IMPACT

Mental Health Campaign Update: IMPACT Goes to City Council and NBC 29 Feature

2012-01-11T07:51:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, January 3rd, a delegation of IMPACT leaders attended the Charlottesville City Council Meeting to remind the Councilors of their commitments made last March in front of 1,500 to fund the Healthy Transitions Program.

We also heard from Robert Johnson, Executive Director of Region Ten, who said that this psychiatric re-entry program is an overall cost savings to the community. Becase Healthy Transitions is preventing homelessness, costly visits to the ER, and recidivism, this $85,000/year program will end up saving the community $680,000 per year.

Lauren Chapin, Co-Facilitator of the Mental Health Research Committee, was featured on NBC 29.

IMPACT 6th Annual Assembly Video

2011-10-31T08:27:00.005-05:00

Video filmed and produced by Allison Corbett.

6th Annual Assembly: Recap

2011-10-27T15:06:00.005-05:00

On Monday, October 24^th, IMPACTkicked-off its year with a strong and exciting start. 440 people from IMPACT membercongregations voted on the problem of job preparation for young adults to beaddressed for the upcoming year.

We welcomed Unity of Charlottesville as they joined the organization, as well as voted in and commissioned our new Executive Committee.

We heard a compelling testimony from IndiaSims, a graduate of both CATEC and the Virginia School of Massage Therapy, whois receiving calls from collection agencies because her school debt is greaterthan her annual income.

Robert Johnson, the executive director ofRegion Ten Community Service Board, was invited as a special guest. He gave theIMPACT Assembly an update on the psychiatric re-entry program, called HealthyTransitions, which was the result of IMPACT’s mental health campaign last year.This program is ensuring the continuity of care for ex-offenders with mentalillness, and making a significant positive difference in their lives. It’skeeping ex-offenders off the streets, helping them find and maintainemployment, and preventing recidivism. We look forward to working with theCharlottesville City Council and Albemarle County board of supervisors on theircontinued support for this program.

Throughout the winter months, we will beconducting our research into the area of jobs and job readiness for youngadults. We will present a slate of actionable solutions to those problems, withthe support of 1,800 people at the Nehemiah Action, on March 26^th2012. We hope to see you there!

6th Annual Assembly: India's Testimony for Job Readiness for Young Adults

2011-10-27T14:51:00.000-05:00

Hello my name is India Sims. I had a spinal cord injury at 10 months old from a lumbar puncture and have been partially paralyzed since then. I graduated from CATech in 2003 and Virginia School of Massage in 2009 with degrees in cosmetology, make-up artist, esthetician, and massage therapy. While I have been successful during those times, I faced many unfair obstacles. I’m a success but I know too many people that didn’t make it.

During high school, I enrolled in CATech in order to get a cosmetology and barber license. I had to research CATech on my own, no guidance counselor or teacher suggested it. It wasn’t until after I asked; that my counselor helped me

Once enrolled in CATech, the process doesn’t get any easier. High school students have to pay for their materials and people had to quit classes because they couldn’t afford the costs. I was able to pay only because of disability insurance. My supplies cost between $100-$200 per semester. Financial Aid is difficult to obtain. I was told that was because so many people drop out that they are reluctant to give more aid.

Adults wanting to take vocational classes face even more issues. There is no bus route to CATech so people rely on friends, walking, or expensive taxis to travel to and from school. Adults also have to take pre-tests in order to enter CATEC, PVCC, or other votech colleges. If they fail these tests they have to pay to retake the class until they pass it. For some it has been years since they took math or science and these pre-tests and the cost of remedial classes prevent many from entering a training program. Enrollment is difficult. Some classes are only offered at night and many classes fill-up quickly. The schedule for classes is not easy or manageable for many with children. I was fortunate to have my mom take care of my son. But it certainly wasn’t easy on her or me. She was taking care of an infant after a full day of work. For many there are no viable childcare options, most daycare facilities close before classes even start.

Financial Aid for adult votech training is extremely limited and difficult to obtain. I qualified for a loan but the aid office did not help me secure one. Even though I knew the system I couldn’t get a loan. I did everything I could but ultimately it was either keep on arguing and not go to school or finance it on my own. I will be paying back my school debt for at least the next 10 years. They were not upfront about the fees, and I didn’t know how much I owed until after graduation. I have been paying back my loan but they just sent my debt to collections. They are now calling my mom to try and get the money.

It’s not worth it to be in debt for years paying for training that is not valued. I paid more for my classes than my annual income. The biggest problem is that schools are too expensive and too difficult to access.

People should not have to face this many obstacles when they are just trying to better their lives. The difficulties I faced trying to get training were harder than those I face as a disabled woman. That’s just not right. I face enough challenges; it should have been easier to get an education and training. And it wasn’t.

Excerpts from Keynote Address at Annual Assembly by Erik Walker Wikstrom

2011-10-27T14:45:00.000-05:00

Let Justice Roll
A Reflection on the Occasion of the 2011IMPACT Annual Assembly

Rev. ErikWalker Wikstrom
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church – Unitarian Universalist

...It’s not too hard for a congregation to be involved in social action. Lots of congregations of all kinds would say that they’re interested in it. They have a Social Action Committee. Maybe there’s a Director of Social Justice Ministries. Maybe checks get written to good causes. Maybe some folks volunteer to bring food to the Food Bank once in a while. Oh, it’s not too hard at all for a congregation to be involved in social action.

But for a congregation to be involved with others who are involved in social action? To intentionally seek out other congregations, other communities – and not just others who are like us but also others who are not like us? And then to join with these others – even those who are not like us – not simply to work toward those issues that we’re most excited about getting involved with but to try to determine the issue which actually is most pressing for our entire community? Wow. No wonder I feel proud to be standing here tonight. Protestants of so many stripes, Roman Catholics, Jews, Unitarian Universalists, Muslims – we’ve come together to try to do something that will benefit not only our own communities but, more importantly, the wider Charlottesville - Albemarle County community. That’s something to be proud of.

...I would like to share one thing with you, ... The text for themorning was the well-known passage from the Hebrew Scriptures, the book ofAmos, Chapter 5, verse twenty-four: “Butlet justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”

... SuddenlyI didn’t hear Amos telling us to get out and work building justice in theland. I didn’t read those words as anencouragement to put more energy and more commitment into some social justiceproject or other.

But letjustice roll on . . . [and] suddenly I saw this river – fast andfree-flowing. Almost at floodstage. Unstoppable. A seething torrent. Roiling. White water of a class V or VI. Aget-out-of-the-way-because-I’m-comin’-through-and-nothing’s-gonna-stop-me-nowkind of river. You get the picture?

This is the river of justice, rolling on likea never-failing stream. Flowing on. Rich, and full, and life-giving. A little dangerous too, maybe, butpowerful. And beautiful. Awe-inspiring.

Except that it’s not flowing. It’s dammed up. I don’t know how. Maybe some beavers got to it. Or it was buried during a mountaintopremoval. Or some folks built a damthinking that it could generate power for I don’t know what. Or maybe people got to littering and stoppedit up, and fouled it up, and filled it up so full of sludge and slime that nowthat river’s all backed up. I don’t knowhow it happened; I just know that it happened. That mighty river, that never-failing stream, has been clogged up and itjust isn’t flowing anywhere like it used to. Oh, maybe a trickle here and there, but nothing like it’s supposed to be– swollen with spring melt and flowing free.

I got this picture and suddenly realized thatAmos wasn’t telling us to go out and make a river of justice. He wasn’t telling us to construct a concreteculvert and to start pumping water into it. Not at all! The river’s already here,he’s telling us – we just got to get out and let it flow!

That’s the message I want to share with youtonight, my new friends. Justice,righteousness . . . we aren’t responsible for going out and making them. Creating them. Building them. Developing them. They’re already here. All we have to do is clean out the muck, getout the gunk, jettison the junk that’s been damming up the works for far toolong. That’swhat our job is.

I want to remind each of us and us all that we’re not responsible for it all. The river can take care of itself, thank you very much, and if given half a chance it can wash away any obstacle. To mix my metaphors, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We just have to get it rolling. And believe me, that’s hard enough. We have to clear away all of those things that are damming up the works – the things that have gotten there by accident, the things we’ve put there on purpose, the things that some people think make life better and more enjoyable for them (even while there are people dying of thirst just a few feet downstream). Our job is to do what needs to be done to let justice roll.

Nothing more. And, of course, nothing less.

Is this Good News?

Let the people say,“Amen.”

ANNUAL ASSEMBLY: THIS MONDAY, OCTOBER 24

2011-10-20T13:43:00.000-05:00

Come out to IMPACT's 6th Annual Assembly this Monday, October 24th. Doors open at 6pm and call-to-order is 6:30pm. The Assembly will take place at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church on UVA grounds.

The Assembly will vote between the problems of homelessness, mental health, and jobs for young adults.

The program will also include:

Voting in IMPACT's new Executive Committee
An inspirational keynote address by Minister Erik Wikstrom, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church-Unitarian Universalist
A Mental Health Campaign update on the Healthy Transitions re-entry program by Robert Johnson, Executive Director of Region Ten
Hear testimonies on each of above problem areas
Welcome new member congregations to covenant with the organization

See you there!

Listening Process Update

2011-10-12T10:01:00.011-05:00

Last night, IMPACT Justice Ministry Team Members came together at Westminster Presbyterian Church to narrow down the problems to be brought to a vote at the October 24th Annual Assembly. It was an exciting meeting-an opportunity for people to share their congregations' concerns with the whole of the organization.

The 3 problem areas to be voted upon at the Annual Assembly are: Lack of Vocational Opportunities, Mental Health, and Homelessness.

Responses that came directly from house meetings, congregational meetings, and one-to-ones are listed below.

Homelessness

· “how do we meet the housing needs of people of no-income as well as low-income?
· Lack of homeless facility or night shelter, especially for families
· Safety of the homeless, especially women and children
· Need for better access to services, job training and life skills
-"Alcoholism/drug abuse is a huge factor for homelessness. Definitely more than 25% of homeless are alcoholics. In my relationships with men on the street, I find that these addictions are both the cause and effect for a lot of chronic homelessness. The existing treatment center at the Mohr Center is outstanding. But it's hopelessly underfunded and too short (2 weeks) of a program. Further, the only option after those 2 weeks of "drying out" is a program in Richmond (ARC) which is dismal to say the least. There needs to be better addiction treatment in our city AND WE NEED IT NOW."

Mental Health
· Lack of affordable mental health services

· “Mental illness-people need somebody to live with them or at least visit them very regularly”
· “There’s no accessible mental health services for Spanish-speakers” ... “no bilingual practitioner in area”
· “There are no psychiatrists to refer Region 10 outpatients to. All mental health services are overloaded.”
· “I have a niece with mental health issues and I see a need to integrate her and others into the community. She especially needs housing and employment”
· “I have a family medical practice and am seeing more severe psychiatric patients (bipolar, etc), especially as Region 10 funding declines. I don’t feel properly equipped to treat them.”
· Mental Health services for young adults
· “The homeless with mental illness end up on the psych ward at the hospital and when are discharged have nowhere to go. Their meds run out, they can’t make their follow-up appointments. We release them to fail.”
· Transitional housing for those coming from Western State
· “Concern for the mentally ill-particularly those with subtle illnesses such as depression. There is no place to go to get affordable medications if you’re poor and have little or no health insurance. There’s care if you have greater

Lack of Vocational Opportunities
· Lack of opportunities for those who do not go to college
· Skills and job re-training for the unemployed, especially in computers
· General support for vocational training
· Vocational training needs to be more affordable, especially for refugees
-Need for non-English vocational training opportunities

-"I have 3 part-time jobs and I still can't get by"
-"It's been hard for me to find work"

Remember: The Annual Assembly-where we will vote for one of these 3 problem areas-will take place on Monday, October 24th at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church on the UVA Campus. Sign-in begins at 6pm and call to order is 6:30pm. We expect 450 people to be in attendance. Come represent your congregation and make your voice heard!

2011 Listening Process

2011-09-14T13:38:00.000-05:00

During the months of September and October, IMPACT focuses on its grassroots listening process. This fall, over 500 community members will gather in peoples' homes and fellowship halls all across the City and County to listen to individual and community concerns. This is how IMPACT will choose the next problem to address for the upcoming year. The concerns brought up in discussion groups will be brought to a vote at our Annual Assembly on Monday, October 24th.

Mental Health Campaign Update

2011-07-22T12:58:00.000-05:00

We are excited to share a brief update on our current Mental Health Campaign, as well as the summary of the findings by our Mental Health Research Committee.

Nehemiah Action Results

2011-04-08T13:44:00.001-05:00

We had over 1,500 people in attendance at the 2011 Nehemiah Action from IMPACT's 31 member congregations and guests from the community.

We secured committments from Charlottesville City Councilors Satyendra Huja and Kristin Szakos, Albemarle County Supervisor Lindsay Dorrier, and Region Ten Executive Director Robert Johnson.

These officials committed to funding Healthy Transitions, a program to serve ex-offenders with mental illness upon their re-entry into the community; as well as developing plans to provide supportive housing for those with a diagnosed or diagnosable mental illness.

Because of their commitments, we are making a positive IMPACT on our community for those with mental illness!

IMPACT will continue to follow-up with these officials through the next budget cycle and beyond to make sure that they follow through with their commitments.

Questions IMPACT asked Robert Johnson (Executive Director of Region Ten):

1. “Will you utilize the funds allocated by the City and County in 2012 and subsequent years for the implementation of the Healthy Transitions Program?”

2. “Will you provide IMPACT, the City and the County with a written report on the Healthy Transitions Program by November 30^th, 2011?”

3. Will you attend IMPACT’s Annual Assembly in the fall of 2011 to give an update on the development of the Healthy Transitions Program?”

	Question 1	Question 2	Question 3
Robert Johnson	Yes	Yes	Yes

Questions IMPACT asked the City and County officials:

1.“Will you support funding for the Healthy Transitions Program in the amount of ½ of the $85,000 program cost, up to a maximum of $50,000, on an annual basis starting in the 2012-2013 fiscal year?”

2.“Will you designate a staff member to develop a proposal to use a percentage of new affordable housing proffers specifically for supportive housing for people with mental illness and present it during the upcoming comprehensive planning process?"

3. “Will you direct your staff person to meet with IMPACT leaders periodically throughout the development of this proposal?”

4.“Will you attend the IMPACT Annual Assembly in the fall of 2011 to give an update on the development of Supportive Housing for People with Mental Illness Proposal and the funding for the Healthy Transitions Program?”

City Council Member	Attended Nehemiah Action?	Question1	Question 2	Question 3	Question 4
Kristin Szakos	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Satyendra Huja	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dave Norris	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Holly Edwards	No	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Dave Brown	No	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

*n/a-official was not present, nor sent a response to IMPACT leadership

Result: The City officials have committed to fund their portion of the Healthy Transitions program between Region Ten and District Nine Probation and Parole. IMPACT did not receive enough commitments at the Nehemiah Action to have the city develop a proffer policy that would include housing for people with a mental illness.

County Supervisor	Attended Nehemiah Action?	Question 1	Question 2	Question 3	Question 4
Lindsey Dorrier	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ann Mallek	No	Yes	No	No	n/a
Duane Snow	No	Yes	No	Yes	n/a
Dennis Rooker	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ken Boyd	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Rodney Thomas	No	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Results: In the County there is enough support for the Healthy Transitions program if the proposal goes through the funding review process and is supported by the Commission on Children and Families. The proposal for proffers to be used for supportive housing for people with mental illness does not currently have enough support to pass in the county.

NEHEMIAH ACTION-March 28

2011-03-24T12:11:00.002-05:00

We invite the community to attend IMPACT's annual NEHEMIAH ACTION on Monday, March 28th, 2011

Sign-in 6pm Music 6:15pm Opening prayer 6:30pm

Location: University Hall on UVA Campus

We are hoping to have 1,700 people in attendance!

Come support our solutions regarding mental health services in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area

We welcome the whole community to attend. If you are not affiliated with one of the 31 IMPACT member congregations, we invite you to sign-in as a guest.

Pre-K Education Report

2011-03-24T12:09:00.000-05:00

IMPACT Follow-Up Report

Pre-K Commitments in 2010 and Update for Nehemiah Action in 2011

Albemarle County Schools

Improve access to publicly funded Pre-K for low-income children; target of 85 to 90%.

From 2005 to 2009, on average, 83.5% of children funded through the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) were designated as low-income. In 2010-2011, Albemarle has 135 4-year-olds funded through this initiative; 90% are eligible for Free/Reduced Lunch, and designated as low-income. Since 2007, Albemarle has increased the numbers of Pre-K children being served by publicly funded preschool programs by almost 16%.

Regularly report results of publicly funded Pre-K programs to the community.

In 2009-2010, all entering Kindergarten children (N=1000) were assessed on the KPALS Language and Literacy Test. About 40% of them had been in a public Pre-K program the year before according to information given by parents on the kindergarten registration form. In the fall 68% of low-income children passed, compared to 94% of other students. In the spring 77% of low-income students passed, compared to 96% of other students. The low-income achievement gap for kindergarteners decreased from 26 to 19 percentage points from Fall to Spring.

According to state SOL test data, for Grade 3 Reading the achievement gap for low-income children decreased from 19 to 15 percentage points from 2006 to 2010. For Grade 3 Math the achievement gap decreased from 17 to 12 percentage points from 2006 to 2010.

Plan for expansion of Pre-K services.

Dr. Moran is beginning to meet with Dr. Atkins and Smart Beginnings Leadership Council to plan collaboratively for expansion of Pre-K programs.

Charlottesville City Schools

Improve access to publicly funded Pre-K for low-income children; target of 90%.

Charlottesville added 2 classes for 3-year-olds. They are now serving 60 3-year-olds; 100% are low-income; 4 of the 5 classes are locally funded, 1 is funded by a 5-year grant.

They are now serving 144 4-year-olds; 93% are low-income; classes are funded by the state /Title I.

Since 2006, Charlottesville has had a 46% increase in Pre-K children being served.

Regularly report results of publicly funded Pre-K programs to the community.

A study of the cohort of children from the 2007-08 class of 3-year-olds showed: for Fall 2008-09 4-year-old classes, that cohort met developmental standards on 49% of PALS subtests, while those who did not attend the 3-year-old class met the standard on 36% of subtests; for Fall of 2009-10 Kindergarten classes, 100% of the cohort from the 3-year-old 07-08 class met the PALS benchmark score. For 4-year-olds in 2009-10 the PALS pass rate increased from 26% to 93% from Fall to Spring.

For Grade 3 Reading (state SOL test data) the achievement gap for low-income children decreased from 10 to 9 percentage points from 2007 to 2010. For Grade 3 Math the achievement gap decreased from 8 to 4 percentage points from 2007 to 2010. These relatively low achievement gaps may be related to the development of the 3-year-old Pre-K program in Charlottesville.

Plan for expansion of Pre-K services.

Walker Middle School will be remodeled and become a Pre-School Center for all Pre-K classes. It will house equal numbers of 3 and 4-year-old students. They will begin with classes for low-income children, but eventually expect to be open for all pre-K children in the city.

Mental Health Survey Results

2011-03-24T12:05:00.002-05:00

IMPACT Congregational Survey

Brief Summary of Interim Findings

March 28, 2011

Early Research Committee interviews surfaced the belief that even as we seek to motivate action from the community for more effective provision of mental health services, we need to know more about what support is needed and is being provided through our congregations. Some members believe that communities of faith have unique opportunities to dispel stigma and increase inclusiveness for persons impacted by mental illness. We therefore provided a questionnaire to our member congregations seeking information about what is being provided and what more is desired. Seventy-one (71) individuals have submitted online or paper responses thus far to 8 questions.
Responses, edited for confidentiality, may be secured from gwilcoxs1@aol.com.
Mental health issues reported:
Depression (18) Post partum Depression (2) Obsessive-compulsive disorder (3) Anxiety (15) Bipolar Disorder (14) Borderline Personality disorder (2) Eating Disorder (2) Self injury (1) Suicide attempt (2) hospitalization (3) Anger management (3) Social anxiety in groups (1) Severe grief (1) Care Giver Syndrome (1) Substance Abuse Disorder (6) Disabling Emotional Distress (3) Gay family member adjustment (1) ADHD/ impulsive disorder (5) Work related stress due to discrimination (1) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (2) Schizophrenia (4) Schizoaffective Disorder (1) Self deprecating/retributive judgments of the Divine (1) Sleep Disorder (2) Brain Trauma (1) Elderly Dementia (4) Autism (1) Psychopathic (1)
Support received from faith community:
Loving acceptance/sense of belonging and value (5) Spiritual Direction (1) None (13) Open available clergy (2) Not church role (1) Pastoral counseling (2) Referrals to providers (1) Prayers and sermons (1) Small groups/peer support (2) Worship (3) Social activity (2) Committee Work (1) Child care (1) Volunteering opportunities (2) Private I assume (2) Openness of self-affirming others with mental illness (3) Financial assistance (1 ) Childcare (1) Teaching Assistant for special needs during Sunday School (1) Pastoral Care/support Committee (2) Prayer partners (1) Care Giver Support (1) Bible Study (1)
Support desired from faith community:
Respite care for care giver (1); Understanding of how hard it is to keep it together (2); Free/discounted counseling (5); Financial aid (3) Group insurance option (2); Counseling/support groups (8); Education groups (4); Spiritual support counseling and group (6;) Referral information (2); Buddy program (1); Short and Longer term grief group (2); Awareness raising activities (2); Mothers’ Support Group (1); Adults reach out to other’s children (1); Family support (1); Listening individuals (1); Nothing more than prayers (1); Bible study (1); Peer or pastoral counseling (1); Complete openness by all (1)
Congregation comfort with mental health issues:
Only comfortable in safe friends/groups (4); Not at all comfortable (15); Don’t know (34); Quite Comfortable (6); Somewhat comfortable (7); Considered needy and people turn away (1);
What would make the congregation more comfortable dealing with mental illness?
Pastoral leadership (3); Education (5); Support groups with families sharing same problems (2); Open discussion/people affected share stories (4); Affirming sermons and offer of support (3); Assurance of confidentiality upon request (1); Alleviate shame (2); People needing support should make known (1); Bible study (3); Have know mental health advocates in congregation (1); Ask the congregation this question (1); Called congregational discussion (2);
Is there stigma, and what can congregations do to help overcome stigma related to mental illness?
Yes (39); Not in our congregation (1); Keep company with consumers (2); In churches, be open and recognize we are all part of the Body of Christ (1); Provide access to the church overnight (1); Support groups for families dealing with it (1); Dispel association of mental illness with violence or homelessness (1); Education re: brain research/frequency/diversity/suffering/lack of services (8) Financial support of provider organizations (1) Input from mental health professionals (2); People with mental illness “come out” (1); Broad, open discussions (1); Help in coping with actively mentally ill (3); Un-welcoming congregations seek practices of welcoming congregations (1); Sermons(2); Congregational leaders/clergy share about treatment they receive/d (1);
Other comments:
Thanks for asking (12); Worse during recession (1); Work on community-at-large, pessimistic about congregations to help (2); Congregations make long term efforts to reduce stigma (1); Not congregations job (1); IMPACT publish resources on web site and other ways (2); Understand connection with homelessness, jail, relationship loss (1);

Executive Committee

2010-02-05T11:05:00.003-05:00

2011-2012 Executive Committee

Co-Presidents:
The Very Reverend Jim Richardson, Rector, St. Paul Memorial Episcopal Church
Minister Dorothy Jordan, Zion Baptist Church-North Garden

Vice President:
Denise Zito, Holy Comforter Catholic Church

Secretary:
Kim Wilkens, Peace Lutheran Church

Treasurer:
Reynell Stokes, University Baptist Church

At Large Members:
Rev. John Herman, Pastor, Peace Lutheran Church
Kristen Schenk, Church of the Incarnation

Please send general inquiries to impact@thedartcenter.org

Research Update - October 2009

2009-03-24T07:51:00.007-05:00

At IMPACT's 4th Annual Community Problems Assembly on October 19, 2009, it was decided that the two issues for this coming year will be access to early education and access to interpretive services.

The Kick Off for our Research process begins with a training session on November 9, 2009. The education committee will be refocusing and rebuilding. A new committee will form for the second issue of interpretive services. At the end of this training, the first committee meeting in each area selected will be held and the research process will begin.

Check back for monthly updates on the research process.

2008 Nehemiah Action Results

2008-04-21T16:19:00.000-05:00

The March 10th IMPACT Nehemiah Action meeting was a great success! Nearly 2,000 people (1,950 people signed in) from 28 member congregations attended. All of our elected officials from Charlottesville and Albemarle County, and key healthcare providers attended and participated. Significant progress was made to address critical needs in our community.

Dental need:
The lack of access to dental care, both emergency and restorative, for low-income uninsured adults has reached crisis proportions in our community. There are over 1,000 people on local waiting lists for dental care in volunteer based programs. One program sees 60 people per month, another saw 20 people in the last year. UVa Hospital had over 1,700 people come to their emergency room with dental needs last year, most of whom were sent away just with antibiotics and pain medication.

Dental commitments received:
We received commitments from the Charlottesville Free Clinic to develop a plan and hire a dentist with the goal of beginning service by March ’09. The health department and CADA (Charlottesville Area Dental Access) agreed to support this plan with in-kind resources, such as space. Martha Jefferson Hospital, UVa Medical Center, and the Charlottesville/Albemarle Dental Society committed to bring appropriate resources to implement this plan.

Affordable Housing need:
IMPACT has focused on the tremendous need for affordable housing for families earning 0-30% AMI (Area Median Income), or under $20,000 per year. There is a deficit of 3,917 affordable rental units for families in our region earning under 30% AMI (Source: TJPDC “State of Housing Report”, Jan. 2007). There are over 900 people on the waiting list for public housing in Charlottesville and the Housing Choice Voucher program (section 8 rental assistance) waiting list in Charlottesville is closed. Seven hundred people applied for the Albemarle County Housing Choice Voucher program when they opened their waiting list between Nov 07 and Jan 08.

Affordable Housing commitments received:
Last year IMPACT sought and won the creation of a Charlottesville, Albemarle, UVa Task Force with the first priority to address the need for affordable housing for families earning 0-30%AMI.

This year IMPACT sought funds to enact the proposals coming out of this task force. We asked Charlottesville City councilors to budget $500,000 in FY09 to support proposals that come out of the Task Force for rental housing for the working poor in the 0-30% AMI category. We received commitments from Councilors Holly Edwards, Satyendra Huja, Julian Taliaferro and Mayor David Norris. Councilor David Brown did not commit.

IMPACT also asked Albemarle County Supervisors to budget $500,000 in FY09 to support proposals that come out of the Task Force for rental housing for the working poor in the 0-30% AMI category. We received commitments from Supervisors David Slutzky and Lindsay Dorrier. We did not get commitments from Supervisors Ken Boyd, Sally Thomas, Dennis Rooker and Ann Mallek.

These monies could be used to create more rental housing units, for rent assistance, or to preserve existing units of affordable housing. With this investment of local funds, non profit developers can leverage 4-7 times as much money in matching funds from state, federal and other sources to build or preserve affordable housing units.

Through the work of IMPACT we are excited to have so many people from all walks of life and faiths coming together to create a more just community!

Charlottesville Tomorrow recording of IMPACT Assembly

2008 Support Drive

2008-04-21T14:02:00.004-05:00

For donations on ChangingThePresent.org, ImportantGifts passes through to the receiving nonprofit the full amount of the donation, less a transaction fee (3% plus 30 cents), primarily to cover the cost of processing the credit card donations.

Assembly Update

2007-11-14T16:21:00.001-05:00

IMPACT had a very successful Annual Assembly on October 15, 2007. Over 635 people attended and we welcomed 4 new congregations into membership: St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, P’nai Yisrael Chavurah, Living Water Christian Center and St. Paul’s Episcopal, Ivy. This brings our total to 27 congregations. We also adopted a new Executive Committee, led by Fr. Dennis McAuliffe, Holy Comforter Catholic Church and Pastor Stanley Woodfolk, Evergreen Ministries.

The Assembly followed our fall listening process in which 790 people participated in 80 house meetings. The top community problems raised were affordable housing, healthcare, youth, and education concerns.

At our Assembly we voted to continue our efforts on affordable housing and begin efforts to address gaps in healthcare. We will continue to monitor our work on public transportation, but affordable housing and healthcare will be the 2 focuses of the 2007-2008 cycle.

Supervisor Slutzky attended the Annual Assembly. He committed to continue his efforts to ensure that the Charlottesville/Albemarle/UVa Task Force has concrete outcomes and has a focus on families that earn 30%AMI, under $20,000 a year. He praised IMPACT for our ongoing efforts and presence.

Next Steps:
We are in the research process and over the next several months, the research committees will be meeting with local experts, decision makers, and people affected by the problem.

Congregations will be focused on deepening and solidifying their justice ministry networks.

2007 Nehemiah Action Results

2007-05-22T16:07:00.000-05:00

IMPACT's first Nehemiah Action was held March 15, 2007. It was a great event on many levels: the amount of participation exceeded the capacity of the MLK Performing Arts Center (over 1600 sign-ups), the coming together of so many different faith communities unified in addressing social justice issues in the community, and the participation by many public officials. While the concept of grassroots, interfaith organizations addressing social justice issues is not new in this country, it is certainly new to Charlottesville and Albemarle County. We were very pleased with this first annual event.

Highlights:
- Enthusiastic, capacity crowd that did a great job of expressing respect and gratitude toward our public officials (this was the largest, first Nehemiah Action meeting in the history of DART).

- IMPACT's 25th congregation, Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church, signed the Covenant Agreement.

- The City Councilors agreed to call this a public meeting and City Councilors Norris, Taliaferro & Lynch and Mayor Brown participated and responded to IMPACT's proposals.

- Albemarle County Board of Supervisors (BOS) did not call this a public meeting. Five BOS attended and Supervisors Slutzky and Boyd responded to IMPACT’s proposals.

Public Transportation Solutions & Results:
1. Establish Sunday daytime bus service on the two most heavily traveled CTS routes, the free trolley and route #7, with buses every 30 minutes.
* Councilors Norris & Taliaferro agreed to support this solution.
* Post Action Update: City Council has approved a budget with this service and it will start this summer.

2. Establish daytime bus service to Southwood and 5th St. Extended County Office Building.
* Supervisor Slutzky agreed to support this solution.
* Post Action update: This service has started!

3. Add 5 hours of night service to route #5, with buses every 45 minutes.
* Supervisor Slutzky agreed to support this solution.
* Post Action update: Albemarle County allocated an additional $250K to expand public transport. Our request for night service on route 5 is a strong possibility for use of these monies.

Affordable Housing Solutions & Results:
1. Support the city's adoption of the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Investment Program (CAHIP) proposal with the original funding of $500K for Special Needs Housing and $500K for Public housing, the two categories of CAHIP serving people who make $20,000 or less.
* Councilors Norris & Taliaferro agreed to support this solution.
* Post Action update: City Council has approved a budget with CAHIP.

2. Secure an additional $420K or 1 cent set aside of the property tax dollar, allocated toward the creation of new affordable units for 0-30% AMI.
* Councilors Norris & Taliaferro agreed to support this solution.
* Post Action update: With this proposal we were asking the City to expand their housing proposal from $1 million to $1.42 million dollars per year. City Council has approved a budget that allocates $1.75 million dollars this year and a commitment to a total investment of at least $5 million over the next 5 years!

3. Creation of a Regional Affordable Housing Task Force comprised of decision makers from Charlottesville and Albemarle County to (1) develop a plan to create at least 150 additional housing units over the next 5 years for those earning less than $20,000 (0-30% AMI) and (2) keep these units affordable to this income category for at least 15 years. The Task Force will come up with an implementation schedule and funding plan. This plan will be presented to IMPACT congregations at the Oct 15 Assembly.
* Councilors Norris & Taliaferro agreed to support this solution.
* Supervisor Slutzky agreed to support this solution.
* Leonard Sandridge, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of UVA, agreed to provide a University representative to this task force.
* Post Action update: We are currently following up with public officials.

Next Steps:
- Continue to observe and participate in City and County budget work sessions and meetings.
- Continue building Justice Ministry Networks within congregations.
- Support IMPACT financially through Member Support Drive during May and June.

Research Update - Feb 2008

2007-01-10T18:58:00.002-05:00

Healthcare
Problem: The lack of access to dental care, both emergency and restorative, for low-income uninsured adults has reached crisis proportions in our community.

Statewide Statistics:
· Of the approximated 7,642,884 people in Virginia, it is estimated that 3,750,306 have no dental insurance.
· 55.2% of uninsured Virginians reported that they do not visit a dentist regularly.
· Virginia is 1 of 8 states that does not provide Medicaid reimbursement for adult dental care. However, Medicaid reimburses dental care for children.

Local Need:
· In determining the need for adult dental care, many organizations have used the following formula: for every one uninsured person there are an estimated three without dental insurance; these calculations would lead to an estimated 17,283 Charlottesville residents without dental insurance and an estimated 33,240 Albemarle County residents without dental insurance.
· The UVa emergency room sees between 5-10 people per day in dire need of dental care; in 2007, this totaled 1,792 people.

Effects of poor or no dental care:
There are a number of diseases and conditions that have been linked to oral health, i.e.: cancer, AIDS, cardiovascular disease, premature birth, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Poor oral health also affects nutrition and hinders one’s ability to find employment.

History of dental care access for the uninsured in our area:
-UVa Medical Center stopped their sliding fee scale dental care program 4 years ago and refocused on medically necessary patients needing dental care who are already in the UVa system.
-Virginia Baptist Association dental care program was discontinued.
-Thomas Jefferson Health Department stopped seeing adults for dental care and sees only a limited number of children.
-Charlottesville Free Clinic reports that with the end of the aforementioned dental care, calls for dental assistance tripled. There are few efforts to meet this dire need. Currently, the Free Clinic is struggling to treat those in need of emergency extractions, serving approximately 20 individuals a month through a very limited schedule with volunteer dentists (13) at the clinic. The waiting list for extractions stands at over 240.
-Community Dental Program that began in March 2007, was an effort to address the need for restorative care. Thirty-eight dentists agreed to treat uninsured adults at their offices. The list of people needing dental care began at 330 and now has ballooned to the extraordinary number of 759 as of the end of January. However, MACAA, the agency that maintains the list, reports that this list for restorative care has not continued to be maintained because it is no longer realistic to put any more names on the list. Since March, only 40 of those on the list have been screened and approximately 20 have been treated. At this current rate, it will take 30 years to treat just those on the current waiting list.
-People are being referred to Richmond and Buckingham for affordable dental care, both emergency and restorative, due to lack of care in this area.
-Volunteer programs for meeting this need have been overwhelmed, and dentists all over our community say the need far exceeds their volunteer efforts.

Affordable Housing
Problem: Because of the great need in our region, our interest continues to be to increase housing opportunities for families earning 0-30% AMI (Area Median Income), or under 20K per year.

The Need:
-There is a deficit of 3,917 affordable rental units for families in our region earning under $20,000/yr or 0-30% AMI (Area Median Income) Source: TJPDC “State of Housing Report”, Jan. 2007
-700 people applied for the Albemarle County Housing Choice Voucher program (Section 8 rent assistance) when they opened their waiting list between Nov 26, 2007 and Jan 22, 2008. This does not include the 400 individuals currently using the voucher program.
-There are families living in the 376 public housing units in the City and approximately 900 more families on the waiting list.

Statistics on children who became homeless during recent academic years:
Albemarle County
2003/2004 – 84
2004/2005 – 219
2005/2006 – 284
2006/2007 – 320

Charlottesville
2003/2004 – 125
2004/2005 - 100
2005/2006 - 127
2006/2007 - 240
*This does not include children who began the school year in a shelter or doubling up with other families, but only those newly homeless children.

Status of the Task Force:
The Task Force finally formed in late 2007 and IMPACT has a seat on the task force. The initially elected Co-chairs were City Councilor Dave Norris, County Supervisor David Slutzky, and David Neuman, UVA Architect. In January, City Councilor Huja replaced Councilor Norris as the City’s representative on the Task Force. They have selected rental housing for the 0-30%AMI category as their top priority, followed by rental/home ownership for 30-60% AMI and then home ownership for 60-80% AMI. The Task Force is charged with coming up with regional plans and funding sources to meet these needs.

Success Stories

2006-10-27T11:53:00.000-05:00

IMPACT is currently working on its first success story and we have every reason to expect success as we look at the examples of our sister DART Network organizations around the country.

Affordable Housing:
Over the past three years, BREAD in Columbus OH, initiated and maintained a campaign to address the dramatic shortage of affordable housing in Central Ohio. As a result, Columbus and Franklin County have created the Columbus-Franklin County Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The City and County invests $6.2 million annually in the AHTF.

In 2004, BREAD initiated a campaign to strengthen the oversight of the Trust Fund. Stemming from commitments made by County Commission candidates at the 2004 Nehemiah Action BREAD secured a revised contract to ensure that the housing built is truly affordable to low income people and that low income people are occupying the units.

Healthcare:
PEACE, in Polk County FL, won a stunning victory in 2004 when the voters passed a half cent sales tax to fund indigent health care for the 125,000 residents that do not have health insurance. Since that time PEACE has been monitoring the spending of the $26 million dollars per year from the sales tax. At PEACE’s 2005 Nehemiah Action Meeting, PEACE won commitments from the Director of Community Health and County Commissioners to open one clinic a year for the next five years and increase patients seen from the current 2,000 to 45,000 patients per year.

Crime:
A Hot Spot Card Campaign has been very successful in Springfield, OH due to the efforts of JAM. Residents anonymously report criminal activity on these Hot Spot cards. In April 2005 critical information concerning a homicide in the city came in through the use of the cards leading to the arrests and arraignment of the suspects. In total over 250 cards have been turned in with a 50% arrest rate.

Wages:
In June 2006 RISC, in Richmond VA, received firm commitments from four City Councilers to fight to pass a living wage ordinance by October 2006 for city contractors and sub contactors. This would raise wages from $5.15 an hr to $9.10/hr. This will put at least 2 million dollars more a year into the hands of people through work instead of having to depend on charity or hand outs to supplement wages.

Rally - 2/15/2007

2006-10-27T11:02:00.000-05:00

The Rally is scheduled for February 15, 2007. The purpose of the rally is to update people on research and build excitement for Nehemiah Action!

Time: 6:30pm
Location: University Baptist Church (1223 W. Main St)
Parking: Parking in 14th St. Garage

We are currently in the Research phase. Research groups are formed of diverse clergy and lay people from across the congregations:
1. We research the extent of the problem, what is currently being done about it, and what else could be done to address it more effectively, often looking at best practices in other cities.
2. We come up with a specific change that can be made locally.
3. Changes must be “winnable”—i.e., small enough to be achievable, building toward bigger steps as the credibility and power of the organization grows. a. One example of an identified change would be: “Add a drug treatment program serving at least 250 people per year to the local jail, beginning January 1.”
4. We also identify the person(s) with the power to implement that change.
5. At the end of the Research process, a Rally is held, where the results of the research are shared, and where the people make preparations for the Nehemiah Assembly.

Covenant Assembly Info

2006-09-15T04:51:00.000-05:00

Covenant Assembly
Tuesday September 26
6:30 pm – 8:40 pm

Help Select our 2 Focus Areas for this Year:
· Affordable Housing
· Transportation
· Healthcare
· Jobs/Wages

First Presbyterian Church
500 Park St.

*Children activities related to community and justice, ages 6-12*
*Childcare provided for children under 6*

For directions, please call the IMPACT Office at: (434) 220-2450