THE IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION
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Mission Statement
To be the catalyst that enhances the quality of life in communities through comprehensive initiatives, advocating change, and empowering people to become self-sufficient.
About This Cause
The Improvement Association is a 56-year old non-profit corporation who has successfully implemented various initiatives to improve the quality of life in Southside Virginia. Similar to the mission of Dominion Energy, The Improvement Association’s mission is the “catalyst that enhances the quality of life in communities through comprehensive initiatives, advocating change and empowering people to be self-sufficient.” To execute our mission, The Improvement Association and Brunswick Board of Supervisors are partnering to expand its Education/Workforce Development Center to enhance a skilled workforce, reduce absenteeism for working families and develop a future workforce through the provision of high quality childcare services in a centralized location in Brunswick County. The total project cost is $425,000. The Brunswick Board of Supervisors has already appropriated $225,000 in funding to complete Phase I of the project, which commenced on April 1, 2024. The Improvement Association’s Board of Directors is respectfully requesting a $200,000 contribution from Dominion Energy to complete Phase II of the Education/Workforce Development Center which will include HVAC, fixtures, wiring and other local and state mandates to make this important project a reality. This unique center will include a workforce development initiative which will assist 40 adults in securing gainful employment, including resume writing and interviewing skills, on-the-job training, and job placement while their children receive high quality childcare. The childcare component will serve approximately 35 children, ages two – eight, in the only licensed childcare facility within Brunswick County. The Improvement Association is building a legacy that will empower generations to come with enhancements that ensure the quality of life for all individuals. We have already proven this via each of our seven comprehensive initiatives. Our early childhood education initiative, Maternal Infants Early Childhood Home Visiting program is available to pregnant moms and children from birth to five, at no cost. MIECHV is implemented through the Parents as Teachers research-based curriculum. This curriculum helps to appropriately deal with social-emotional behaviors in efforts to reduce child abuse, and provided resources to increase the education and financial stability of the parent/guardian. The initiative is funded to serve sixty (60) families per year. Head Start is a comprehensive early childhood education initiative for ages 3-5. This initiative is funded to serve 222 children and families with 15 classrooms throughout The Improvement Association’s service area. Head Start provides nutrition, dental, health education, social-emotional parenting skills, and school-readiness skills to prepare children for kindergarten. Additionally, Head Start staff conducts home visits to aid and support the parents of Head Start children with employment and family stabilization. The Head Start initiative is also a whole family initiative utilizing the child-parent approach while focusing on early childhood education. By way of relationship building through family partnership agreements and a family assessment, staff has been able to address family needs such as education assistance, assistance with utilities and/or rent, assisting with medical expenses and/or transportation, as well as obtaining documentation such as birth certificates. Additionally, some of the Head Start children receive before and after care at The Association’s child development center. Research substantiates that a high quality early childhood program such as Head Start produces long-term positive gains for communities which includes: Higher high school graduation rates Lower Teen Pregnancy rates Higher performance on academic assessment instruments Lower drop-out rates in high school Additionally, The Improvement Association along with our federally funded grant program enables the community to develop an inclusive strategy that addresses the educational and social needs of all families of local communities via our 21st Century Community Learning Center. Children are tutored to meet state and local academic standards through tutoring and remedial education and provided with literacy and related educational development opportunities via family engagement and literacy. This initiative is accompanied by the following outcomes: • 118 students served (grades 6-8) In conjunction with our 21st Century Community Learning Center, we have also further addressed the need for education by low-income and/or potential first-generation college students via our Project Discovery initiative. Program activities, such as academic support, counseling, goal-oriented workshops, and college campus visits, help low-income junior and senior high school students to set goals for their lives, increase self-esteem, and become the first in their family to go to college. Ultimately, our end goal for each student is to have them enrolled in college, enlisted in the military, or successfully employed upon their high school graduation. This initiative is funded to serve 45 students from the middle and high school and students are mentored throughout the school year. College touring, cultural events, resume writing, interview coaching, and class tutoring are just some of the resources provided with Project Discovery. Fee waivers for college aptitude tests and college applications are also provided. The Improvement Association’s Workforce Development Initiative is designed to enforce job training and job placement to assist individuals in entering and/or re-entering the workforce. The intent of the initiative is to prepare prospective participants to acquire and maintain employment with the prospect of a career path and wage growth. The Improvement Association provides resources to expand and enhance service delivery efforts by partnering with local businesses/contractors who have supported our mission over the years while rendering supportive services to aid our participants. This focus enables us to ensure that all barriers upon enrollment will be precisely sorted to move forward into self- sufficiency. Our target audience are those who are income eligible, as well as TANF eligible, with dependents under the age of 18. We serve a diverse community of males and females of all ethnicities. Currently, Workforce Development is funded to serve 60 participants. For this fiscal year, we currently have 38 enrolled participants: twenty-six (26) have obtained employment, three (3) have benefited from transportation services, one enrolled in GED classes, twelve (12) participants registered with VEC as a subsequent form of employment contact while two (2) have enrolled in Southside Community College. Moreover, a sound collaboration exists between The Improvement Association’s Housing and Homeless Prevention initiative and Dominion Energy Share. Virginia Homeless Solutions Program (VHSP) is a state- and federally-funded program to support Continuum of Care (CoC) strategies and homeless service and prevention programs. These programs align with reducing the number of individuals/households who become homeless; shortening the length of time an individual or household is homeless; and reducing the number of individuals/households that return to homelessness. Starting in 2022, The Improvement Association began processing Energy Share applications for residents in our service areas and has served 83 customers and families (some duplicate services) during this span. Forty-Seven (47) households have received funds through Dominion’s Energy Share program during the year of 2023 to avoid disconnection, have their lights reconnected, or assisted with their down payment to enter into payment plans. Thus far this year, The Improvement Association has provided payments totaling $9,682.53 in assistance. Households served includes the elderly, families with children under the age of 5, and households with serious medical alerts. Energy Share applicants are referred to outside community resources including programs that we offer that might be of assistance to households, including referrals to get weatherization for their homes and/or help to reduce high bills. Lastly, The Two-Generation/Whole Family initiative is the perfect opportunity for The Association to direct more resources to selected families who are adamant about improving their socio-economic status in life. Ten families are served with the implementation of services that will depict both the child-focused model and the parent-focused model to acquire a whole family approach. This Whole Family Approach addresses the fragmentation of services by integrating programs for children and adults in order to break the cycle of poverty. This initiative entails a family coach being intensively connected to the family to provide aid with increasing workforce participation, credit scores and incomes. Several of these families have acquired durable housing, home ownership, career advancement, vocational and educational training, along with securing life insurance policies to engage in the generational wealth-building aspect that is reflected in our 2Gen initiative. The Whole Family Model goes beyond addressing immediate needs and focuses on building the capabilities that families need to achieve long-term self-sufficiency. Pursuant to the mutual mission of Dominion Energy and The Improvement Association, we are dedicated to providing education and workforce development to children and adults within Brunswick County. To further develop this effort, The Improvement Association is requesting $200,000 to expand our childcare development center to include an educational workforce center with a kitchen facility. This unique center will include a workforce development initiative which will assist 40 adults in securing gainful employment, including resume and interviewing skills, on-the-job training, and job placement. It will also include a childcare initiative which will serve approximately 35 children ages two-eight, in the only licensed childcare facility within Brunswick Co.