In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Culpeper Wellness Foundation has provided quick-turnaround grant support to a variety of organizations, with far reaching impact in its service area of Culpeper, Madison and Orange counties. In mid March, the Foundation decided to direct all available grant monies to the COVID-19 crisis. Grants in support of crisis response total $60,000 as of April 10, 2020.
To support this new focus, the Foundation’s annual Healthy Living Grants program was suspended for 2020.
“We made the decision just a few weeks into the Healthy Living application period, and the organizations who had expressed interest in applying were very understanding of our decision,” noted Shari Landry, Foundation president. “In retrospect, the decision was the right one, given the scope of need we have seen in our service area thus far. Over the past few weeks, we have worked closely with other agencies to identify areas that our grants can support, which tend to be health, food, shelter and ability to work.”
As of April 10, the Foundation has provided funding that will:
- Help Culpeper Housing and Shelter Services serve a growing number of people who are homeless
- Allow Hero’s Bridge to support five senior veterans who are at risk for isolation
- Provide childcare for essential staff at Rapidan Rappahannock Community Services and support the Culpeper Baptist Church Early Learning Center
- Establish an emergency fund in Madison County
- Support Madison Early Learning Center so that they can re-open when the time is right
- Assist SAFE in providing support to clients in the face of increased challenges related to COVID-19
- Purchase cleaner for use in Hydrostat Foggers to support more than 3000 decontamination cleanings of emergency vehicles
- Purchase 100 pulse oximeters for Novant Health UVA Health Systems Culpeper Medical Center for at home monitoring of patients who visit the emergency room
Through the Free Clinic, the Foundation was able to secure nearly $900 worth of children’s pain reliever for the Department of Social Services. The Foundation also purchased N95 masks for distribution to volunteer fire departments and agencies in its service area with staff or patients who are at risk; provided 35 gallons of hand sanitizer (made in Culpeper) to local agencies; and purchased toys and games for an emergency childcare center in Culpeper that serves the children of first responders. The Foundation is also working with a group of organizations to coordinate services for Culpeper’s homeless adults. Landry said that the Free Clinic’s Community Health Worker will be checking in on them regularly.
Landry added, “The can-do attitude among local organizations is always inspiring during normal times, but it is even more inspiring and heartwarming in this unprecedented health crisis as we all seek to identify and work toward resolving local needs.”