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Sally Graham, Goochland Cares executive director, outside the new center (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Volunteers Zita Lee (left) and Norm Laskin (right), with staff member Emily Koci (center), at Goochland Cares (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Volunteer Mary Bull (right) and intern Dreshon Tyler (left) sort clothing donations at the Goochland Cares Clothes Closet. (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Diann Russell, Eleanor Rigsby and Diane Reale in the pantry at Goochland Cares (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Jim Popp, Sam Smith, John Kendig, Rich Costanzo and Ennion Williams on site of the Goochland Rotary Club wood chucking program, which provides firewood for needy families (Photo courtesy Rotary Club of Goochland County)
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Kindergartners as "21st Century Authors", a GEF funded program, where students produced self-directed electronic books using instructional technology (Photo courtesy Goochland Education Foundation)
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An aerial view of the new Goochland Pet Lovers shelter site (Photo courtesy Goochland Pet Lovers)
Angie Shiflett was leaving an abusive relationship and living with family about five years ago when she heard about the Goochland Free Clinic and Family Services. The nonprofit organization, now named Goochland Cares, provides access to health care and other basic services for Goochland residents in need.
Shiflett and her four children were living in a relative’s four-bedroom home with seven other family members. She had contacted other organizations for help, but there were waiting lists for services. “Some of the shelters wanted to separate my oldest son from us, and I wouldn’t have that,” she says. “Goochland Cares was a different experience. They said, ‘Here are the options, and here’s what we can do.’ ”
She and her children were moved into emergency housing. They used Goochland Cares’ pantry and clothes closet as well. After living in other areas, Shiflett recognizes and appreciates the “help your neighbor” attitude that is so prevalent in tight-knit Goochland County, where she now lives and works.
“Here, organizations volunteer for other organizations. Everybody wants to help,” she says. “You don’t find that in other counties.”
County organizations like Goochland Cares have been able to grow their services to reach more people because volunteers have stepped up to help.
“People care about what happens to their neighbors,” says Sally Graham, the nonprofit’s executive director. “We feel like it’s our community.” She moved from Atlanta to Goochland years ago and believes the county is unique in its commitment to service that residents and county organizations share.
About 450 volunteers donated time to the organization in 2017. “We couldn’t do what we do without volunteers,” Graham says. “We have had several children that asked friends not to bring presents to their birthday party but instead bring food for Goochland Cares.”
Volunteers provide financial and hands-on support. In January, Goochland Cares opened a 20,000-square-foot facility. The structure, which gave the nonprofit space to consolidate many of its services, was bankrolled through a $7.1 million capital campaign. The campaign also paid for renovations to the home that Shiflett and others in need have used for emergency housing and helped fund the creation of a $1.5 million endowment for sustainability. “We are funded by private and corporate donors,” Graham says. “The majority are Goochland individuals or family foundations.”
The Rotary Club of Goochland County, which has the motto “service above self,” has been a key supporter for Goochland Cares. Its members also deliver holiday meals to county residents in need at Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as meals throughout the year for Meals on Wheels. Club members donated 1,400 hours of time to various community services in the past year.
Justin Lacy, who heads up the holiday meal program and Meals on Wheels for Rotary, travels throughout the county delivering meals. He says that 18 club members helped with deliveries last year, and that members also completed 33 routes for Meals on Wheels in Goochland.
The organization also offers the Rotary Reads program in county schools, and last year it sponsored its first Oktoberfest fundraiser.
Goochland Rotarians are well known for their Wood Chucking program, a service in which club members cut and split firewood and distribute it to needy families, says Harry Moore, director of public relations for the club. They delivered more than 60 loads of firewood last year.
“Our whole reason for existence is to give back to the community,” Moore says. “Other organizations in the county need the help. We try to provide that help in areas of the greatest need.”
That need differs across the county. Per capita income varies from the populated east end of the county to the more rural western edge. “It’s a diverse community in terms of lifestyles,” Moore says.
The Goochland Education Foundation, another organization that Rotary supports, was founded in 2008 by a group of volunteers who wanted to add value to their children’s education in Goochland schools. It champions STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills and equity in education. It also seeks to ensure that each child has the same educational opportunity inside and outside of the classroom. Cyndy Brown, executive director for the foundation, notes that the nonprofit offers Internet hotspot devices for some students whose families have no Internet service, “so they can do their schoolwork at home.”
Several groups are working together to promote the next generation of volunteers to serve the county. The foundation in April partnered with Goochland Pet Lovers on an essay contest, sponsored by the Rotary, for Goochland fourth- and fifth-graders. The theme for the contest was “Why is Goochland a great place to raise your pet?” More than 75 essays were submitted.
“We want to make children think more deeply about where they live,” Brown says. “That is the goal — for the next generation to think about what it means to live in Goochland. When they grow up, we want them to be engaged and stay in the community because Goochland does have a lot to offer.”
The late Rebecca Dickson, a former county administrator, was the spark behind Goochland Pet Lovers. Dickson, who died in 2017, had wanted the county to replace its outdated animal shelter with a state-of-the-art facility. Dickson came up with the idea of a public/private partnership, and Pet Lovers began in December 2016 with a $1.5 million capital campaign, says Tom Winfree, chairman of Goochland Pet Lovers. “Becky had a vision of building a better animal shelter,” he says.
The community embraced the effort. As of March, the organization was close to its $1.5 million goal, mostly through donations from county residents and some grants. Construction is underway on the 13,000-square-foot facility, with completion expected by year’s end.
Volunteerism in Goochland even extends into the juvenile justice system, where 22 volunteers help out regularly. Ann Casey, executive director of Goochland CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), which advocates within the Juvenile Court system for the best interest of abused and neglected children, says she relies on the volunteers.
Each has to complete 30 hours of training before being sworn in by the judge. They have to talk with everyone involved in a case, determine how the child is doing and then write an unbiased report to the judge, Casey says.
“These people want to help children and make a child’s life better,” she says.
Each year, the community comes together for the organization’s annual fundraising concert, which will be held this year on Friday, May 18, at Cub Adventure Boy Scout Camp on Maidens Road. The Taters will perform.
“It helps that Goochland is a very warm, caring community,” Casey says. “People reach out.”
To say Goochland — its civic-minded volunteers and caring organizations — embodies the true meaning of community is an understatement for Shiflett, who is now working at Goochland Cares herself as a home repair coordinator and facilities manager. She says that the outpouring of support she received gave her the hope she needed to move forward with her life: “I get the feeling now that I can do this.”
