Photo courtesy Richmond Parkinson's Dance Project
Got a grand idea on how your small business can help make metro Richmond a healthier place?
UnitedHealthcare may pay you back with 10 grand.
Proposals are now being accepted for a $10,000 Community Care Award to support a community health or wellness project. The competition, which UnitedHealthcare is presenting and supporting in partnership with UnBoundRVA and the BizWorks Enterprise Center, is open to businesses with two to 100 employees.
Businesses can apply here through Sept. 17. Projects must involve a partnership with a nonprofit. Additional rules can be found here.
It’s the second year for the award, won last year by Simply Ballroom Dance Studio on Courthouse Road in support of the nonprofit Richmond Parkinson’s Dance Project. The dance project is open to people with Parkinson’s disease, a chronic, progressive movement disorder.
The grant allowed the dance project to stage a promotional recital in May, finish a wheelchair ramp at its North Chesterfield studio, and to start a second project at the West End Academy of Dance, 10620 Patterson Ave. in Tuckahoe, beginning in September, according to Veronica Nugent, an owner of Simply Ballroom and a founder of the project.
“It was awesome,” she says.
Nugent, whose father had Parkinson’s, founded the dance project in 2011.
The recital helped boost attendance and awareness of the program. The free weekly sessions had previously attracted about 15 to 20 dancers each week, but that has risen to 30 to 40 a week, says Nugent. Last week, there were 50 there, more dancers than they had chairs for.
“We’re hoping the West End class will bring the program to more people,” she says.
The Parkinson's project is offered at Simply Ballroom at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays. The West End sessions will be offered at 11:30 a.m. on alternating Mondays beginning Sept. 11. Call 804-276-3343 for information.
For this year’s competition, proposals will be reviewed by a panel of judges that will include experts in business and health. They will look for factors in the submitted presentations including clarity, feasibility and potential to improve community health or wellness.
Five finalists will present a 10-minute pitch to five judges on Oct. 17. The winner will be announced at the event.
HEALTHY DEVELOPMENTS
A roundup of the week’s health and medicine news
- An article by two staffers with the Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute at Johnston-Willis Hospital on dealing with grief in oncology nursing is featured in the current issue of the professional journal Oncology Issues. The report, “Normalizing Feelings of Grief & Loss in Oncology Nurses,” is by Jennifer Collins, a hospital chaplain, and Sandra Tan, an oncology social worker.
- Back-to-school vision screenings may be available at no cost to children in need through the annual Let’s Go See program offered through Visionworks and Davis Vision. They’re providing up to 15,000 exams and eyeglasses to children who couldn’t otherwise afford them. See how to apply here.
- Get your running shoes and show your support for teen mental health at the SpeakUp5K on Sept. 9 at Byrd Park. The fourth annual all-ages event begins at 9 a.m. Along the way, you’ll find silly string and bubbles and a rave music tent. The fundraiser for the Cameron K. Gallagher Foundation helps the nonprofit in its mission to promote awareness of teens and tweens dealing with anxiety and depression.
- The VCU Massey Cancer Center has a new member on its care-giving team. That would be Renny, a 2-year-old therapy dog working with the palliative care team. Her human and her on-the-job supervisor is Jessica Gray, nurse manager for the palliative care unit. “I’ve seen patients who haven’t smiled in days or who won’t even wake up for their medications become alert and engaged when Renny enters their room,” says Gray in a release. “She works with us to improve the psychological well-being of our patients; some even report less physical pain after spending time with her.” Renny came to Massey through Canine Companions for Independence.
