Moments of Joy

Meet five area nonprofits that provide essentials not just for the body, but for the soul

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A few years ago, Julia Warren was working at a birthday party hosted by her nonprofit, Celebrate RVA, when a man walked in to pick up the guest of honor. Warren says the child had been nervous when he first arrived, but as the party went on, he relaxed and was having fun. She asked the man if he could come back in 30 minutes. “He told me that he was the child’s social worker,” she says, “and they needed to find a place for him to sleep that night because none of his family wanted to take him in.

“In the moment, I had no idea this child was going through that. But for an hour and a half, his biggest decisions were what balloon animal he wanted and what he wanted painted on his face. He just got to be a kid.”

So often, it’s easy to see the urgency around meeting our most fundamental needs, from food and housing to education and health care. But a life well lived is about so much more than the barest of necessities. A birthday party, a hug from someone who understands what you’re going through or an hour of creativity — these are just as important to our health and well-being.

Celebrate RVA, which hosts and provides supplies for birthday parties for children who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity, is one of several area nonprofits creating moments of joy and light in Richmond. In their own way, they’re working to meet the critical needs of residents — even when many of us might not realize those needs exist.

A Home Away From Home 

When a patient enters a hospital for surgery or long-term care, all eyes are typically on them. Doctors and nurses are focused on their prognosis and treatment plan, while meals and a place to sleep are provided. Family and friends may visit often and provide emotional support — an offering that is associated with positive outcomes for the patient.

But that family support can sometimes come at the expense of the caregivers’ well-being, especially when they’re the parent of a young child receiving treatment.

The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Richmond ensures that families with children receiving care at 10 area hospitals and pediatric treatment facilities receive comfort during a challenging time. RMHC Richmond also addresses basic logistical needs, such as food, transportation, sleep and laundry so that parents have the time and energy to concentrate on their child’s healing.

Their Lunches With Love program provides meals for caregivers who might not want to leave their child alone, or who only have a few dollars left in their bank account. “Parents of children in the hospital don’t want to leave their child’s side,” says Jay Lugar, director of development and marketing. “They want their child to know they’re there, and they want to see the doctors and nurses coming around.

“If a caregiver or parent doesn’t have to worry about feeding themselves or whether or not they have the means to rent a hotel room, they’re able to show up as their best selves and really focus on their child.”

For those in need of a short respite, RMHC Richmond also provides sleeping rooms at the hospital, and their facilities are set to expand in 2023 when the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU opens its Wonder Tower. The family-centered facility will provide space for families to relax, eat and sleep, as well as a play area for siblings.

When patients face an extended stay or long-term treatment, especially if they’re not from Richmond, the need for housing can present an additional — and expensive — source of stress.

The Doorways provides a home away from home for patients at several Richmond-area hospitals, as well as their caregivers. Every year, more than 10,000 people stay at their guest house, located just blocks away from VCU Health hospitals. Their facility has more than 100 guest rooms, with staff and volunteers who provide meals and other services.

One guest, Debra, came to The Doorways from Danville after her husband’s routine gallbladder surgery didn’t go as expected. He was admitted to VCU Health, and after Debra spent two days sleeping in a hospital recliner, it hit her: She was more than three hours from home with no car and no way to get anything she needed. A nurse recommended The Doorways, and Debra ended up staying there for two months.

When The Doorways was founded nearly 40 years ago, its focus was on the families of people receiving long-term inpatient care. Now, says Stacy Brinkley, president and CEO, about half of their rooms are typically used by people receiving outpatient treatment, such as chemo and radiation, or patients awaiting a transplant.

They designed the guest house to meet a variety of patient needs, such as a wing for immune-suppressed patients receiving stem cell transplants, a floor with a playroom for pediatric patients, and extended-stay suites. The building also has common areas where patients and families can connect with others facing similar challenges, creating an impromptu support network. “We hear such great stories about the community,” Brinkley says, “of the support and the lifelong friendships that they make here.”

Sharing the Practice of Well-Being 

When Mark Hierholzer started taking art classes, he realized the practice gave him a sense of peace and balance — a welcome counterbalance to his work leading a youth mental health services organization. So when he retired, he started teaching art classes in his studio in hopes of sharing his practice — and improved well-being — with others.

It seemed that all of his students were dealing with outside stressors, but when they gathered and focused their attention on creating art, they were able to leave their troubles at the door.

Hierholzer also was volunteering at the Virginia Correctional Center for Women in Goochland, where many of the women had experienced abuse, trauma and substance-use disorders. One of his studio students, Jamie Wiggington, wondered if these women could also benefit from a personal creative practice. In 2013, Hierholzer, with Wigginton and another of his students, Cindy Paullin, founded Art for the Journey, teaching art classes to eight incarcerated women at the correctional center.

“As we started to deliver [classes], we wondered who else was reaching out to incarcerated women,” says Paullin, who is now the organization’s executive director. “We decided to focus on people who are least likely to receive the benefits of art experiences.”

Soon after, they started working with people living with dementia, followed by children exposed to prolonged trauma and veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder. “Our mission is to transform lives through art and community,” she says, “but with a special focus on people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to these services.”

Today, Art for the Journey is run by hundreds of volunteer art instructors — and the organization is always recruiting more. A quarter of its volunteers are professional, practicing artists, but the majority are students interested in health careers. The organization provides evidence-based training specific to the populations they serve.

Art for the Journey also partners with universities to evaluate the success of their programs and compare the effectiveness of art classes against pharmacological treatments. The data often points to a successful link, but Paullin says her experiences volunteering with Art for the Journey have also demonstrated its effectiveness.

She recalls a former gunnery sergeant who, upon arrival, stressed that she was no artist. She didn’t want to be there, she said, but her friends had made her come. That day, Paullin says, they were swirling food coloring into shaving foam and applying it to watercolor paper. As the veteran finished her first design, she peeled back the paper and saw the shape of a dove in the negative space. “She started to visibly shake and cry, and let out the feeling of tension,” Paullin says, noting that by the end she was smiling.

“Every day, we have a joyful experience — the volunteers and the people we’re serving,” Paullin says. “It’s a community-building and community-bridging way to use art in our community.”

A Day of Celebration 

Julia Warren’s idea for Celebrate RVA grew out of a simple conversation at the school where she was volunteering. “I asked a little boy, ‘When were you born?’” she says. “He responded, ‘I think I was born when it was cold outside.’ That’s all he knew about his birthday.

“There’s such a focus on giving back to the community during [the holidays] when everyone is celebrating. But for a child to be told this day is solely about you — it’s really impactful to their confidence and their joy.”

Celebrate RVA partners with local agencies and schools to deliver birthday supplies, decorations and gifts to a child’s school. Through individual referrals, they can deliver party supplies to a child’s home. The organization also has a venue that will reopen in 2023 for parties, complete with a full kitchen, games, a climbing wall and TVs for dance parties.

In the past, Celebrate RVA volunteers were on hand for celebrations, but they shifted to dropping off supplies during the height of the pandemic. The change received a powerful response from parents. “They want to be able to [throw a party] for their children without someone else coming in,” Warren says. “I would say 40% of kids we celebrate don’t even know that we exist.”

Another local nonprofit, Worthdays, is built on a similar premise: If no one acknowledges your birthday, how do you feel worthy as a human being?

The organization was founded by Caroline Neal, a former social worker with Chesterfield County. She saw firsthand how people impacted by the foster care system — especially older kids — were impacted by grief, loss and separation from family.

While Neal believes the foster care system is broken and there are vast needs to address, she sees celebrations and “normal” childhood experiences as an area where she can make a difference.

Birthdays are the organization’s bedrock, and Neal says they target kids who are living in a group home, treatment center or independent living home and wouldn’t otherwise be celebrated. Every month, she posts a list of children with upcoming birthdays, along with their interests, and community members rally to donate personalized gifts.

“I don’t think people understand the magnitude of [how it feels] when no one acknowledges the anniversary of your birth when you’re already in a situation where you feel lost and lonely,” Neal says. “Our ultimate goal isn’t to give kids a whole bunch of stuff, but to send the message that they’re worthy, that they’re here for a reason, that they matter, and that they have potential.

“It seems really small, but sometimes the small things are the big things.”