Organization: Community Foundation for Northern Virginia
Type of Organization: Community Foundation
Geography: Northern Virginia
Funding Category: Awareness & Outreach
Why is CFNova funding this work? At the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, our community leadership work is led by four pillars aimed at “building a community that works for everyone.” These pillars are inclusive economic growth, racial justice and equity, community resilience and social and economic mobility. Our work invests in communities in Northern Virginia that don’t normally have access to the resources they need to solve longstanding community problems. It is advised by our existing and expanding relationships with diverse community leaders who possess a deep understanding of what works and what doesn’t work in their spheres of influence
Can you share an example of your work in action? When the American Rescue Plan Act was being implemented last Summer, we had conversations internally and with our partners about how to maximize the funding coming into communities and use them to increase economic stability for families. We asked, “What would happen if we actually gave funding to families?” That is what really started this whole process of exploring how we might support work on tax credits. We had never done work related to tax credit but saw the research that shows the powerful impact that the CTC and EITC have on reducing poverty. Our community leadership work cannot happen without community partners. Since we already had a relationship with United Community (UC), this was a natural partnership.
UC had the relationships, the trusted partners and the ability to utilize their Neighborhood Ambassador Program to connect to community members. They trained community leaders and prepared them to do awareness, outreach and engagement activities. Community leaders did things like share information, hang flyers, make phone calls, send text messages, set up appointments and help community members feel more comfortable with the free tax prep space. Through their work, hundreds of families were able to benefit from the ARPA tax credit expansions.
Who can I contact to learn more? Please contact Sari Raskin at [email protected]