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Grantee Spotlight: Peninsula Agency on Aging Links Older Adults to Services

Grantee Spotlight: Peninsula Agency on Aging Links Older Adults to Services

Dec 2, 2024 | Grantee Spotlight

Grantee Spotlight: Peninsula Agency on Aging Links Older Adults to Services

By: WHF Staff

For most older adults, an important goal as they age is to continue living independently in their own homes. With the support of Peninsula Agency on Aging (PAA), nearly 8,400 older adults on the Peninsula can enjoy aging in place. Through collaborations with a broad network of local agencies, PAA offers services that address older adults’ diverse needs — including assisting with transportation to medical appointments, improving access to nutritious meals, care coordination, care support, and veterans’ services. For the past fifty years, PAA’s services have enhanced quality of life, fostered independence, and reduced social isolation in older adults.

Founded in 1974, PAA was born out of a desire to enhance the well-being of older adults on the Peninsula by linking them to services designed to empower, nurture, and sustain independence. Fifty years later, PAA remains a trusted community resource, connecting older adults, aged 60 and over, to services that support every aspect of healthy aging.

In 2023, with support from Williamsburg Health Foundation (WHF) grants, PAA served 1,372 older adults — including 26,812 service encounters — in Greater Williamsburg, and the need for services is expected to grow. Research from WHF projects nearly one-third of the population will be over age 60 by 2030. This demographic shift underlines the importance and need for PAA’s programs and services, which provide evidence-based, community-focused support for healthy aging.

WHF is a longtime supporter of PAA’s work, having awarded 66 grants totaling nearly $5.2 million since 1998 to help advance their mission to support independence and quality of life for older adults. Current WHF grants focus on providing nutritious noontime meals, non-emergency medical transportation, assessments, home visits, and care coordination for older adults. By providing essential resources and services, PAA upholds a commitment to helping older adults across the community stay healthy, independent, and engaged and creates healthy aging opportunities in our community. To learn out more about PAA’s programs and services, visit their website: https://paainc.org/.

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The Williamsburg Health Foundation (WHF) is a private health foundation with the mission to collaborate, innovate, and invest to impact systems that improve the health and well-being of individuals living in Greater Williamsburg. The Foundation was established in September 1996 when the Williamsburg Community Hospital and Sentara developed an affiliation agreement and later merged. This agreement included a provision for a new, locally organized, and managed Foundation to benefit community health. Since inception, WHF has awarded over $110 million in grants to improve community health and well-being.

 

Grantee Spotlight: Bacon Street Helps Build Resilience and Stronger Families

Grantee Spotlight: Bacon Street Helps Build Resilience and Stronger Families

Oct 2, 2024 | Grantee Spotlight

Grantee Spotlight: Bacon Street Helps Build Resilience and Stronger Families

By: WHF Staff

Bacon Street Youth and Family Services, founded in 1971 as the Drug Action Center, has been a trusted resource for substance use prevention and treatment for youth and their families in the Williamsburg area for over five decades. Established in an office on Bacon Avenue in Williamsburg by a group of concerned citizens, the center aimed to create a safe, drug-free environment for youth to gather after school. Over time, the youth who found support there began to affectionately refer to the center as Bacon Street. In 2015, the organization officially adopted the name Bacon Street Youth and Family Services to reflect their history and broader mission of supporting youth and families.

Today, Bacon Street serves youth, primarily aged 10-26, and their families offering mental health and substance use counseling, social work case management for unhoused families, and free collaborative prevention programs for schools and the community. With an emphasis on building long-term relationships, Bacon Street ensures families receive support when needed.

The demand for Bacon Street’s services remains high, highlighting the importance of their work. According to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 18.1% of youth aged 12-17 years and 17.5% of young adults aged 18-25 had a major depressive disorder within the past year. Additionally, an estimated 7.2% of youth and over 26% of young adults used illicit drugs in the past month. In fiscal year 2023, Bacon Street served 368 counseling clients with nearly 3,100 counseling appointments, a substantial increase from their pre-pandemic numbers. Given these challenges, Bacon Street’s work to provide support and resources remains essential, ensuring that families and youth in our community have timely access to care.

The Williamsburg Health Foundation (WHF) has been a long-time supporter of Bacon Street, having awarded 32 grants since 1997 to help advance their mission. WHF recognizes Bacon Street’s commitment to supporting families and building resilience in youth through evidence-based behavioral health and substance use services is as important today as it was 50 years ago.

To learn more about Bacon Street Youth and Family Services, their programs, and how they are making a difference in the lives of youth and families in our community explore their website: https://baconstreet.org/.

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The Williamsburg Health Foundation (WHF) is a private health foundation with the mission to collaborate, innovate, and invest to impact systems that improve the health and well-being of individuals living in Greater Williamsburg. The Foundation was established in September 1996 when the Williamsburg Community Hospital and Sentara developed an affiliation agreement and later merged. This agreement included a provision for a new, locally organized, and managed Foundation to benefit community health. Since inception, WHF has awarded over $110 million in grants to improve community health and well-being.

 

Grantee Spotlight: Helping Young Hearts Heal at Comfort Zone Camp

Grantee Spotlight: Helping Young Hearts Heal at Comfort Zone Camp

Aug 6, 2024 | Grantee Spotlight

Grantee Spotlight: Helping Young Hearts Heal at Comfort Zone Camp 

By: WHF Staff 

Comfort Zone Camp (CZC) is a place of healing for children, teens, and young adults who have lost a parent, sibling, or primary caregiver. This bereavement organization offers free weekend camps to help youth between the ages of 7 and 17, young adults aged 18 to 25, and families navigate the emotional challenges of grief. 

These camps blend traditional camp activities with therapeutic sessions from Friday to Sunday. Campers join age-based support groups led by volunteer grief therapists and are paired with a supportive mentor who is matched based on similar interests, hobbies, needs, and sometimes loss types. After a weekend of fun and integrated therapeutic activities, each camp concludes with a memorial service, allowing campers to honor their loved ones. 

Since 1999, CZC has served over 24,000 grieving youth nationwide. In April and June of this year, CZC hosted weekend camps at the 4-H campground in Jamestown and served 112 campers. 

In Virginia, according to the most recent data available, an estimated 79,000 children have lost a parent or sibling by the time they reached age 18, and 168,000 youth before the age of 25. Such losses have profound and lasting effects, including depression, posttraumatic stress, substance use, and increased risk of suicide-related behaviors. CZC addresses these needs through prompt, honest, and supportive interventions, leveraging the healing power of nature to enhance mental well-being. 

The Williamsburg Health Foundation (WHF) is supporting Comfort Zone Camp’s efforts with a recently approved grant that will help offset the cost of a three-day camp for about 70 youth ages 7-17 at the 4-H campground in Jamestown in early 2025. This camp will be open to children and adolescents experiencing loss and will provide a safe and nurturing environment for healing. To learn more about CZC, please visit their website. 

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The Williamsburg Health Foundation (WHF) is a private health foundation with the mission to collaborate, innovate, and invest to impact systems that improve the health and well-being of individuals living in Greater Williamsburg. The Foundation was established in September 1996 when the Williamsburg Community Hospital and Sentara developed an affiliation agreement and later merged. This agreement included a provision for a new, locally organized, and managed Foundation to benefit community health. Since inception, WHF has awarded over $110 million in grants to improve community health and well-being.

 

Grantee Spotlight: Virginia Peninsula Foodbank

Grantee Spotlight: Virginia Peninsula Foodbank

Apr 30, 2024 | Blog, Grantee Spotlight

Grantee Spotlight: Virginia Peninsula Foodbank

By: WHF Staff 

As inflation and food costs have increased in recent years, more community members are struggling to provide healthy food for their families. According to the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank (VPF), nearly nine percent of greater Peninsula residents lack access to affordable and nutritious food. VPF and their partner agencies saw more than 77,000 unduplicated individuals seek food assistance in 2023, a 30% increase over 2022. VPF works “to inspire hope by leading the effort for a hunger-free and properly nourished community” through partnerships with 140 agencies to distribute food to those in need across the Peninsula. In collaboration with agency partners, VPF distributed over 1.7 million meals to Greater Williamsburg residents in 2023. Beyond partnerships, VPF is supported by community volunteers who invested more than 20,000 hours sorting, packing, and delivering food in 2023. 

The Williamsburg Health Foundation (WHF) provides grant funding for VPF’s Mobile Food Pantry and the Food for Kids BackPack Programs. Their Mobile Food Pantry distributed 547,713 meals in the WHF service area in 2023, and the BackPack Program will provide food to nearly 370 children to take home from seven elementary schools, two middle schools, and a pre-K program in Williamsburg/James City County throughout the 2023-2024 school year. 

Visit the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank website to learn more or locate a food distribution site near you. 

The Williamsburg Health Foundation (WHF) is a private legacy health foundation with the mission to collaborate, innovate, and invest to impact systems that improve the health and well-being of individuals living in Greater Williamsburg. The Foundation was established in September 1996 when the Williamsburg Community Hospital and Sentara developed an affiliation agreement and later merged. This agreement included a provision for a new, locally organized, and managed Foundation to benefit community health. Since inception, WHF has awarded over $106 million in grants to improve community health and well-being.