Council for Community Engagement awards grants to support community needs

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Council for Community Engagement has awarded one-year grants totaling $100,000 to nine university-community programs established to respond to community-identified needs.

The Community Engagement grant awards were announced at a reception at Scott House on May 23.

Sheldon Retchin, M.D., VCU Health System CEO and vice president for VCU Health Sciences, told attendees they were playing a critical role in increasing the level of community engagement, which was identified as a key theme in VCU’s strategic plan two years ago.

“The willingness of so many community partners to participate in this strategic initiative is very exciting,” Retchin said. “My hope is that through the coupling of the university’s resources with the assets and ‘know how’ of the diverse community organizations represented here today, we will see positive changes occur in our community.” 

Grants were awarded to:

ECO-Monitoring: Ecology, Chemistry, Observation, Mentoring, a partnership between VCU Life Sciences; the departments of biology, chemistry and pathology; and the Charles City County Public School System to develop an environmental monitoring system. Through mentorship and field experiences, participants will explore how water quality in Charles City County may affect local wildlife and human communities, as well as the impact of the local ecosystem health on regional and global communities.

VCU Lends Helping Hands to Friends, a program that allows students from counselor education and the school of social work to collaborate with Friends Association for Children to offer individual and group counseling to foster academic, behavioral and social development for youth and families participating in FRIENDS preschool, school age and adult programs.

VCU Community Workforce Investment Project, a collaboration of the School of Social Work and the VCU Health System with the Richmond Career Advancement Center to offer pre-employment counseling, on-the-job training, mentoring and other services to help community residents get entry-level jobs with the Health System, maintain their employment and advance to higher-paying positions.

Chandler Middle School Arts Center Project, a partnership between the departments of Art Education and Interior Design and Chandler Middle School to develop and build a permanent exhibition space in the school cafeteria for displaying art works created by Chandler students. 

Improving the Access to FIRST Programs in the Underserved Community, a program that allows VCU’s schools of Education and Engineering to work with Richmond Public Schools and VirginiaFIRST to create new, high-tech educational opportunities using FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Vex Challenge to teach problem solving and project management while learning life skills and technical expertise.

Environmental Festivals: Engaging our Citizens in Watershed Sustainability, a partnership between the departments of Geography and Biology, VCU Life Sciences and Miles J. Jones Elementary School to design, promote, and stage two community environmental festivals to engage citizens who live in the Reedy Creek watershed to develop a lifelong commitment to environmental protection and take ownership of the creek’s health.

Cosby High School/VCU Partnership, a collaboration between University College, the School of Medicine, the Center for Health Disparities, Cosby High School Health Sciences Specialty Center and the Virginia Mentoring Partnership to bring about a health careers exploration course, introducing Cosby students to health careers through expert presentations, service activities, lab experiences and mentorships with current VCU pre-health students.

VCU Online GED, a partnership between the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center at VCU’s School of Education, the Honors College at VCU and the Richmond Public School’s Adult Career Development Center to provide peer counseling from VCU Honors College students, increase GED certifications and introduce Web-based instruction to boost retention at Richmond’s Alternative High School. 

Science Connection: A VCU-St. Andrew’s School Partnership, a program that links faculty in the departments of teaching and learning, physics and VCU Life Sciences with St. Andrews’s School in Oregon Hill to increase student interest in science through exposure to engaging instructional experiences and interactions. Training will be provided for pre-service elementary teachers and science content majors to deliver hands-on science lessons and three professional development workshops will be held for St. Andrew’s teachers. 

The nine grantees were selected from a group of 25 proposals. Members of the Council for Community Engagement gifts and grants committee and three community reviewers selected the successful grantees.

"The Committee was so pleased to receive applications to work with the community on a wide variety of issues, such as math and science education, workforce development, creative expression, and the environment,” said Samantha W. Marrs, gifts and grants committee chair and assistant vice president, University Advancement, and director of Corporate and Foundation Relations. “The nine funded awards will support sustainable partnerships between the VCU community and the greater Richmond community, thereby improving the quality of life for us all."