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2020-2022
Impact Report

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Art credit: ACPS Student: Desi. S.

Our Mission

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 Families Helping Families works to ensure that each child receives what they need to reach their full academic and social potential while removing obstacles to learning in ACPS.

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FHF formed because of an imbalance in funding support provided by outside agencies school by school.

 

We know that extra resources allow expanded learning opportunities that occur inside & outside the classrooms. These funds will be used to address learning and teaching barriers in support of ACPS’s equity mission.

Our Reach

Elementary
Schools

High
Schools

15

5

3

7

Middle
Schools

Other
Education
Centers

For more info, visit Albemarle County Public Schools.

Demographics

We primarily engage with families and staff connected with ACPS.

13,697

Total Students

3,781

Economically Disadvantaged

1,397

English
Learners

1,702

Students with
Disabilities

91

Countries of
Origin

69

Home Languages
Spoken

Our Impact

We started the 2021-2022 school year off with a request for help with housing on the very first day of school.  We have learned in the last two years that finding affordable housing is one of the biggest challenges in our area. 

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During the 2020-2022 school years, we assisted over100 families and raised a total of $37,698.15. We received  $13,950.70 via our fund at CACF from 67 donations and $23,747.45 in donations and grants deposited directly to our nonprofit account at UVA Credit Union.  Of those funds, $900 was from a parent-run "gnome" fundraiser and additional much appreciated donations were received from Henley Middle School, Stone Robinson Elementary, and Stony Point Elementary PTOs.

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The Last Two Years in Review

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Family Support

In the 2021-2022 school year, our Solutions team served families in the following areas:

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In the 2020-2021 school year, we sent $6,975 to the following groups to support families in our area and provided the following direct family supports:

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In addition to the direct supports offered in 2021-2022, in the 2020-2021 school year, these additional supports were offered to families.

Referrals

First, we ALWAYS attempt to refer families to organizations already filling the need identified

Summer Sports

Volunteered in a week-long summer sports program that offered children a free camp experience

Car Donation

Anonymous gift of car given to mom in need
 

Hygiene Packages

Helped Mom2Mom put together hygiene packages

Lice Treatment

Anonymous donation directly for lice treatment/laundromat (nearly 1K)

Furniture Delivery

Delivered clothing, food, furniture, hygiene items and diapers to families

Food Donation

Anonymous gift to Woodbrook mom: fulfilling her list of items desired to fill fridge and pantry

Electronics Support

Delivered replacement computer cable from AHS to an ESOL student

Our Projects

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Teacher & Nurse Appreciation

In May 2022, we honored over 1,000 educators, based on a budget of $5/person and delivered care packages to 25 school nurses.

25

School Nurse
Care Packages

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Community Connection
Monthly Meetings & Resource Guide

We had community booths at the Soul of Cville, Community Day in Scottsville, Back to School Bash and 3 community events/dates leading up to Teacher appreciation week to work on postcards for teachers.

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Scottsville
Community
Day

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Soul
of
Cville

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Back to
School
Bash

Thanks SO much to the following:

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​Kelly Eplee, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville

​Katie Heroux, International Rescue Committee,

Kristen Clarens, Legal Aid Justice Center)

Daniel Fairley, C​​ANDYD Strategy & Engagement Co-chair

Vernon Liechti, Albemarle Education Association

Student Desi S shared re Black History Month

Samyuktha Mahadevan, One Small Step Project Manager

Margaret Fisher,  Unite Us Community Engagement Manager

Ashely Schneider, Stepping Stone Charlottesville

Lauren MacLean, Assistant Director of ESOL, World Languages, and Homeschool, ACPS

James Schempp, Parent, Involved with Operation Allies Welcome

Mary Jo Hollis, Program Assistant for Living Free Together

Nicholas Wright, Licensed Professional Counselor, Wright Group Counseling,

Charlsie Stratton, Program Supervisor, Community Attention Foster Families

John Thompson, Family Service Specialist, DHS/Community
Attention - Community Based Services & Co-Founder of
How U?A Black MENtal Health Podcast 

Keshia Washington, Wildrock's Extraordinary Ebony Explorers program

Alex Weathersby,  Shelter for Help in Emergency

Scott Guggenheimer, Henley JEDI and Equity Team, African American Teaching Fellows of Charlottesville

Diana Connolly, International Rescue Committee

Sharon Webb, ESOL/AHS

Dawn Monroe, SAP Programs

Kirstan Knipple, Mom2Mom

Whitmore Merrick, Home 2 Hope

Tristan Kabesa, Come As You Are Cville

Scott Williams, owner Camp4Real

Freddy Jackson, Love: No Ego

Miles Nelson, ACPS Coordinator of Mental Health & Wellness

Sarah Harris, Wildrock

Jessica Carter, Her Sports

Ellen Krag, LPC, ​Director of Child and Adolescent Case Management, ​Region Ten

Ashton’s Wish (Fran Clark shared)

Daisy Rojas, Loaves and FishesCville Sock Love

Ambha Lessard, ACPS ESOL Family Engagement and
Family Support Liaison

Edgar Lara, Executive Director, Sin Barreras

Cain Turner, International Neighbors Director of Development

Debbie Tuler, ESOL Specialist, NEDP Advisor/Assessor,
Thomas Jefferson Adult & Career Education

Monthly meetings focused on topics such as mental health, military resources, ESOL support, volunteer opportunities and more.

 

Over the past year, we’ve had 37 community members share about their community work and service to the community with the ultimate goal of ensuring more people are aware and have access to their offerings. These individuals took time out of their evening schedules to attend one of our FHF monthly meetings! 

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50

Handmade Posters

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7

Checks to
Title 1 PTOs

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100

Volunteers

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$7300

Donations from
100 Donors

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Going Forward

Over the next 12 months, we’d like to double the items on our resource page (currently at 152) and our contact list (currently at 314 people) to enable us to make connections more easily within our community to solve problems that arise.

 

We know that there is great need in our community. We also take great pride in the fact that our community is rich in resources and want to make sure that at minimum, everyone has access to them.

 

We will continue to grow our group in a healthy way that doesn't burn out volunteers and continues to build a strong community to lend support when it is most needed.

 

We send monthly surveys to our representatives to continually refine our work and we respond to needs as they are identified by families, ACPS employees and community members. We also use the feedback received in monthly meetings and gained via community connections to guide the work.

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Thanks!

School Representatives, Board Members, and Volunteers

The gift of time is one that we value greatly. THANK you to our school representatives, board members and volunteers for providing input and support of our mission and projects!

 

Special thanks to Khalilah for her gorgeous newsletters and always fashionable media representation of our group- we are so lucky to have you as a group leader!!

Community Supporters
and Donors

None of our work would be possible without the generous financial and help from community supporters and donors. 

 

We sincerely appreciate your faith in our work and mission!

Sarah Harris

A huge thanks goes to Sarah Harris for her support from the beginning and advocating for Henley to be the first school to contribute to our fund. 

 

She also used her “stress crafting” abilities to raise $900 for FHF by auctioning off these adorable gnomes. 

 

THANK YOU for your support, Sarah!

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Miles Nelson and our AMAZING Solutions TEAM

In the last two years, over 100 families have been assisted by our team in ways that we weren't able to find available elsewhere in the community.  The Solutions Team, led by Miles Nelson who along with his job responsibilities as ACPS’s Mental Health Coordinator has gone above and beyond to reach out to families and connect them with all existing community resources.  Our team has obtained material goods via local Buy Nothing groups and sent funds when no other resources were available. 

We also noticed a special need in the summer months when other agencies were out of funds for the year and Miles and his team (Latara, Fran, and Amanda) worked tirelessly all summer long.  We also appreciate the help of volunteers Christie, Kate and Michelle for helping with Buy Nothing needs in their neighborhoods!

Dr. Hairston

We thank you for your 47 years of service (30 years with ACPS) and your direct support as we got this group off the ground.  

 

FHF didn’t just spring into existence in the Fall of 2020- it was the result of years of conversations that took place with the guidance of Dr. Hairston within the capacity of his role within Community Engagement. There aren’t enough words to express our gratitude but thank you, Dr. Hairston!

Heidi Gilman Bennett

We’re still in awe of the campaign that you coordinated to honor 1,000 educators in Albemarle County.  A parent at one of our schools called you a “force of nature” and we have to agree. 

 

THANK YOU for doing such an amazing job - it was a pleasure to work and learn from you in the process! Your team of parent leaders that included Radhika, Mary (Strong Schools Movement), Lynette, Julie, Angie, Khalilah and Amanda were also SO instrumental in recognizing the amazing work of ACPS educators!

 

THANK YOU ALL.

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Angie Brement

Special thanks to Angie who decided we needed the ability to respond more quickly to emergency family needs and single-handedly filed all the paperwork for us to become our own nonprofit and became FHF’s first treasurer.

 

She also handled the separate streams of donations for our teacher appreciation campaign last year.  We know this was a huge task and are so thankful for all of your hard work!

Mike Dean

Our volunteer who took tons of WORDS and simplified them with images and charts to produce a gorgeous impact report. 

 

THANK YOU so much for you time and effort on this project.  It was such a pleasure to work with you on it!!!

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What You Can Do

Advocate

Tell us if you see a student or family in need (great or small, let us know what problems exist).

Volunteer

Help out with your time and talent—we’ve got lots to do!

Spread the News

Visit our website & join our newsletter list to learn more and share with others.

Give

To help ensure that every student has a chance to learn.

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