St. Stephen’s has a long history of partnering with and building community organizations in the East End of the city. They focus primarily on education and community development. Parishioners have built life-long relationships with students and other residents of the neighborhood.
Fairfield Court Elementary School: Our parishioners serve as tutors/mentors or lunch buddies to students. A weekly commitment of 1-2 hours is suggested. Interested volunteers will complete a one-hour orientation class and undergo a background check by Communities in Schools. There is an orientation in September, and another in the winter for the spring semester.
Another way to volunteer at Fairfield is to deliver weekend food backpacks to the school on Thursdays. Each week, a volunteer picks up 40-50 prepacked bags of food from Feed More and delivers them to the school. Pick up is any time between 8:00 and 11:00 a.m. Volunteers generally deliver once a month.
Anna Julia Cooper School: St. Stephen’s was instrumental in the founding of this K-8 school in the East End. AJC is recruiting lunch buddies who will commit to joining a student for lunch at the school once a month from October and May.
ReWork Richmond: founded by a partnership including St. Stephen’s, St. Peter’s, the city’s Office of Community Wealth Building, and Challenge Discovery Projects, ReWork Richmond empowers underemployed adults in the East End to find living-wage, stable, thriving careers. They are seeking volunteers to serve as financial coaches and resume writers/coaches. You do not need professional training for these roles.
Peter Paul RVA supports the East End community through after-school programming, young adult programming, senior programming, and more. Volunteers are needed to serve as mentors for the after-school program to help with social skills, math, and English. Volunteers are also welcome for gardening and site beautification projects, both popular opportunities.