Responding to Need

The Community Foundation Awards Over $800,000 in Grants to Advance Equity Throughout NOVA

April 17, 2024

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia is awarding $805,940 in grants to 49 local organizations through its 2024 Community Investment Funds (CIF), Environment Fund, and Ross-Roberts Fund for the Arts competitive cycles. These grants, supported by charitable endowments and managed by the Community Foundation, will address current and emerging needs in the region.
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Community Foundation Awards $551,650 in 2023 Scholarships

June 21, 2023

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia has awarded more than $500,000 in scholarships to 142 students pursuing higher education. The Community Foundation’s scholarship funds are leaving positive legacies across the region and beyond. More than 50 volunteers reviewed more than 400 scholarship applications for these funds this year. In total, the Community Foundation manages 13 scholarships and administers the funds for 21 others that support Northern Virginia students. These awards range from $1,500 to greater than $6,000.

Forty-four Organizations Awarded $763,969 in 2023 Grants Cycle

April 25, 2023

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia has awarded $763,696 in grants to 44 local organizations through its 2023 Community Investment Funds (CIF), Environment Fund, and Ross-Roberts Fund for the Arts, helping support broad-based needs and address complex social issues across the region. This work addresses two of the core pillars of the Community Foundation’s strategic work— to build community resilience and advance social and economic mobility for all of Northern Virginia’s residents.

Community Foundation Funds United Community's COMMUN1TY+ Initiative

April 14, 2023

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia is delighted to further partner with United Community by partially funding the COMMUN1TY+ Initiative, a project that aligns resources and efforts to support communities based on the needs expressed by residents of Mount Vernon and along the Route 1 Corridor.

Afghan Relief and Resettlement Fund Round Five Grants

January 20, 2023

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia launched the Afghan Relief and Resettlement Fund in September 2021 to support Afghans fleeing their home country who either pass through or are resettled in Northern Virginia. To date, grants from the Fund total $282,490, and have focused on critical needs such as food, shelter, healthcare and mental health services, as well as longer-term efforts such as legal services, housing, transportation, education, and English language skills.

Micron Opportunity Fund 2023 Winners

January 12, 2023

The Micron Opportunity Fund is the result of a collaboration between the Community Foundation and Micron Technology, Inc, to strengthen STEM learning through efforts to build knowledge systems, and capacity in Northern Virginia by ensuring underserved students have access to high-quality STEM learning experiences.

Loudoun Impact Fund 2023 Grants

January 12, 2023

The Loudoun Impact Fund is a giving circle of engaged Loudoun County donors managed in partnership by the Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties and the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia. The Fund invests strategically in Loudoun County to promote education, the arts, the environment, and to support the needs of Loudoun families, children and youth. The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia made a grant to the Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties for $29,500, which makes up part of the $112,000 total grant that the Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties is awarding.

Healthy Kids Mental Health Grants Make Impact at Six Northern Virginia Schools

January 12, 2023

Healthy Kids Grants have traditionally been awarded in the spring and summer for public schools in Northern Virginia that use the funding for a program that promotes nutrition and physical activity. In 2022, the Community Foundation added a grant cycle focused on support for schools offering their students mental health care programming. This is especially pertinent, as rates of youth seeking mental health care treatment have increased, accelerating a pre-pandemic trend. Stay tuned for more about The Shape of Youth Mental Health report, which will be discussed at a Insight Region event on February 1, 2023.

Business Women's Giving Circle Awards Grants Totaling $50,000

January 12, 2023

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia's Business Women's Giving Circle recently announced the winners of its annual grants cycle. A total of $50,000 has been awarded to three local nonprofit organizations that provide STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Mentorship programs to girls and young women in Northern Virginia in 2022. To date, BWGC has awarded more than $465,000 in grants that have impacted the lives of over 3,250 young people.

Community Foundation Awards $488,430 in Scholarships to More than 130 Students

July 15, 2022

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia has awarded $488,430 in scholarships to more than 130 students in Northern Virginia, investing in the next generation of leaders for Northern Virginia, and beyond. These scholars were honored at a private event at Northern Virginia Community College on July 12, 2022.

The scholarships are valued between $1,500 and $5,000, with some awards renewable through all of college study. The average amount awarded was about $3,500 per student.

A full list of scholars, scholarships, and the award amounts, is available through the link below.
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Community Foundation Invests in Next Generation, Awarding Nearly $500,000 in Scholarships

July 15, 2022

“We would hope that the recipient of this scholarship will have earned it so long as they have worked hard in studies, and have determination and a goal in life. That they have helped in community service like volunteer work where it is needed. The recipient will have honored their parents and have been a team working taking pride in their performance, with a willingness to help others.” -Virginia and Cameron Dye

In 2022, we’re delighted to announce that we’ve given out nearly a half a million dollars in scholarships. This represents the Community Foundation’s largest ever anything in all areas- the largest number of applicants, the largest number of scholars, donations, and awards. Each year, the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia awards more than $300,000 in awards to more than 100 students seeking a higher education. Though all scholarships are different, the recipients often carry on the wishes of Virginia and Cameron Dye. These young adults seeking a higher education are already becoming generational leaders, thinkers, and doers.

Rebuilding Together Arlington/ Fairfax/ Falls Church Celebrates 300th Project

June 9, 2022

The Community Foundation has long supported organizations that allow our elderly residents in Northern Virginia to live with dignity. The region is home to more than 280,000 seniors, around 80 percent of whom live in a condo or house they own. These aging homeowners tend to have higher rates of disability (about a quarter of whom have a significant cognitive or physical impairment), and are at a higher risk of poverty- about 10 percent are living below 200% of the federal poverty line. Since 2011, the Community Foundation has awarded more than $225,000 to help older adults throughout Northern Virginia stay in their homes.

Afghan Relief and Resettlement Fund Round 4

May 25, 2022

“Of all the hardships a person had to face, none was more punishing than the simple act of waiting.” -Khaled Hosseini

Hosseini’s quote captures the experience of many refugees. Some come from areas experiencing natural disasters. Some, from starvation. Many, from war. Of those refugees who do make it to safety experience a different kind of waiting- be it for international intervention, a wait for safety, or waiting for the long process of acclimation and integration to be completed. Unfortunately, there are few if any remedies for satiating the unease and adjustments a refugee feels when she leaves her home country for a new place altogether. But, there are many ways to support these people as they adjust to new lives in a new place.

$45,000 in Grants Awarded to Local Environmental Organizations

May 4, 2022

In honor of Earth Day 2022, the Community Foundation announced that the fifth annual Environment Fund grant of $30,000 has been awarded to Sustainability Matters, an organization that supports environmental awareness and programming in the Northern Virginia area. Another $15,000 will go to the Prince William Environmental Excellence Foundation.

Community Foundation Awards $613,725 in Community Investment Fund Grants

April 27, 2022

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia has awarded $613,725 in grants to 50 local organizations through its 2022 Community Investment Funds (CIF), Environment Fund, and Ross-Roberts Fund for the Arts, helping respond to need and seed innovative solutions to complex social problems across the region.

As the Community Foundation’s core grants program, funds are invested in organizations serving the northern virginia community in the areas of Aging, Arts, Child and Youth Development, Education, Environment, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Mental Health, Military Personnel and Families, and Safety Net to Support Basic Needs. This represents the largest ever discretionary grants cycle in the Community Foundation’s history.

The Community Foundation Awards $11,500 through the Kaiser Permanente Northern Virginia Social Health Impact Fund

March 1, 2022

Northern Virginia as a region is not a monolith- the communities we serve range from the inner suburbs and edge cities of the Nation's Capital, to the rural shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and everywhere inbetween. Recently, the Community Foundation awarded two organizations from two very different parts of the region, two separate grants totalling more than $10,000. Though distance may separate them, they are two organizations driven by their mission and values- to fulfill a critical need for those most vulnerable.

Grant for Nueva Vida supports mental health intervention program for Latinos in Northern Virginia

February 4, 2022

In 2021, Nueva Vida received a two-year grant totaling $30,000 from the Mental Health Fund, a permanent community endowment at the Community Foundation dedicated to the mental health and well-being of all members of the Northern Virginia community. The grant helped Nueva Vida design and implement the Más Fuertes Juntos (Stronger Together) program – a mental health intervention program to assess the emotional well-being and health-related quality of life for uninsured Latinos across Northern Virginia, with a targeted focus in Prince William County.

“The demand for culturally tailored mental health services is a critical need for the overwhelmed uninsured Latino community. Forever funding can help close the vast gaps in equitable mental health care and provide recent Latino immigrants support as they face traumatic exposures of migration, PTSD, depression and stress associated with the immigration experience and the challenges of integration vs. marginalization in the US.”

-Laura A. Logie, PhD, Director of Research, Nueva Vida.

$15,000 Awarded to Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce

August 17, 2021

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia today announced a $15,000 grant from its Build Back - Dream Forward: COVID-19 Response Fund to the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce (NVBCC).

The NVBCC is a 501(c)3 public charity with a mission to help Black owned businesses succeed in the region. They are currently engaging in a number of initiatives focused on the impact of the pandemic on Black business owners, including programs that help them obtain access to existing local, state and federal program funding and that also help them obtain better access to capital, mentoring, and coaching services.

Mental Health Fund Grantees

April 28, 2021

Investments to nurture the emotional health and well-being of the Northern Virginia community

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia is committed to investing in nonprofit organizations dedicated to supporting the emotional health and well-being of all members of the Northern Virginia Community. The following organizations are recipients of annual grants through the Community Investment Funds process, a highly competitive cycle that responds to need throughout the region.

Since 2007, the Community Foundation has awarded more than $940,000 to support mental health across the region.

Aging Fund Grantees

April 28, 2021

Support for the needs of adults over the age of 65 in Northern Virginia

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia is committed to investing in nonprofit organizations dedicated to supporting the needs of our aging neighbors. Guided by the Community Foundation’s data-driven reports on Aging in this region, the Community Foundation continues to invest in organizations that help the growing number of older adults age in place. The following organizations are recipients of annual grants through the Community Investment Funds process, a highly competitive cycle that responds to need throughout the region.