12 The Hampton Roads Messenger


Volume 9 Number 8


Cox Charities Virginia Awards $135,000 to 15 Non-Profits Supporting


Youth and Education Initiatives CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- Cox Communications Virginia awarded $135,000 in grants to 15 non-profit organizations in Virginia through the Cox Charities grants program. Cox Charities provides funding to non-profit groups supporting youth, education and technology within Cox Virginia communities. The grants presented are part of the more than $6 million Cox Virginia contributes annually through cash and in-kind support to the communities where it does business.


The Hampton Roads organizations selected to receive Cox Charities grants are:


Samaritan House - $5,000 grant for the Kid's Harbor Summer Learning Expedition. This is a partnership with Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University Virginia Beach Higher Education Center, Ubasti, and ARDX to provide six weeks of academic and experiential learning opportunities focusing on STEM to homeless children.


Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters - $5,000 grant for Reach Out and Read at CHKD. This is an early-literacy initiative for children 6 months to 5 years.


Children's Health Investment Program (CHIP) - $10,000 grant for the Bridges to Academic and Parenting Success program at Norfolk's Open Campus. This CHIP program teams a Parent Educator & Registered Nurse to provide health improvement services and parent education to expectant and new parents.


The Up Center - $10,000 grant for Team Up Mentoring, an award winning volunteer mentoring program initiated by The Up Center in January of 2008. The program strives to improve the lives of children primarily living in single-parent families and youth in foster care by matching them with an adult mentor who can provide a stable and positive influence.


An Achievable Dream - $10,000 grant for the Social, Academic and Moral Education (SAME) Curriculum. An Achievable Dream is a nationally recognized K-12 educational program dedicated to the belief that all children can learn and succeed regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds and that education can break the cycle of poverty.


Downtown Hampton Child Development Center - $10,000 grant for using technology to bring classrooms to life for at-risk preschoolers by purchasing an interactive whiteboard and all the software and training needed. In addition, it will upgrade its slowest and most out-of-date classroom desktop computers, some of which are 13 years old.


Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula - $10,000 grant for RoboClub, improving STEM programming options by introducing a new Robotics program throughout the Clubs. They will partner with Newport News Shipbuilding to help implement this program and will use the LEGO MINDSTORMS system.


Civil Rights Leader John Lewis to Deliver Hampton University


Commencement Address Hampton, Va. - Hampton University is pleased to announce Civil Rights leader and U.S. Congressman John Lewis will serve as the University’s 145th Commencement speaker on May 10, 2015. Commencement will be held at Armstrong Stadium at 10 a.m.


Often called "one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced," John Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties, and building what he calls "The Beloved Community” in America.


His dedication to the highest ethical standards


and moral principles has won him the admiration of many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the United States Congress.


As a young boy, Lewis was inspired by the activism surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which he heard on radio broadcasts. In those pivotal moments, he made a decision to become a part of the Civil Rights Movement. Ever since then, he has remained at the vanguard of progressive social movements and the human rights struggle in the United States. While still a young man, Lewis became a nationally recognized leader, and was dubbed one of the "Big Six" leaders of the national Civil Rights Movement.


At the age of 23, he was an architect of and a keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington in August 1963. During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, from 1963 to 1966, Lewis was named chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which he helped form. SNCC was largely responsible for organizing student activities, including sit-ins and other activities. He later served as director of the Voter Education Project, helping to register millions to vote. In 1977, Lewis was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to direct more than 250,000 volunteers of the federal volunteer agency ACTION.


In 1981, he was elected to the Atlanta City Council. While serving on the Council, he was an advocate for ethics in government and neighborhood preservation. He was elected to Congress in November 1986 and has served as U.S. Representative of Georgia's Fifth Congressional District since then.


Around Hampton Roads


Lewis received a bachelor’s degree in religion and philosophy from Fisk University, and is a graduate of the American Baptist Theological Seminary, both in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been awarded more than 50 honorary degrees from prestigious colleges and universities throughout the United States.


hamptonu.edu Langley Federal Takes a Bite


out of Apple Pay NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Langley Federal Credit Union has begun offering members Apple Pay, a new type of payment service that provides an easy, secure and private way to pay for everyday purchases using your mobile device. Apple Pay combines Apple's seamlessly integrated hardware, software and services to create a unique, incredibly intuitive and elegant experience. When a card is added to Apple Pay, the credit and debit card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers. This provides added security for your credit and debit card numbers as you won’t have to present the actual card at locations participating in Apply Pay. There are now more than 700,000 locations accepting Apple Pay and this number continues to grow.


Help Norfolk Write a Zoning


Ordinance for the 21st Century Norfolk is in the midst of the first comprehensive rewrite of its Zoning Ordinance in more than two decades.


Norfolk is in the midst of the first comprehensive rewrite of its Zoning Ordinance in more than two decades. The effort started last summer and is now moving into the next phase with the second in a series of public meetings on April 7 at 6:00 p.m. at the Chrysler Museum, One Memorial Place, 23510. Your participation and input is vital as the city works through this process.


The last comprehensive rewrite of the Zoning Ordinance took place in 1992. Since that time hundreds of ad hoc amendments, both major and minor, have been made to the ordinance. The result is a Zoning Ordinance of unusual complexity containing outdated requirements, internal inconsistencies, poor organization, few graphics, procedural inefficiencies, and in some instances language that is difficult to understand for many code users and citizens. Additionally, there has been a change in conditions, demographics, and preferences in the City in the ensuing years, resulting in a gap between the community’s desired development outcomes and the development outcomes allowed by the current ordinance.


For more information on the Zoning Ordinance rewrite, go to zonenorfolk. com


norfolk.gov


Portsmouth to Host ‘Bank On’ Program for Personal Financial Health


The City of Portsmouth is pleased to announce its partnership in Bank On Hampton Roads at Portsmouth, a pilot program to assist citizens in taking control of their personal finances. Together with the Portsmouth Area Resources Coalition, the Virginia Cooperative Extension, and ABNB Federal Credit Union, the City will conduct a 10-month personal finance program for citizens who are interested in increasing savings, improving credit scores, reducing debt, and building and protecting their financial security.


Bank On is free to participants. The success of the program will depend on the partnerships with organizations and the support of local employers who will make referrals and volunteer staff to be trainers and coaches. The City of Portsmouth encourages organizations and employers to come and learn more about participation in the Bank On Hampton Roads at Portsmouth initiative. The City of Virginia Beach has successfully conducted the Bank On program for several hundred participants since 2012, and now runs multiple classes and locations simultaneously. Portsmouth intends to replicate this success, beginning with the first class later this year. For more information, contact Lori Irwin at LIrwin@vbgov.com or (757) 409-6809. Financial advisers have reported that many middle income households struggle to manage monthly cash flow, and reserve little or no money for emergency expenses. Ten million US citizens rely on high-cost alternative lending options such as car title loans and paycheck and tax return advances. Financial stress can affect an individual’s mental and physical well-being, which in turn can lead to absenteeism and lower productivity for employers. The financial security of our citizens is foundational to the


economic stability and vitality of the City as a whole. portsmouthva.gov


Tell us about your


Church programs Churches@hamptonroadsmessenger.com


April 2015


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16