Need to run off a few pounds after Thanksgiving? The annual “Be Thankful 5K” at Bold Rock Cider distillery is your chance to have fun and give back at the same time. Co-hosted by Bold Rock and Wintergreen Resort, the family fun run is Saturday, November 30 at 9 a.m. Proceeds will benefit the Nelson County Community Fund and the Rockfish Valley Foundation. Online registration starts now at runreg.com. Be sure to complete waivers for runners online too. Register by November 15 to receive a free race t-shirt. Onsite registration at Bold Rock will be 7:30 a.m.-8:30 a.m. on race day. Bring the kids! Bring the dog! Dress up! Prizes will be awarded for best costumes and other fun categories. See you at the race!

Support for emergency home repairs for the elderly and disabled, drug and alcohol abuse rehabilitation, and free books for school-aged children are among the grants awarded in the 2019 summer grant cycle by NCCF.

Grantees include:
• The Nelson County Community Development Fund for its on-going Emergency Home Repair Program to help create safe and healthy homes for low-income elderly and disabled county residents.
• Unity in Community for its financial aid programs to assist county residents with electric, fuel, medical and dental bills, rent and mortgage payments, and food, clothing and household needs.
• The Bridge Ministry to support a two-phased rehabilitation program to provide mentoring, vocational skills, and education to help recovering male addicts support their families.
• The BridgeLine to support vocational daycare and case management programs for adults with brain injuries in the county.
• Free Book Bus to support book purchases and fuel to bring a converted school bus public venues in Nelson County for book giveaways to youths.

Grants to two other organizations are contingent upon the organizations’ raising matching funds:
• Nelson Heritage Center-Millennium Group to use toward raising funds to renovate an aging community gym.
• Jefferson-Madison Regional Library to help finance a business center as part of a major expansion of the Nelson County Public Library.

To apply for a grant, click on the Grants tab on this website.

Everyone assumes that in a rural health program is designed to serve residents in isolated, areas. But one of NCCF’s grantee organizations goes a step further by providing health care outreach to seasonal farm workers seen toiling in fields everywhere in Nelson County. The Blue Ridge Medical Center’s Rural Health Outreach Program (RHOP) sends a mobile medical unit with bilingual staff to area orchards. The health professionals assess and treat chronic medical conditions among the migrant workers on whom the orchards depend for their harvests. For some workers, it is the only medical care they can access. Orchard owners, who welcome migrants returning year after year, say the RHOP fills a vital need. Click here to read more about the RHOP in the September issue of Blue Ridge Life magazine.

By Erin Conway, Aug 14, 2019

[The following excerpt is reprinted with permission from a recent article in The Nelson County Times. The Nelson County Community Development Foundation has received several grants from NCCF to help further its critical mission in Nelson County.]

After Linda Martini’s heater went bad last winter and filled her house with smoke, she turned to a number of different government entities to help her with funding for a new one to no avail before finding success with the Nelson County Community Development Foundation. “It was a lifesaver. I don’t know what I would have done without them. It was an answered prayer,” Martini said. Martini’s story isn’t unlike many others in the county who utilize NCCDF, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the affordable housing issue in the county. By the end of fiscal year 2018, the nonprofit brought more than $600,000 in total funding to Nelson County because of the programs they offer to low-income individuals and families. $61,307 of that was in tax revenue. The Housing Choice voucher program generated over $300,000 in payments to Nelson Landlords. Click here to continue reading this article