Sentara Cares for the Community

Our mission to improve health every day drives everything we do to keep individuals, families and the communities we serve healthy. Part of this mission involves establishing partnerships that create positive impacts in our communities.

Through the support of Sentara Cares grants and the Sentara Foundation, we provide grant funding to community health partners located throughout the state of Virginia and North Carolina. The latest round of Sentara Cares grant awards was announced in 2023 and has awarded more than $6.5 million in grants and microgrants to 171 partner organizations throughout Virginia and North Carolina. The Sentara Cares Fall 2023 grant cycle is the second and final series of investments for the year, bringing total annual giving to $12 million.

Sentara is committed to ongoing collaboration with our partners to respond to the needs in underserved communities,” said Sherry Norquist, Sentara’s executive director of community engagement and impact. “Strong relationships with community organizations and faith-based leaders are essential in achieving our goals to advance health equity and address social drivers of health.

Sentara prioritizes funding for community partners and initiatives that align with the health system’s primary areas of focus: access to care and community engagement, behavioral health, food security, housing, and workforce training and career development. Highlights from the Fall 2023 grant cycle include the following:

Access to care and community engagement

Sentara’s partnership with Old Dominion University’s Community Care Clinic builds capacity for serving uninsured and under-insured people seeking assistance through the Housing Resource Center. Additionally, Sentara’s investment in the Halifax County Rescue Squad supports four ambulances with the personnel necessary to provide paramedic care to residents in Halifax County and South Boston, Va.

Behavioral health

With Sentara’s support, Family Crisis Support Services, Inc. (FCSS) in Norton, Va., is able to increase emergency assistance to families experiencing poverty, homelessness, domestic violence and other crises. A statewide grant to the Virginia Health Care Foundation from Sentara’s $2 million Behavioral Health Innovation Fund will increase access to primary care and behavioral health services for uninsured and medically underserved Virginians.

Food security

Sentara’s longstanding support for the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, based in Richmond, Va., facilitates collaboration among member food banks and their partners to improve nutrition security and empower strong, healthy communities. The Federation’s Food Pharmacy and application assistance for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through the Unite Us platform help to remove barriers to food access across the Commonwealth.

The following is a list of the 82 Sentara Cares grants for Fall 2023:

Hampton Roads

• Ability Center of Virginia — Virginia Beach
• Armed Services YMCA of Hampton Roads — Virginia Beach
• BizNet Inc., (doing business as Hearts & Homes) — Virginia Beach
• Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia — Norfolk
• Chesapeake Care — Chesapeake
• Child & Family Services of Eastern Virginia Inc. (The Up Center) — Norfolk
• City of Suffolk — Suffolk
• Connect With a Wish — Virginia Beach
• FACT (Families of Autistic Children of Tidewater) — Virginia Beach
• Freekind — Hampton
• Hampton Roads Ecumenical Lodgings and Provisions, Inc. — Hampton
• Hampton Roads Workforce Foundation — Norfolk
• Joy Ministries — Virginia Beach
• Lake Taylor Transitional Hospital Foundation — Norfolk
• NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Coastal Virginia — Virginia Beach
• New Vision Youth Services, Inc. — Chesapeake
• Nursing CAP, Inc. — Suffolk
• Old Dominion University — Norfolk
• Patient Advocate Foundation, Inc. — Hampton
• Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority — Portsmouth
• Revive Community — Norfolk
• Southeastern Virginia Areawide Model Program, Inc. (doing business as Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia) — Norfolk
• StandUp for Kids — Virginia Beach
• Tidewater EMS Council — Chesapeake
• Village Family — Norfolk

Virginia Peninsula

• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula — Newport News
• Child Development Resources — Williamsburg
• City of Williamsburg — Williamsburg
• Gloucester Mathews Care Clinic — Gloucester
• Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg — Newport News
• Literacy for Life — Williamsburg
• Peninsula Agency on Aging — Newport News
• Peninsula Pastoral Counseling Center, Inc. — Newport News
• THRIVE Peninsula — Newport News
• United Way of the Virginia Peninsula — Yorktown
• Virginia Living Museum — Newport News
• What’s Next for Success Foundation — Newport News

Central Virginia 

• Better Housing Coalition — Richmond
• Commonwealth Catholic Charities — Richmond
• CrossOver Healthcare Ministry — Richmond
• Daily Planet Health Services — Richmond
• Downtown Churches United, Inc. — Petersburg
• River Street Education, Inc. — Petersburg
• Sacred Heart Center — Richmond
• YWCA Richmond — Richmond

Northern Virginia

• George Mason University Foundation, Inc. — Fairfax
• HopeLink Behavioral Health — Oakton
• Literacy Volunteers of America — Prince William County
• Pathway Homes, Inc. — Fairfax

Southside Virginia

• Halifax County Rescue Squad, Inc. — South Boston
• North Halifax Volunteer Fire Department — Nathalie
• Southside Virginia Community College Foundation — Alberta
• Turbeville Volunteer Fire and Rescue — South Boston

Southwest Virginia

• Family Crisis Support Services Inc. — Norton

Northeast North Carolina

• Albemarle Area United Way — Elizabeth City
• Albemarle Pregnancy Resource Center — Elizabeth City
• Organization to Provide Equal Access to Technology, Inc. — Burlington

Statewide Organizations in Virginia

• American Diabetes Association — Chesapeake
• American Parkinson Disease Association — Virginia Beach
• Federation of Virginia Food Banks — Richmond
• Gateway Homes — Williamsburg
• Safe House Project — Alexandria
• Virginia Health Care Foundation — Richmond
• Young Life — Old Dominion Region — Newport News

In addition to the Sentara Cares grants listed above, Sentara awarded $685,200 in microgrants of $15,000 or less to 89 community organizations across Virginia and Northeast North Carolina.

Visit SentaraCares.com for additional information about partnership and funding opportunities with Sentara.