club.

We're actually taking care of the environment and learning about careers in forestry.

We're out there canvassing, talking to neighbors, and getting people hyped about their own yards.

Thank you all very much.

Thank you.

Good evening.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight.

My name is Nancy Littlefield.

I'm a registered nurse and also the President and CEO of Hospice at the Cleveland.

As part of our mission and services, I also am here to represent the Hospice House, which is our community's beloved facility located at Byelon Street here in Charlottesville.

For those who don't know, our Hospice House is a 24-7, eight-bedroom home that cares for patients meeting hospitals

We know that resources and care available to people during the six months may not be experienced equally across the community.

Our mission at our organization has been to ensure that every Charlottesville resident regarding income, housing status, or insurance can face life limiting illness with support, dignity, comfort, and compassion.

Within the city of limits alone, on a daily basis, we've supported over a hundred residents.

We'll need an end of life supportive care to include clinical care, physician home visits, and caregiver support.

As part of our commitment to that community and our mission, our daily work extends far beyond reaching of the dining.

We provide care and brief support.

We provide kids grief and healing for children within our community.

because we know that if a child receives grief support they are healthier as an adult.

And through our Serenity Fund we provide over $10,000 in direct financial assistance to families who might need help keeping their lights on or heat on.

The strength of our mission as we evaluate our own budget process and the impact of our mission we know that we've provided just under $300,000 in charity care specific to Charlottesville patients last year.

If we're fortunate to be approved of this grant

Thank you.

I'm Maureen from New City Arts.

I'm joined by one of my board members, Marissa, many arts colleagues and gallery regulars.

I'm from New City Arts.

I've been at UCF Pacifica for the last eight years, receiving 32,000 this year, consistent with level funding from the last few years.

I don't know where funding was cut to 10,000 for next year.

And I realized that organizations should not assume the same level of funding annually.

I also want to say thank you for the support you have given us.

and that as the city's needs have grown without a central arts council or coalition during this time, New City Arts has evolved to fill the gap.

Our vision, governance practices and programs intentionally address unjust systems of power historically upheld by art spaces.

Then have our 2027 season in front of you and in it you'll find things from last year, 12 exhibitions, 150 artists supported, 90,000 distributed to Charlottesville area artists, 7,500 participants, most of whom were city residents.

The examples you'll find in there are not expensive paintings with high price tags because we don't rely on a high commission to fund our work.

We rely on community support.

We believe that the same artists who contribute to Charlottesville's vibrancy should be able to live and work here.

However, they report consistently that affordability, affordable studio space, affordable housing and funding for their work are huge concerns.

We are wage certified, which means that we follow national standards for paying artists for their work, including twelve hundred dollar exhibitions for solo shows.

We are also leading a study to try and bring back an arts council for the city of Charlottesville so that the funding distributed to arts and cultural organizations through VCF could potentially be managed by a dedicated coalition rather than bundled with human services.

As a part of this study, our job, the local steering committee, their job has been to look into comp cities so that we're not looking at places like New York for comparable models.

We're looking at cities similar to Charlottesville like Boulder.

who give 1.5 million to arts and culture annually compared to 500,000 given to arts and culture orgs and events through VCF.

Good news, one of the strategies in the city's plan is to increase the pool of funding overall to arts and cultural organizations.

And we're asking for 24,000 to bring our own funding back up to comps next year compared to the last couple of years that we've received through VCF.

So bold is coming up again, I think I heard 1.5 and I know that they have a small,

Pedestrian Lawrence, and so anyway thank you.

Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.

My name is Samantha Strong and I'm here representing Bennett's Village as a board member.

At its heart, Bennett's Village is about something very simple, but very powerful.

Creating spaces where everyone in our community can play, connect, and belong.

Inclusive spaces matter because play matters.

Play is where children build friendships, confidence, creativity, and resilience.

It's where families gather, where neighbors meet, where communities grow stronger.

I've seen firsthand what happens when inclusive spaces are designed well.

My family has visited communities like Carmel, Indiana and Charleston, South Carolina, where thoughtful playground design has created places where children of all abilities can truly play together.

I watched my son play alongside children with different abilities and backgrounds, laughing and exploring together as if those differences didn't exist.

I watched grandparents, including my son's own grandparents,

sitting nearby and participating in the space, able to comfortably be a part of the experience instead of watching from a distance.

Those spaces weren't just playgrounds, they were gathering places, they were community builders, and that is exactly what Bennet's Village is working to create here for our community.

With the Treehouse, Josie's Way, and the continued development of this space at Penn Park, we're building more than a destination.

We're creating a place where children can grow, families can connect, and people of all ages and abilities can feel welcome.

Inclusive spaces support physical health, emotional wellbeing, and they strengthen the social fabric of a community by bringing together people who might otherwise never have met.

Bennett's Village is already showing what's possible when a community comes together in this vision.

And with the continued partnership and long-term support, we have the opportunity to ensure this space continues to grow and serve our families for generations to come.

Because when we build places where everyone belongs, we build a stronger community for us all.

Good evening.

My name is Karen McClurkin and I'm the executive director of Bennett's Village.

I come here tonight to provide feedback on how we experience the Vibrant Communities Fund process and to make the case for city financial support for Bennett's Village.

I want to start with appreciation for all involved with the Vibrant Communities Fund.

I had wonderful conversations with them and I'm grateful for their dedication and hard work.

As Mr. Smith noted earlier tonight, Bennett's Village was determined to be ineligible for the vibrant community funding because we have an MOU in the city.

But there was nothing in the grant application that suggested we would be ineligible.

There's also nothing in our MOU that prevents the city from providing funding for projects.

We put time and effort into the process of writing the grant, meeting with the folks from the site visit, and at no time did anyone suggest we might be ineligible.

By not informing us of the eligibility early on, it prevented us from pursuing a different course to seek funding.

Successful models of inclusive play spaces have significant financial investment from local government sources in public private partnership.

20% is generally the standard.

Many of our potential funders, individuals, foundations, and government agencies want to know what the city is investing in Bennett's Village, not just in words, but in dollars.

The community and the city government want Bennett's Village to be built, but it takes a village as our name implies.

We're at a critical juncture to demonstrate the city's financial support as we ramp up fundraising efforts for phase two.

Given that Venice Village was deemed ineligible for the Vibrant Communities Fundy, can you help us identify a path for the city to provide direct financial support for phase two?

Together we can build a place where all can play.

Herb Dickerson and Ed Anthony,

How y'all doing?

I ain't got nothing but to say just counseled all the work that we're doing in the community as far as fighting gun violence.

But in these five years that we've been working, we noticed it's an

in the community and get dealing with the trauma and the poverty that's going on.

How you doing?

My name is Zinnette Anthony.

When we started the Buck Squad, the CVVI now,

We started with our hearts, not our heads.

So we let our hearts lead us.

You know, we two at the time had the mentality that some of you have, where these are just bad people, bad kids, I'll commend these gun criminals for no good reason.

And as we worked and we saw that a lot of this is trauma related, things going on in the household, you know, sometimes out of the control, things with parents, sometimes schools, sometimes financial, whatever the need may have been, they made them go outside and commit these crimes.

We finally figured out that we needed to provide wraparound services that we couldn't just say, hey Hunter, stop doing that.

Don't do that anymore.

We had to say, you don't have to do that.

You can do this and show them a better way.

And a lot of people have never had, we've learned never had anyone that they could count on or trust.

So we have to be that constant.

We're in constant communication with them every day.

who I know from my community, who I've always known because the black community in Charlottesville is very small and we all know each other, our families know each other.

Hello, my name is Shonta Davis.

Over the years, trouble followed me all my life.

I felt trapped like there was no way out.

January 2025, I became homeless due to unseen circumstances and I thought I had no way out.

Homelessness led me to active addiction and major depression until I realized I was in my own way.

And if I wanted different results, then I had to be receptive to the health.

I didn't know where that help would come from, but it came.

I received a call from a friend that wanted to know if it was okay to give my number out to someone that could possibly help me.

I accepted that offer and said it was okay.

From that moment, my life changed.

I started to trust the process with Anna and CBVI and knowing part of my story, her knowing part of my story, knowing that my trauma and my hurt,

All they wanted to do was help me in any way possible.

She connected me with Ben Allen from the Equity Center.

They've partnered up and they have been a blessing to my family ever since.

When so many doors had closed in my face, people passed judgment due to things my son were involved in in the community from grand theft autos to gun violence offenses.

Now today,

10 months later, I've accomplished goals that I've given up on.

I'm 10 months clean of recovery.

I have a valid driver's license.

I've completed my peer recovery support training and most importantly, helping people like myself.

I'm now one of those outreach people for CBVI.

Outreach and the support team, the outreach and the support team I have allowed to help me in network.

I'm now building

I'm now building and have saved my life.

Even though I'm not perfect, me trusting the process has allowed me to rebuild my life in the future with the help of CVVI, how they pushed me and never stopped.

So I'm confident with us receiving these funds, they will help more families with similar situations like myself who have been in the same or if not different situations.

Congratulations on your family.

Good afternoon.

My name is Siobhan Wilson.

Being a single mother, raising a young black man comes with many challenges, which brings me to this meeting this evening.

As my son entered his teenage years, we began facing many obstacles, including peer pressure, learning to make the right decisions, and understanding not everyone around you has, everyone around him always has his best interests.

I truly believe it takes a village to raise our children.

With the help of my son's mentor, Annette and Kevin, who was connected to him through CBVI, we have been working together to mold my son to be the best version of himself.

Before me and Kevin, my son experienced tremendous loss.

There were three important men in his life that were taken away.

My brother was killed on the downtown mall in October, 2022.

Right before he passed, we had just signed a lease to get a place together.

He was extremely sad about this.

Shortly after losing my brother, I also lost two other brothers to the system.

This was a heavy burden, even for adults to carry.

And my son struggled with how to express his feelings.

He began acting out and shutting down emotionally.

That's where Jayvion's mentor, Kevin, played a very special role in his life.

There was a time when Jen was hanging around the wrong crowd and making decisions that concerned me as a parent.

I knew I had to intervene.

Kevin stepped in to begin checking in with Jay every single day.

Since Kevin has been a part of his life, Jay's grades are no longer failing.

He recently took his SOL testing path and woke up feeling confident and prepared.

Kevin truly changed his life.

He was heading down a path that I didn't want for him.

When I first met Kevin, I shared my concerns and he immediately went to work.

He showed my son that there was more to life than the streets.

He taught him how to save money,

how to think about his future and how to navigate life's challenges.

Most importantly, he showed my son that even when life throws curve balls, he does not have to face them alone.

Programs like CVVI are truly needed for our children.

So many young people feel lost because there are not enough resources and opportunities available to them.

I stand here tonight as a living testimony that these programs do work.

So I appreciate that.

I know we had some school board members here.

They'll be happy to hear the impact it's having on SOLs.

So that's all, okay.

So as Jane is coming up, as you all can see, we haven't heard any,

Program does not deserve any funding today.

And so you get an idea of the difficult decisions that we have to make.

It's no bad program.

We all wish we had funding to fund them all.

But I just want you to, you can see now is that what the decisions that council and the reviewers have to make.

It's all right.

Were you taking part of my two minutes?

BBB, what a great, tough act to follow.

I'm Jane Colony Mills from Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry.

I'm joined tonight by Ray Gilmer, one of our board members.

And I wanted to thank the city of Charlottesville for recognizing Loaves and Fishes' role in feeding our community by awarding vibrant community funding since FY24.

I was sad to learn that in the 27 budget, we are proposed to have a 9% decrease in funding, but I understand the methodology.

And I know just from looking around the room, how many needs there are in our community.

I wanted to share the impact Loaves and Fishes is having on Charlottesville residents.

Since July 1, 2025, Loaves and Fishes has directly provided at least one week's worth of free healthy groceries to 4,565 unique Charlottesville residents.

And some of them come every two weeks, some come once a month.

They are able to come when they need the food and get it from us.

Through our varied food sourcing efforts, which include rescuing more than a million pounds of grocery store food from going to waste, it costs Loaves and Fishes only about $7 per person to provide one week of food.

Many of our customers have shared that by coming to Loaves and Fishes for a week or two of food each month, they can save money for other basic monthly necessities like housing, healthcare, childcare, transportation.

I'm grateful for the City of Charlottesville's support, which helps us feed our neighbors.

but the need for food has grown 75% over the last three years which means that the cost of living in our area is increasingly unmanageable for many people.

I know affordability in our area is not gonna be solved in the FY 27 budget but I would ask city council to consider increasing rather than decreasing Loaves and Fishes funding in next year's budget.

Two thirds of Charlottesville's food insecure people rely on us for one of life's basic needs, food.

This year, we're beginning to explore ways of increasing our distributions to get nutritious, healthy food closer to where food insecure people live.

And if there's one more thing I would ask council support for, it's for a bus stop closer than a half mile away from the pantry.

Hi, I'm Molly Jackson, Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Blue Ridge.

Our mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

Provide kids ages 6 through 18 with strong, reliable, professionally supported mentoring relationships that empower and inspire them during the most crucial time of their development.

The program is specifically designed to improve academic performance and educational expectations,

increased social emotional learning decreased negative and risky behaviors and improved family and peer connectedness our bigs provide personalized support guidance and encouragement committing to spending time with their littles two to four times a month staff support matches with active case management throughout the duration of their relationships

Our 2025 outcomes include 87% of our littles improved or maintained their grades or academic performance, 93% reported being better able to manage their emotions and increase their social competence,

100% avoided contact with the police or juvenile justice system.

96% avoided behavior that led to school disciplinary inaction.

Equally important are long-term impacts.

Littles are 20% more likely to enroll in college after high school graduation.

Littles enter the workforce earning more than their non-mentored peers with a 15% higher income between ages 20 and 25.

Mentorship closes two thirds of the socioeconomic gap for littles compared with their non-mentored peers, demonstrating the power of mentorship to build social capital and foster upward mobility.

Our littles exhibit improved behaviors and stronger social bonds leading to a reduced dependency on social services and long-term societal improvements.

Strategic partnerships with businesses, organizations, and schools in the city enhance our ability to serve local youth, leverage collective community resources,

And fill service gaps by ensuring that our program complements rather than overlaps with existing initiatives.

Ultimately, the city's investment in Big Brothers Big Sisters is an investment in our local youth, the families of our bigs and littles and our community as a whole.

Hello, I'm Carrie Flemons.

I am the director for Piedmont Regional Dental Clinic.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight.

I'm here to share the impact we are making for Charlottesville residents and respectfully request your support to help us continue our work.

Last year, we served 320 City of Charlottesville residents, 110 children and 210 adults.

These are working families, seniors on fixed incomes and individuals who do not have access to affordable dental care.

We have also partnered with the Charlottesville Free Clinic for referrals for comprehensive and emergency care as needed for those patients.

As most of you know, oral health is directly connected to your overall health.

Untreated dental disease leads to many chronic health conditions and preventable emergency room events.

We're intentional about affordability.

Our fee schedules are set at a lower percentile than the private practices for the area to make our care accessible and affordable.

Even with these fees, lower fees, many of our patients still need financial assistance to move forward with their treatment.

And we do offer affordable care programs for adults at half cost.

And we see any child that needs dental care for free.

We do not charge the patient or the family.

We are a safety net dental clinic.

Your investment has a meaningful impact and it directly supports our clinical supplies, stored materials and lab costs.

It helps fund preventative visits for many children, restorative procedures and urgent treatment that prevent far more costly interventions later.

Your support demonstrates partnership and shared commitment to the health of Charlottesville residents

I truly appreciate your time and consideration.

All right, good evening.

My name is Daniela Pretzer.

I'm the Executive Director of The Bridge Line.

We provide services for people with brain injuries and you may know that a brain injury can happen to anyone anywhere at any time.

very suddenly.

We serve people with traumatic brain injury, stroke after tumor, infections, domestic violence victims, strangulation, continued drug abuse, and all these cases.

and the healing is not resolved after their acute rehab, right?

It presents as a executive function variability, identity disruptions, social disconnections, fluctuation in the participation capacity and vulnerability during any kind of life transition.

And it requires really a flexible lifelong lifespan oriented support.

and we do that in three programs which have, thank you very much, been supported by the city for many years.

We have a case management program.

Case managers go out into the homes of the people who have a brain injury or they come to us.

We have a pre-vocational program where we teach life skills and skills that they can use to get a job again or

We have a volunteer job and we have a residential program where people live together with staff oversight.

And all these programs have always been a lifeline for the people we're serving.

and as you know the gas prices, the food prices, everything went up and so I was sad to see that our funding was cut from last year.

I know this always starts with zero but I would like for you to consider to get our funding as to last year's funding and I have another quick request.

I would love to understand how the score happens.

How can we better

can we apply better and make it clearer what we're doing.

Thank you guys for listening.

Thank you, Joseph Chaney.

I was a one-time member here at the bridge line and what I found here working at, well being a member here at the bridge line was that I was able to gain a perspective

as I was able to accomplish and as far as what the doctors told me that I was able to do and what my parents expected as far as having a brain injury, what I was actually able to do and my recovery would happen a lot faster and I was able to accomplish a lot more than everybody has expected.

And so with that, I was wanting to convey that or show that to the other members

that the members that I've seen when I was a member there, the reliability of the coordinators and the director, the judgment-free environment, not feeling like you're being judged by the coordinators or the director, positivity, the good energy that you feel there as soon as you walk through the door, the mixing

There's a mixing pot.

There's just a bunch of different types of people there.

Myself, I'm black and Korean.

There's a lot of, there's some Hispanic people that come to the bridge line.

So everybody can feel welcome there.

It's not just one race of people and the food problem.

Where I have my brain injury.

I was a chef and then I had the opportunity to become a coordinator at the bridge line and I took that opportunity.

So I'm able to help the members gain access to learn things as far as the kitchen aspect and they can take that on into their life as far as if they want to get a job in the kitchen.

that if you are a gifted person, it doesn't mean that you gain something.

It means you have something to give back.

So I'm very grateful for the bridge line.

Good evening, Mayor Wade and members of the city council.

I'm Ryan McKay, Director of the Blue Ridge Health District.

Our funding request for the Health District and the recommendations by the review team and city manager provides a starting point for long-term stable funding for three key roles that are currently grant funded.

These roles quietly protect Charlottesville every day, preventing disease outbreaks, connecting residents to care, and ensuring we use strong data to guide public health decisions.

First, the Disease Investigation Specialist, or DIS.

When someone tests positive for infections like HIV or SARS, this role works directly with that individual to ensure they receive treatment and to identify others who may have been exposed.

They help connect those individuals to testing and care quickly, which prevents further transmission.

This work is one of the most effective ways we have to protect community health and stop the spread of disease early.

Second, the Community Health Worker, or CHW, focuses on meeting residents where they are, helping people navigate the healthcare system, connecting them with services like primary care, mental health support, and food resources or transportation, all of which residents identified as priorities for maintaining and improving health and wellbeing in the 2025 Community Health Assessment.

The CHW helps turn those findings in the health assessment into action by building trust in the community, connecting residents to services earlier, and helping prevent health challenges from becoming much more costly emergencies later.

A third, the senior epidemiologist, focused on tracking communicable diseases, helping guide the public health response when they occur.

This role analyzes disease reports, identify patterns in transmission, and works closely with our clinical and disease investigation teams

to determine appropriate control measures.

These investments help ensure Charlottesville residents continue to benefit from a prevention-focused public health system that protects health, connects people to care, and supports long-term wellbeing of our community.

Thank you.

So just for the first part, just a quick

Follow-up question.

That's a local

Responsibility?

There's a partnership.

We are the primary, like a first responder.

We're closest to where the disease strike happens.

And so we have the most knowledge about our partners, our communities.

When needed, we receive support from the state, but mostly it's local staff who do the work of volunteers.

Hello, my name is Suzanne Bowers.

I am the new Executive Director of MACA.

And so first and foremost, I know there's like this big elephant in the room.

And we've been around a long time.

We've made lots of changes.

We've made lots of friends.

We've made probably lots of enemies.

So I personally would like to thank you for not giving up on us.

And I hope that when I'm here next year, you're going to see all the big changes that we've made at MACA.

We are revamping.

I would like to thank you for your recommending approval of funding for our Hope House program.

This is a transitional housing and intensive case management program for families in the Charlottesville area who are experiencing or facing imminent homelessness.

We are at maximum capacity right now, so we appreciate your support.

I would also like to thank you for supporting Project Discovery this year.

It provides first-generation students in grades nine through 12 with free post-secondary access resources to support their journey and their thriving future for life after high school.

In addition, I'd like to acknowledge our appreciation for recommending funding for kindlewood management, kindlewood care management.

But now I'm gonna put a little twist in it

is MACA has decided that we are not going to manage Kindlewood.

And so I am humbly requesting if it's possible that we put the $5,400 that was allocated to Kindlewood to our family and community services

Program.

It is essentially the same thing.

We were going to have a case manager specifically for Kindlewood given the population.

This would just put a case manager in all of Charlottesville to be able to serve all of Charlottesville and that did not get funded.

And so what we have to do is when people call from Charlottesville is we just have to refer them out, which is

Very hard to do because we hate not being able to serve them.

And we hate people to feel like they're just being pushed on to the next person.

And just to kind of put it in context, just since July 1 of 2025, which is the beginning of our fiscal year, we have referred 164 families who live just in Charlottesville out to other agencies.

And many times they call us back because they say people can't help them.

Not that we're the end all by any means.

And we certainly always give resources and follow through.

But that's why we would like to see if we could just transfer that money.

And I thank you for your time.

I welcome you to contact me with any questions, ideas, suggestions, anything like that.

Thank you.

It is.

Better than ever.

Hunter, if you could just send us some information on what you want to do and see if it's possible.

Perfect.

Thank you.

We have Kate.

Good evening, Mayor Wade and members of the City Council.

My name is Kate Lambert.

I'm the CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Virginia.

I want to start by thanking you for your past and current support that leads the world to the children and families we serve.

We've been recommended to receive $60,000 in FY 27 and we are respectfully requesting that our funding be restored to our current and previous funding level of $116,000.

It's a $56,000 difference.

Our organization operates the Cherry Avenue Boys and Girls Club on the campus of Charlottesville Middle School.

The club provides year-round youth development programs every day after school and all day during the summer

to young people between the ages of 5 and 18.

Our programs focus on academic success, health and well-being, character and leadership, and life and workforce readiness.

As you know, access and affordability mean everything to families.

And with your support, cost isn't a barrier to participation in our club programs.

Our membership fee to families is only $35 for the whole year.

As you know, Charlottesville Middle School is adding over 300 sixth grade students next year for a total of 800 students on that campus.

Because of our proximity, we're in walking distance to Charlottesville Middle School, the city schools have asked if the club can serve more students next year, and we anticipate enrolling an additional 100 youth.

The cost of not serving those children will be far more costly to the city in alternative services down the road.

That includes health care, mental health care, incarceration and lost tax revenue.

What we know is that it's better for children to come to the club after school than it is for them to be at home.

It's better for them to be with their friends, receive a healthy snack or meal, participate in activities like sports, academic tutoring, reading, STEM and arts, and learn life skills like financial literacy.

To continue serving the needs of our city youth and families, and at the increased level requested by our schools, the club respectfully requests the restoration of our current funding level of $116,000 for FY 27.

Good evening, mayor and members of city council.

My name is Caleb Nelson.

I'm up here on behalf of Live Arts.

Thank you for the care and commitment you show every day to the wellbeing of the community.

I'm here tonight to respectfully ask for your support of Live Arts.

Live Arts has been proposed for $8,100 this year.

While we are grateful for the support, it represents a reduction of nearly half last year and falls far short of what is needed to sustain our educational programming.

Live Arts is more than a theater.

It is a community hub where creativity, learning, volunteerism, and connection come together in the heart of downtown.

Our stage is powered by more than 1,300 volunteers who build sets, design costumes, run lights, welcome audiences, and bring stories to life.

It is also a place where local artists and meaningful work and where young people discover confidence, collaboration, and creative expression.

Through camps, classes, and workshops, our education program serves youth ages 4 to 17.

These programs are often a young person's first experience standing on a stage, speaking in front of others, or working as part of a creative team.

We are also deeply committed to accessibility.

Through TING, Pay What You Can Performances, and our 434 initiative, anyone new to live arts or anyone under the age of 25 can attend a show for just $4.34.

These programs ensure that theater in Charlottesville is not limited by income or background.

It belongs to everyone.

Sporting Live Arts is also a smart economic investment.

National studies show that for every dollar in public funding for theaters, nearly $3 are generated in additional local spending through tourism, jobs, and surrounding businesses.

When you invest in Live Arts, you are investing in downtown hospitality, education, and economic activity.

This report allows us to produce five main stage productions each year, provide space for emerging artists, and continue offering hands-on arts education to young people across the region.

Without sustained public support, Charlottesville will risk losing a vital cultural and educational resource that has served this community for decades.

Hi, I'm Deanna Gould with Lighthouse Studio.

While I'm here tonight to speak for Vinegar Hill Theater community programs, I would like to start by giving a shout out for all arts organizations in the city.

Thank you counselors for considering additional support for Vinegar Hill, as well as the arts broadly speaking.

A 2021 report synthesized 20 years of research and evaluation on the impact of arts engagement.

and concluded that arts engagement can play a role in shaping and reinforcing people's cultural identity, promoting civic behaviors, enhancing communities livability and economic vitality and bridging relationships across races, generations and political divides.

Every five years, Americans for the Arts conducts an economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry in the U.S. Charlottesville participated

in this report in 2017.

A key finding from these studies is that investments in the arts yield big returns.

The combined $5 billion in direct arts funding by local state and federal governments yielded $27.5 billion in government revenue.

That is a 450% return on investment.

Not only do we teach workshops at Vinegar Hill, we stream films for the community, but we also host many rental events.

We offer discounted rates and sponsorships to other nonprofit organizations, many who otherwise would not have been able to hold their events.

Last year, we gave 59,000 back to the community.

We paid 16,000 in taxes.

Last year's partners include the City Office of Human Rights, Black Professionals Network of Charlottesville, IRC, Seville Renewable Energy Alliance, Hummingbird Fund, Welcoming Greater Charlottesville, Regenton, among others.

As you can imagine, there are expenses associated with these events.

We applied the vibrant community funds or towards these programs that we appreciate you considering a return to last year's awarded amount of 20,000, which enables us to continue the work.

Counselors, many of you have attended our events in the past few years.

Thank you.

I'm Cindy Hepler, also with Lighthouse Studio, and I wanted to speak tonight about our application for our educational programs.

Between our two applications, both of them were recommended for funding, which we so greatly appreciate, yet we are recommended for 23% less than we received last year, and we ask you to consider increasing our funds more in line with what we received last year.

In 2025, we applied our VCF support towards six filmmaking workshops, including partnerships with Lugo McGinnis Academy, CHS Urban Farming, YMCA, Abundant Life, Virginia Discovery Museums, Democracy and Dialogue Program, and creating a documentary film with C3 about green jobs.

We thank the City of Charlottesville Vibrant Community Fund at the end of these films,

and many of these films screened locally at both our Youth Film Festival and the Virginia Film Festival.

The Lugo Maginnis film was accepted to the British Columbia Teen Film Festival.

In FY 27, we plan to partner with all of these organizations again and we appreciate you considering level funding with last year to enable us to continue these partnerships.

We understand the tiered focus of the VCF process

and while Lighthouse and other arts programs are not feeding, housing and transporting people, we do nurture our youth in a different way.

Studies consistently show that arts education is closely linked with positive academic outcomes and social and emotional development.

We track our own students.

We see this in the data as well as just in the stories.

Lighthouse expands access to arts education for all young people in Charlottesville.

We help young people become active creators rather than passive consumers of digital media.

Arts education is not an extra or an add-on.

It's an essential part of supporting the young people in our community and setting them up for success in the future.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here tonight.

My name is Courtney Polk and I'm Executive Director at Building Goodness Foundation.

This is the first time that Building Goodness Foundation has applied for the Vibrant Community Fund.

And so I just want to say we're really grateful to be here and for your consideration for this opportunity.

So thank you so much.

BGF is a construction nonprofit organization.

We partner with local nonprofits, other nonprofits here in Charlottesville area who need work on their building so that they can continue to implement their mission.

We also work with local low income homeowners to provide urgent and critically needed home repairs for their houses so that they can remain in their homes.

And we also partner with small businesses to help make sure that they have what they need, the places that they need so they can continue to operate and grow their businesses.

In 2020, during the pandemic, we created a program called Seville Builds as a pilot program to help our local community during that pandemic.

That year in 2020, we completed 22 projects locally.

And I'm so pleased to report that our pilot project has done really well.

We've continued it every single year and it's our flagship local program.

Last year in 2025, our fifth year, we completed 92 projects in our local community.

That's up from 22 projects our first year, five years ago.

Of those 92 projects, 45 were home repair projects, 11 were ramp installations for additional homeowners, three were projects for small businesses, and 33 were projects for nonprofit organizations.

One thing that's interesting to note is that of all of the nonprofit organizations that are incredible that you all are reviewing for funding for the upcoming year, BGF has worked with 17 of them to make sure they have the buildings and the facilities they need so that they can actually implement their missions.

A couple of notable projects from the last year include the Haven Refresh, working with Loaves and Fishes to give them a new walk-in freezer, Yellow Door, new floors for the kids that are immunocompromised and need apartments to live in nearby, and also Haven Salvation Army.

We did a really awesome project with them to fix their apartments for local families indeed.

So thank you so much.

Yeah, I saw the apartment work.

It's good stuff.

So good.

Thank you all for the opportunity to share a little bit more about our organization.

My name is Doreen Bonnet.

I am the Executive Director of Birth Sisters of Charlottesville.

We are a community-based, dual organization supporting women of color.

during their birth journeys.

A former teacher once posed this question to me.

When your mother was caring, what did you marinate in?

It wasn't just the question about the condition of her physical role.

It was also a question about the condition of the home in which your mother resided while pregnant.

The support she received are not from family, friends, care providers, and the community at large.

What kind of mental emotional impact did all of this have on your mother?

And what impact did it make on your development while she was carrying you and after she gave birth to you and watch you grow?

Birth sisters walks alongside mothers of color in our community as they navigate their pregnancies and everything that surrounds it.

We have a team of 15 community-based doulas, seven of which are state certified.

The efforts of these incredible women, which two of them are in the audience here, in our organization are literally saving lives, making this work essential.

Black women in Virginia continue to experience higher rates of pregnancy associated deaths when compared with white counterparts in 2023.

So a rate of 70.7 for black women compared to 36.2 for white women.

Just in comparison, the maternal mortality rate for women who have been supported by Birth Sisters of Charlottesville from the time we incorporated in 2020 to today is zero.

So this work we do is impactful and it is necessary.

As community-based doulas, we work with mothers during their most vulnerable times.

We have witnessed and supported them as they navigate many challenges.

We have seen housing issues, financial issues, partner violence, mental health challenges in nearly every social determinant of health.

All of this while these brave mothers are doing the sacred work of throwing babies in their bellies.

Thank you.

Our fundraising campaign is called Protect the Push, which stands for provide compassionate, culturally rooted, trauma-informed dual care.

You uplift the voices, autonomy, resilience, and power of mothers in color.

S, sustain revolutionary change through systemic advocacy.

and H honor sacred beginnings, ancestral legacies and cultural birth practice.

Push is our call to action.

It's our mission and it is our promise.

So we're asking you to help us.

The demand for our services increases every year.

Hi, good evening Mayor Wade and City Council.

My name is Megan Gilday and I'm the Chief Development Officer from the Piedmont Family YMCA.

I'm here to express our gratitude for the city's investment in our work and sharing what that support makes possible for Charlottesville families.

The city has supported our early learning child care and education program

for children ages zero to five for many years.

And this year recommended expanding investment to our school age programs.

and friends six to 12, a natural continuum of that early learning work, serving children and families as they grow.

We are truly thrilled by that expansion partnership.

On the early learning child side, pardon me, on the early childhood side, we are the area's largest nonprofit provider of full-time care for children ages zero to five.

This past year, we opened a second center at Sentara Martha Jefferson, expanding access for city residents directly at this new center

and by opening more spots at our Jefferson School location.

As state funding for new children has been cut, your local support is increasingly critical to maintaining quality care at low or no cost to low income families and competitive compensation to our staff.

Thank you from the Y and from the families and from the hundreds of families who benefit from this service.

Our school age work grew out of COVID when we converted the Y into a school and deepened our partnership with Charlottesville City Schools.

the class after school program for children ages six to 12.

Today, we serve more than 1300 children in all city schools through aftercare, out of school time, summer enrichment academies that fight summer learning loss and summer camps.

We hope that number will grow next year as we work toward taking over the afterschool pre-K program at the former Walker Upper Elementary School.

Of the school age children we currently serve,

More than 61% receive financial assistance to participate representing $1,080,000 in scholarship support we are committed to providing.

Thank you for seeing the importance of our school age programs for families.

We are grateful to you for your continued investment

and hopeful as we see it signals that the city shares our belief that every child and family deserves access to safe, enriching, and low-cost programs.

Hi, my name is Kim Basile-Wood and I'm affiliated with the Ben Heritage School for Life Foundation.

Founded over 10 years ago, our foundation is very appreciative of the Vibrant Community Fund and the support for the city.

However, our mission is still incomplete.

When Brenda and Gordon Hare founded our organization, the purpose was to waterproof our community.

It should not be a privilege to learn to swim.

in Charlottesville, now Marl County.

It should be a basic human right as we are surrounded by water.

If you don't know, rates from the CDC, children aged one through four are most likely to die an accidental death by drowning, not guns, not an automobile accidents.

Children ages five to 10 are number two cause of death.

So we're coming today not to ask for additional funding in a check, but to ask for lane rental reduction.

What we're trying to do is go to the Crow pool and not pay almost $1,000 a week to be in the pool.

What we're asking for is a cost reduction so that we can get more and more children in the pool.

The more time in the pool, the more children we serve.

Last year, we gave, we taught 300 children how to swim during the summer and adults and 280 of those people were on scholarship, which means the funding that we're doing is going to the community.

This spring, we're teaching 80 some children to swim.

of which we're paying because most of them are on scholarship.

So we're just asking for a reduction in fee because we even pay for our own funds.

Can I?

I'm a mobile user.

Yes.

Okay.

Thanks, guys.

My name is Price.

I have the honor of being the executive director at the City of Promise.

I want to thank you guys for your continued investment in our work, our kids, and our communities.

Look, here's what we know.

We know we already have the second highest cost for people in the state of Virginia, around $18,500.

We know we have the largest literacy pass rate gap in Virginia, about 48 coins.

We also know that our kids during their K-12 years spend about 80% of their waking time out of school, right?

So they spend that time in environments, in communities, and with and around people that will either be headwinds or tailwinds as they pursue their education, right?

We have to continue to deeply and sustainably invest in these areas, right?

Because we understand education is a social issue.

Your ability to learn to read, to engage with information in school is a mosaic of in and out of school factors, healthcare, childcare,

At a school time, we've heard from all of these great folks has an incredible impact on your ability to engage with the information, interact with the information that you're being given inside of a school building, which is why we've worked so hard to build this community school model with the schools, with our nonprofit partners and practitioners, with our community built out of people who live here, out of people who grew up here, right?

Built from the fabric of this community.

We went to school here.

I'm very proud to be one of those people who went through Charlottesville City Schools.

Because we know what works.

We know the model works.

We know we have the people that can make the deep connections with our kids.

So the one family who we have, the mom as a mentor, our director of family engagement and advocacy, the son is involved in our tutoring program, our afterschool program, access our onsite food pantry, a trailblazer, and also is on our walking bus.

that students' tardies have been reduced fivefold, absences are down 33%, his literacy rate is up 8% as measured by VALS, that's just in a year, right?

So we know what works.

The city has asked us to have staff members in Summit, they've asked for us to have staff members in this Early Learning Center.

Those, unfortunately, do not yet come with dollars attached to them.

So we need to fund those positions to continue to do the work that we want to do to continue to build this community based model to grow our staff efficiently and effectively in pursuit of teaching all of our little ones to read.

Thank you guys.

Thank you.

My name is Kate Cherico and I'm the current board chair for Bennet's Village and I'm here to ask you to prioritize funding for Bennet's Village, an inclusive play space planned for Penn Park.

As the country, across the country, parks are increasingly recognized, not just as places for recreation, but as critical infrastructure for community health and belonging.

Parks and recreation systems play a vital role in improving health outcomes, strengthening social connections,

and ensuring equitable access to outdoor spaces for all residents.

But equity requires intentional investment.

Right now, Charlottesville has many parks, but none that are truly inclusive for people of all abilities.

For families with children who use wheelchairs, have sensory sensitivities or other disabilities, the reality is that many playgrounds simply aren't useful.

That's why Bennett's Village matters so much.

Inspired by a child who loved to play but couldn't access most playgrounds, this project will transform part of Penn Park into a multi-acre all-abilities play space where children, parents, and grandparents, regardless of mobility or development of differences, can play together.

The project's first phase, an accessible treehouse, opened recently, allowing people of all abilities to share the experience of climbing and playing together.

But this treehouse is just the beginning.

The project's second phase will include accessible play equipment, shaded resting places, a freestyle track, a play tower, and cardio equipment for adults so no one is left on the sidelines.

The rest of the vision will only become a reality if the city treats this project as a priority.

not just a non-profit effort.

When cities invest in inclusive recreation spaces, they create healthier, stronger and more connected communities.

Charlottesville prides itself on equity and inclusion, but inclusion must be invisible in our public space.

Good evening.

Good evening, everyone.

Good evening, Ms. F.

Hi, my name is Quinton Harrell, and I'm here on behalf of New Hill Development Corporation and the Beacon Kitchen Initiative.

Our New Hill CEO would normally be here tonight, but tonight she's facilitating Beacon Kitchen's first night of our new food service management training program, which helps aspiring food entrepreneurs gain all the skills they need to launch and sustain the businesses here in Charlottesville.

I'm here to respectfully request council to reconsider the proposed funding reduction and restore support from New Hill's new programming to 150,000.

New Hill's more than a program.

It's an economic infrastructure for sea-built food economies.

Today, Beacon supports 25 food businesses operating out of our 10,000 square foot shared use commercial kitchen

with capacity to support up to 70 businesses as we continue to grow.

We're also expanding Beacon's impact by investing to support food processing on site for entrepreneurs.

We're building out a storefront space to create new opportunities for kitchen members and establishing presence on UVA grounds that'll help connect our members to large markets.

All this requires planning, programming and staff support help.

to help entrepreneurs grow their business.

And when the business grows, that success provides ROI to the city in the form of jobs, increased tax revenue, and a stronger, more diversified local food economy.

Beacon provides daily meals and snacks to several private schools, Boys and Girls Club, and Barry Early Learning Center.

helping these organizations to meet USDA compliance requirements and providing lunches for less than $5 per lunch.

I know my time is running short, but we understand difficult decisions councils have to make, but this reduction significantly impacts programs that are already creating jobs, already supporting entrepreneurs and providing meals for the children across our community.

Hi, I'm Ashley Sennelly Matthews.

I'm the executive director of Central Virginia Community Justice.

First, just wanna thank you guys for your support.

We've had city council support since we first got started a few years ago.

We're really grateful.

We provide restorative justice services.

As you may know, research shows that restorative justice reduces trauma symptoms,

and reduces recidivism more effectively than criminal prosecution while also costing less than a prosecution, a trial, incarceration and reentry.

So diverting into restorative justice makes all those costs disappear.

The first thing I wanted to check about was a mix up.

I'm looking at Hunter.

It has been addressed.

I forgot to get back to you.

I will not address that since it sounds like it's already been addressed.

All good.

Thank you.

But what I really wanted to just hear was a little bit about restorative justice.

I know everyone's not as familiar with it.

I got a call just this week from somebody who said somebody who was working at our home stole a significant amount of money from us.

We've called the police.

We have this option to potentially press charges and move forward with the prosecution.

But somebody I'm really close to and respect a lot told me about you guys and highly recommended your services.

I really don't need this person to go to jail.

They're a parent to a young child.

They have their own struggles in life.

I want something to happen.

This needs to be addressed.

But we would much rather work it out with them if we can.

And so if something like that can go forward, we do not need all of the criminal system, the court hearings, all of the costs associated with that.

We can help these folks work it out in a way that's meaningful and meets their needs without having to go through the criminal system.

And so we would love to be able to keep doing that with your support.

You know, with the flip flop, we're very grateful that that has been addressed.

That still is a reduction in

funding from what we received in fiscal year 26.

And we would love to request you to continue at our fiscal year 26 level.

We are about as lean as we can get.

Most of our staff work by the hour.

We do not throw fancy galas.

We don't even have an office space yet.

And so if funding gets reduced, the only thing left to cut is to take fewer cases.

We do not want to start turning away Charlottesville citizens

from our work, so we would request any support that you can offer.

How's everybody doing?

My name is George.

I want to thank you all for supporting us and supporting our growth.

I was going to get straight to the point.

I do my work from the heart, so I'm going to speak from the heart.

I want to appreciate y'all for everything that y'all have given us, but when I looked at the table and I saw 2027, I think we were getting reduced by 23%.

I work with a lot of misunderstood kids.

I don't call them troubled youth.

I call them misunderstood.

We a wraparound service.

I was doing it by myself, helping with their homework, going to their school,

If you ever come to our gym, we're a diverse gym.

I'm big on building self confidence.

We feed the kids.

And we growing at a rate where we need a new building.

I got a new board now that's amazing but we don't have no grant writers that know which word to put on the grant to

Give us the funding that we need because again we do it from the heart.

I've been serving probably over 2,000 kids in Charlottesville since 2020 that we got established in Charlottesville.

A couple of them were looking to commit suicide.

Some of them that wanted to commit suicide didn't want to go to school no more.

grades, graduated, look into their own business.

I've had some of them, some of these kids don't even want to go home because we're a safe haven.

Our work is different than everybody else.

And I see like other cities, you know, like Baltimore, Norfolk, they really invest in their programs, like the boxing programs to help keep these kids off the street.

And since they've done that, the gun violence and overall violence has gone down.

We're different.

Like I said, we work a lot.

besides just you know in the bag and stuff like that.

So I would love for y'all to reconsider our funds for next year and you know hopefully lead us in the right direction so we know exactly what words to put for the grants that we need.

Thank you sir.

Appreciate y'all.

That was pretty moving.

My name is Gordon Hare.

I'm the founder of the Ben Hare Just Swim for Life program.

This was in memory of my son who was a city employee.

It was a lifeguard at Meade and worked as a pharmacy technician down on the mall.

Really felt for the kids that attended swim lessons and recreation at Meade.

I've been here before.

Maybe 10 years ago, I was here trying to kick off the Brooks YMCA.

I was a major investor in that endeavor.

And thanks to Brooks, I've partnered with them and together we've put a half a million to continue to support a Learn to Swim program for all of the

the City County, Louisa and Greene County.

The schools are shipping the kids to the Y.

However, that is only five 40 minute lessons.

So it really doesn't teach the children.

It just makes them fall in love with the water but it doesn't make them water safe.

So I would like to continue that program at Grow Pool

and there's many times the Crow Pool is just not being used at all.

And I wouldn't get in the way of anyone that wanted to pay money for it but to have a pool of that size closed doesn't make any sense to me and I can provide all of the staff to support that place.

We have Fry Springs Beach Club in the summer and that's about 90%

non-white, you can come down there and have eight languages going on in the pool at the same time.

But that doesn't cover a measurable amount of kids.

That's three or 400 kids that we serve there for mostly free, but the program with the Y supports it.

And if I could advertise all of the

the places in town that give swim lessons and then also use Crow Pool with some sort of a handshake.

That would be fun.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak.

My name is Bellamy Brown.

I'm from Charles

College, a community-led effort to build Charlottesville's first fully inclusive playground, a place where children of all abilities can play together, learn together, and belong together.

For many families in our community, playgrounds that most children enjoy simply aren't accessible, and this village aims to change that by creating a space designed from the ground up

with inclusion in mind where children with mobility challenges, sensory sensitivities and other disabilities can play alongside their peers.

It's not just a playground, it's a statement about who belongs in our community.

That's why local government support matters so much.

When the city invests through the Charlottesville Vibrant Communities Fund, it does more than provide financial support.

It sends a powerful message

Across the nonprofit world, we see this again and again.

Public investment unlocks private investment.

When local government demonstrates confidence in a project, other donors step forward because they know they are joining a true public-private partnership.

Vibrant Communities Fund was created to support projects that strengthen connection, accessibility, and opportunities across Charlottesville.

And this village embodies those goals perfectly.

It brings families together, it ensures children

Good evening to the mayor, excuse me, and the members of the council.

My name is Derek Rush.

I am the co-founder of the Uhuru Foundation, a local nonprofit here in the Charlottesville area.

We truly appreciate the city in recognizing the importance of the work that we're doing, as well as investing in the individuals who are returning home to our community from incarceration.

In my role, I work directly with the men of our Transitional House Program, so I get to see firsthand what people face when they come home from incarceration.

Many return determined to rebuild their lives, but they quickly encounter a lot of barriers or the same barriers that a lot of individuals are facing.

Those being limited housing options, limited support systems, difficulty finding employment.

And without that stability during that transition, it becomes very easy for someone to fall into homelessness and back into the justice system in general.

So what makes our work unique is that we provide more than housing.

Our program provides mentorship, structure, workforce connections, accountability that helps individuals stay focused on rebuilding their lives.

And when people have this ability, we see real outcomes.

People obtain jobs, long-term employment, career paths, reconnect with their families, and also remain stable in the community and become law-abiding citizens and taxpayer citizens in the community as well.

So the challenge that we face is the demand that our

We're operating at two houses right now in the community, one on 6 and a half street, another one on 12th street.

We're looking to expand two more houses by the end of 2026 if possible.

So I know that we asked, we made an ask for 200 grand.

So the difference between that recommended 54,000 and 200 grand that we requested represents a difference in basically being able to maintain what we currently do, and also meet the growing needs that we have for our community.

I respectfully ask that the council consider strengthening that investment because when we help people stabilize during the most vulnerable transition of their lives, we're not only helping individuals, but we're strengthening the safety and stability of our community.

If possible, I'd like to yield the rest of my time.

Well, you have no more time then.

Oh, sorry.

But that's fine because I think you're the last speaker

So my name is Kevin Parks.

I also work for CBVI.

I wouldn't have been able to have this opportunity if it wasn't for the UHU program.

So, you know, I had a lot of struggles with addiction, incarceration.

Coming home, it was extremely difficult to get any footing.

The UHU Foundation, they were able to

allowed me opportunities to get a job, not just a job, career, to get on my feet.

It was something I didn't expect from the community I wasn't born and raised in.

I'm from Northern Virginia, so it's extremely busy up there.

Communities aren't as tight-knit.

So being here and being in the community, people that have resources, willing to help,

It's something I definitely appreciate.

If it wasn't for the foundation, I wouldn't have a foundation.

So being a part of the UHU program is something I appreciate you guys appreciate everything we do.

And, you know, also with CBBI, I feel like, you know, the community needs programs like this.

You know, it is it is an issue with

Some minorities not having a support system.

You know, I grew up in a household that was completely different than what I see on a day.

I had my father and a lot of these kids don't have father figures, don't have support systems.

Thank you and congratulations.

It was supposed to be me and Matt, so can I do Matt two minutes?

Sometimes we double it up, but we don't have time.

Would anyone else like to speak?

I really like to speak.

I just asked, did I have to go on mute?

Yes, please.

I did not want to come up here and I know my child was probably like, why is this woman speaking?

But my name is Beatrice Bradford.

I work for the city, I actually work for that man in the corner right there.

Janeshia Bradford from Mahogany and Friends is my daughter.

And I wanna say that everybody should be so proud and everybody should give theirself a round of applause because if that's the problem that we have today in Charlottesville is trying to get so many of these nonprofits to try to get money, that's wonderful.

That is a blessing.

That is a big blessing.

And I think it's just great.

And I also, I don't know, not, yeah.

Mahogany and Friends, I believe you start with the children and Mahogany and Friends are not just for children they're actually helping adults and they um I wish it was around when I got my large sum of money when my children's father died because I did not know exactly what to do with it so I mismanaged a lot of things so education is key so but but I think with a lot of these problems that I'm hearing it's like a lot with children and it's start with children you got to start from the children I'm not saying

Forget about the kids in the Haven and all that.

But I think to put more into the children are my suggestion to you guys, I'm always thinking that I know something, but sometimes you do, right?

I might give you guys an idea.

It's to put some of these programs together because a lot of them doing the same thing.

Somebody strategize and try to get which ones to get together and do the same thing.

That's what I was going to say.

That's what I was going to say.

I can tell you.

So I can tell you the idea of combining some.

We started to do that 20 some years ago.

And once you start dipping in these nonprofits,

Okay, anyone else like to speak?

We got the issue of the parking space.

Anyone else like to speak?

Thank you so much.

We appreciate it.

We got through it fairly quick.

It's a little bit after eight.

Did we want to discuss this tonight?

We have some reports to read.

It's always great hearing from the people.

We get the work that the reviewers do and that Hunter provides us is great, but this is always helpful.

Michael, you at this point.

Before you start, this is John's first time going through this process as our city attorney who is here to keep us all out of trouble.

And just because we've been doing it a certain way, I'm always conscious of the idea that when we have to reflect on things, we figure some things out.

We have a lot of authority to make grants under Virginia law.

A very different Virginia than where I came from.

I'm still getting used to those sorts of things, but we do have to make sure that we're being open and transparent and that decisions are getting full sunlight.

So we have to be, as we are considering these things, make sure that it's not groups of three all getting together and deciding on funding.

But ultimately it will be if the council has to decide as a group, which groups get additional funding.

So it's important as you're being approached by members of the community and you're having conversations with these lovely folks who have shown up

that we're not promising things because only the council can act for the council.

So we have received a lot of emails, what you heard tonight and many, many, many more, and which is just great.

You know, I love this engaged community.

Right, that is your single source.

I don't want to just make up a number for that.

There's some questions I have for staff about other places funding could come from or other help that, like grant writing assistance, where did those people go for that?

And so I think there's going to be some marinating and some emails

Yeah.

Yeah, I think that, you know, that I have heard that, you know, we were talking to, you know, maybe $100,000 of the strategic funds in that neighborhood.

But I heard a lot of, I took a lot of notes from tonight that I, you know, that, that

I didn't really resonate with me from reading the applications, but the comments from board members and things like that did.

Not particularly.

I mean, I think.

Yeah, and I had started with 150,000 based on last year's 96 and just the ecosystem, the nonprofit ecosystem at the moment and what, after interviewing a lot of people, what it seemed like, but that was the starting point.

So we have a council meeting on Monday and although it's not official,

public hearing, but people can provide comments at that meeting on the budget if they like, but also can continue to email counsel.

And that's something that, you know, we all read and we factor in as we make decisions.

So every Thursday of this month, back here, six o'clock.

And so it's a lot of meetings, a lot of issues that we have to try to address.

But we may even have to have an additional meeting.

We'll have to see.

But we'll definitely get public notice of that.

I think Miss Bradford said it nicely.

It is nice to see that there is this much community involvement, positivity, conscientiousness, and effort going into making our city better, stronger, and more together.

Thank you.

Second.

All in favor, please say yes.

Yes.

All opposed, please say no.