Vinton non-profit assists women, other non-profits
VINTON – Years ago, Patterson began to come across non-profits doing great things for their communities, but were struggling to survive. Without trained staff or the money to hire a consultant, these organizations had no hope of improvement.
Vinton resident Annette Patterson, herself an independent consultant, felt she had the means necessary to help these non-profits. When her husband, recent Board of Supervisors candidate Patrick Patterson received his job as a guidance counselor at William Byrd High School, the Patterson family moved to Vinton, and Annette Patterson began The Advancement Foundation.
(From top left) Judy Wood, Annette Patterson, Brittany Sandidge, Angelle Simmons. Taken at the Charity Cottage Opening.
The non-profit organization has two different functions: working with other non-profits to help them survive, and working with disadvantaged women who need help living their dream lives.
Based on Washington Avenue in Vinton, The Advancement Foundation is working with non-profits to help them survive. It is currently working with the West End Center, Manna Ministries, Second Harvest Food Bank, the Roanoke County Prevention Council, the Education Foundation, and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Patterson, director of the Advancement Foundation, explained what she and her small staff are doing with these non-profits. They are helping the Roanoke Valley’s non-profits by assisting them in the task of building capacity, raising funds, and putting strategic plans in place.
“That’s one of our main focuses is to help build the stability of non-profits,” Patterson said.
She believes that there are many passionate people out there fighting for a cause, but they do not always know how to find enough funding.
The organization has helped its non-profit partners to accomplish a number of victories. So far, The Advancement Foundation has raised over $700,000 in cash for the organizations, among other accomplishments, such as helping train directors, writing 75 grant proposals, writing nine comprehensive strategic plans, and researching over 300 funding sources.
Patterson and The Advancement Foundation have also succeeded in creating partnerships for the different non-profits which they assist. They arranged for the Roanoke County Prevention Council, which mainly focuses on keeping kids from using drugs, to go to Manna Ministries and teach parenting classes. Those who took the parenting classes were able to move to the front of the food line at Manna.
“We’re able to stand back and, sort of like a puzzle, we’re able to put these organizations together,” Patterson said.
The Advancement Foundation’s second focus is very different from its first. Patterson, her staff, and her volunteers recruited underprivileged women for their LEAP—Lift, Educate, Advocate, and Proclaim—program. The participants, selected from a large pool of applicants, wrote life plans for themselves. The staff of The Advancement Foundation, along with the volunteers making up the Legacy Council, address the women’s chronic poverty, physical and mental health issues, and lack of confidence by becoming their support system.
“I used to think that I was a nobody and I let people walk over me like I was their doormat,” LEAP participant Anne Meador said. “But now…I have changed my attitude. I am working for a better life for me and my family.” The Advancement Foundation hopes to change many women’s outlooks in the same way they have changed Meador’s.
“For many of the women that we work with, this is their refuge,” Patterson said. “People take charge of their lives.”
The women do not simply discuss their problems; they address them, and move forward with their lives.
“They are fabulous people—it’s truly a joy to help them walk into a life that they’ve dreamed of,” Patterson said.
Along with taking classes towards their GED, working, or learning how to obtain their dream job, the women run a business out of The Advancement Foundation’s building. They make realistic baby dolls, as well as gift boxes with small rooms hidden inside.
“They’re proud of the products they make,” Patterson said. The women are expected to run the business, called Charity Cottage, to take inventory, as well as to do the budgeting, themselves. All proceeds from the sale of the dolls and the boxes go back to the LEAP program. In the end, The Advancement Foundation simply wants to improve the community.
“The Legacy we leave is creating long term social change,” The Advancement Foundation’s website said. “It is real and far reaching.”
More information can be found about the organization online, at TheAdvancement
Foundation.org.
