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CHAT wins $500,000 grant, will buy Captain Buzzy’s

Church Hill Activities and Tutoring (CHAT) has won $500,000 through the inaugural Lora M. and E. Claiborne Robins, Sr. Community Innovation Grant. The new annual award will fund one proposal that “celebrates the imaginative, cooperative spirit of Greater Richmond.”

CHAT plans to use the money to support a program designed to increase job training, marketable skills and employment opportunities for youth in North Church Hill. CHAT’s Young Entrepreneurs of Richmond Project includes the purchase of Captain Buzzy’s Beanery as a community and entrepreneurial hub. The project also includes elements intended to enhance the mental and nutritional health of participating youth.

“With this new grant category, we challenged the human services community to think creatively and collaboratively and to dream dreams bigger than they could have imagined,” said Juliet Shield-Taylor, the Robins Foundation board member who chaired the selection committee. “We were impressed with CHAT’s creativity, passion and the potential for making a real difference in the lives of Church Hill’s youth, and we look forward to witnessing the transformation within that community.”

The Young Entrepreneurs of Richmond Project is a multifaceted initiative with a broad scope of elements. A key component involves the purchase of Captain Buzzy’s Beanery, whose space will be utilized for a variety of retail, training and other entrepreneurial activity. The acquisition will allow for the expansion of CHAT’s existing entrepreneur teams, which are currently involved in woodworking, urban farming and screen-printing.

A second piece of the plan involves the development of a work-study program called Project First Job, a program designed to introduce participating youth to marketable job skills through paid positions with partner businesses. A third component focuses on addressing the mental and nutritional health needs of the community’s young people through education, evaluation and counseling.

In addition to funds to pay for the acquisition of the coffee shop, grant monies also will go toward the purchase of pickup trucks and a tractor to support the urban farming elements and two 14-passenger buses to transport students to small businesses as part of their entrepreneurial education.

The grant also will support work stipends for participating youth as well as salaries for new staff positions.

“We couldn’t be more grateful to the Robins Foundation, not just for this grant but for creating this process that invited us to dream big and take risks for our community,” said Caitlin Barnes, communications and development director for CHAT. “It is particularly notable that CHAT students helped develop this dream, presented to the selection committee and were an integral part of helping leverage $500,000 for their community.”

The runner-up proposal was submitted by CodeVA to support a program called Building the Digital Dominion, an initiative that seeks to create greater digital literacy – or computer science literacy – among Virginia’s public school students.

120 comments

Kathleen Onufer 12/04/2014 at 7:56 AM

Congratulations CHAT! – A neighbor near Captain Buzzy’s.

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Anne Weiskopf 12/04/2014 at 8:12 AM

Until I learn more about what retail operation CHAT has in mind, the purchase of Captain Buzzy’s for this organization feels misguided.

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Neighbor 12/04/2014 at 8:21 AM

This sounds very interesting! It sounds like they are going to have a retail section. It would be cool if they were going to operate a coffee shop as an entrepreneurial enterprise. I wonder what sort of retail they are considering.

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Juliellen 12/04/2014 at 8:42 AM

That is very exciting! CHAT is an organization that really makes a difference. I hope that Buzzy’s neighbors will be welcoming and supportive.

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Matt Conrad 12/04/2014 at 8:55 AM

Incredible news. Congrats!

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Positive Hits 12/04/2014 at 9:01 AM

Great news for the kids, the neighborhood, and especially the immediate area around Buzzy’s.

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Adam Burgess 12/04/2014 at 9:07 AM

Words can’t express how amazing this opportunity is for the youth of CHAT. All around Life Changing and Community Engaging! Huge Congrats to the CHAT team and participants.

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Neighbor 12/04/2014 at 9:12 AM

Is Captain Buzzy’s opening a new store in Church Hill within walking distance of where it is now?

Why can’t CHAT buy another retail space in church hill? They have a place now.

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WarGibFA 12/04/2014 at 9:18 AM

Thrilling news! Hope they do not drag their feet about using the money. 😉

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ann 12/04/2014 at 9:41 AM

Wow!

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kate 12/04/2014 at 9:48 AM

this is great news. Well Done CHAT!

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John M 12/04/2014 at 9:52 AM

Just spoke to Percy (from CHAT).

They will continue to run Captain Buzzy’s as a nonprofit space housing a coffee shop, with a retail component for the products of their urban agriculture, woodworking from Nehemiah’s Workshop, and their silkscreening.

The idea is to have a space where local kids can learn soft skills and specific skills as job training. They anticipate working with area business in a number of areas.

There isn’t a timeline for the changeover as of yet. It seems like right now they are really just wrapping their heads around the fact that this is real 🙂

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Elaine Odell 12/04/2014 at 9:59 AM

WOW! this is so awesome. So happy for everyone at CHAT. This type of youth-employment project is perfect for our community. The time is now! So looking forward to getting a cup of joe with the kids, y’all.

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MHB 12/04/2014 at 10:00 AM

Is CHAT buying the building (which isn’t owned by Captain Buzzy’s) or buying the business & leasing the space? The implication is that they’re buying the building but $500k to do this in addition to the mentioned vehicle purchases seems inadequate.

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Pandora 12/04/2014 at 10:11 AM

Kudos to whoever organized this. Well done!!!

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Jujubee 12/04/2014 at 10:15 AM

That’s so cool! Can’t wait to check it out.

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John M 12/04/2014 at 10:17 AM

MHB – just the business

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Rob 12/04/2014 at 11:00 AM

Awesome news for CHAT! It’s going to be a great way to provide job training and leverage their other business.

I think this will be a test of how far the neighborhood has come to see if we can accept a minority-operated business with mixed clientele south of broad. Hopefully it will be well received!

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twitter_RPDLtDan 12/04/2014 at 11:41 AM

FANTASTIC!! Congrats!!!

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crd 12/04/2014 at 12:02 PM

@23 thanks John for the explanation. I agree with everyone who thinks this is AWESOME!

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John M 12/04/2014 at 12:25 PM

Robins Foundation Awards Inaugural $500,000 Community Innovation Grant to Church Hill Activities and Tutoring (CHAT)
http://www.robinsfdn.org/robins-foundation-awards-inaugural-500000-community-innovation-grant-church-hill-activities-tutoring-chat/

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a Church Hillian Illian 12/04/2014 at 12:28 PM

This news made my day!

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Kathleen 12/04/2014 at 1:06 PM

This is genius!! Very exciting for the CH area!

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Aud 12/04/2014 at 2:08 PM

a WIN WIN for everyone! 🙂

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Bill conkle 12/04/2014 at 2:11 PM

Proud of Y’all for continuing to reach out to our young people in positive life changing ways! I look forward to supporting the venture.

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Deanna - Heirloom Restorations 12/04/2014 at 2:52 PM

A very thoughtful piece John. Congratulations CHAT!

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Dave Seibert 12/04/2014 at 3:59 PM

Fantastic news!

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Neighbor 12/04/2014 at 5:10 PM

I’m so excited to hear this – and to see what they do with the business! This is fantastic news for the kids and the neighborhood.

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Karen 12/05/2014 at 9:10 AM

This is great!!

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Neighbor 12/05/2014 at 9:39 AM

Honestly, I am sad to lose secular space to another ever-expanding Christian group. As a gay man, it worries me that they might be teaching gay kids that God is disgusted by them. Here’s to hoping their particular form is Christianity is the loving kind.

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Neighbor 12/05/2014 at 6:48 PM

43, maybe a Muslim group will move in instead. Anyway, I didn’t realize this was a Christian group.

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K 12/05/2014 at 8:00 PM

Can someone clarify the religious status of this CHAT group? I, too, share concerns about a religious group taking over (or not, depending on unfolding legalities and landlord-lease issues) a local business, barring further knowledge of whether or not the group discriminates against LGBT Virginians or any other group.

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crd 12/05/2014 at 9:03 PM

I do not see anything limiting in their purpose statement: OUR CORE PURPOSE:
We equip and serve the youth of Church Hill to make transformative decisions.

Thank you Ann for posting that.

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