Congratulations Mark Grigsby Award Winners

We honored Lisa Barton, Executive Director of AppCAA and Ann Fisher, Executive Director of Virginia CARES, with the Mark Grigsby award in Wytheville for their dedication and leadership in Community Action. This award was established by VACAP in 2013 to honor the memory of Mark Grigsby, long-time Director of the Office of Community Services at the Virginia Department of Social Services. He held the role that Matt Fitzgerald with OEO holds now.

The Grigsby Award is the only award that VACAP presents each year. You may think of it as our Lifetime Achievement Award, but the words “selfless leadership” in the title have real meaning. Selfless leaders empower their people; they share the credit; they initiate the conversation; and, importantly they create the culture. 

They create a culture of accountability for all to be their best to ensure we serve people at our best and Selfless leaders know that when they help their team and partners succeed, they succeed. This yields an organizational culture where everybody community action is a problem solver a light to others and results oriented. It is contagious and that is why we celebrate it for us all to be challenged to be that way in whatever role we have.

Congratulations to Lisa and Ann!

New VA DHCD Down Payment Assistance (DPA) Program

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has launched the Virginia Down Payment Assistance (DPA) Pilot Program, offering down payment assistance to homebuyers earning up to 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Virginia DPA Pilot is designed to complement—rather than replace—existing state, federal, local, and private down payment assistance programs.

The deadline for application submission to participate in this program is June 19th, 2025.

More information is available here: https://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/DocX/dpa/va-dpa-pilot-program-guidelines2025.pdf

New VA Dept. of Health Maternal and Child Health Data Dashboards

Governor Glenn Youngkin recently announced the launch of an upgraded Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Dashboard and two new dashboards to monitor and provide actionable data on maternal mortality and pregnancy-associated deaths. The data are designed to be used as a resource to establish best practices to assist mothers during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.   

Learn more here: https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2025/april/name-1044351-en.html



Access the dashboard here: https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/data/maternal-child-health/mch-indicators/

VA DHCD Manufactured Home Parks Affordable Housing Pilot Program

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has launched the Manufactured Home Park Acquisition Pilot (MHAP) Program, supporting efforts by manufacturing home park residents and nonprofit organizations to acquire manufactured home communities in Virginia. By facilitating resident or nonprofit ownership, the program aims to preserve affordable housing options and prevent the involuntary displacement of current residents. A webinar will be held on Wednesday, May 21 to provide more information, including how to apply to participate in the pilot.

Learn more here: https://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/mh



Register for the How-to-apply webinar here: https://dmz1.dhcd.virginia.gov/dhcdevents/registration.aspx?EID=608