Connect

In 2025, UVA Health allocated more than $297,000 in grant funding to 38 local nonprofit organizations — 25 in Northern Virginia; 13, in the Culpeper Region. These funds support our communities' most vulnerable populations and address healthcare workforce development.  

Now, Connect takes a closer look at how the Culpeper Food Closet — one of the 2025 awardees in Culpeper — is benefiting from the UVA Health grant:

No One Should Go Hungry  

UVA Health awarded a Healthy Spark Grant of $5,000 to the Culpeper Food Closet, an outreach ministry of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Culpeper. As a longstanding community resource dedicated to helping food insecure families, this grant will impact Culpeper residents directly by providing access to healthy food. 

The Culpeper Food Closet began serving the community in 1984, under the simple belief that no individual should be hungry. What began as a small grassroots project to offer food to families, seniors, and individuals experiencing hunger, quickly became much more. What a difference that time, dedication, and demand have made on this project. The food closet is a community effort with more than 80 volunteers and support from individuals, churches, local businesses, organizations, and grant funds. Last month, the Culpeper Food Closet packed more than 19,200 meals for their neighbors in need in Culpeper.  

Feeding Our Neighbors 

The Culpeper Food Closet received a $5,000 grant from UVA Health in 2024 directed to the purchase of frozen blueberries. Old fashioned oats were purchased from the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank to be paired with blueberries. “The blueberries and oatmeal kits were a raging success!” hails Faith Dickerson, Director, Culpeper Food Closet. The 2025 grant will go toward securing fresh oranges, apples, and canned pineapple. Dickerson adds, “We have growing children, folks dealing with chronic illness, and some ... who need more healthy fiber, and these fruits are part of a healthy and nutritious diet.”  

“Many of our clients experience a temporary or unexpected setback, rent and utility increases, illness, job loss, or even a car repair that affects their ability to afford groceries. Imagine the pressure of not having food on the table even for just a few days,” says Dickerson. “This grant from UVA Health allows us to meet those families where they are and ensure no one in our community goes hungry.” 

Families seeking assistance during daytime hours from the Culpeper Food Closet are referred to Sam’s Place at the Culpeper Resource Center as their first stop. Sam’s Place is part of Human Services and has resources to help with literacy, immigration, utilities, job skill improvement, and more, giving local residents access to more than just food. Once they receive a voucher from Sam’s Place, they can then use that to pick up food at the Culpeper Food Closet.  

Culpeper Food Closet also prepacks “Band-Aid Bags” to be left at Sam’s Place for use after hours. It’s essential that no one leaves without enough to get them through a couple of days. The bags contain items such as canned or jarred protein, quick breakfast food, and quick canned meals such as ravioli or soups. Culpeper Food Closet also prepacks special bags for the homeless, which include canned goods with pull-tabs and items that do not need refrigeration or cooking. 

Grants in Action 

UVA Community Health Community Grants are part of an application-based program that offers large grants to community partners who improve the health of individuals in our community by promoting health, healing, and treatment in response to identified communityhealth needs.  

Every three years, UVA Health conducts a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) to identify the most pressing challenges facing vulnerable populations. This assessment incorporates input from community surveys and focus groups, Virginia Department of Health Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District, and UVA Health leadership and advisory teams. 

Using these findings, UVA Health directs community benefit investments to organizations making measurable impacts in priority areas that include access to care, behavioral health, mental health, substance abuse, and chronic conditions. The Healthy Spark Grants, which provide up to $5,000, are designed to strengthen partnerships with nonprofits addressing social determinants of health — the non-medical factors that significantly influence overall wellbeing. 

UVA Health’s mission to transform health and inspire hope for all Virginians and beyond extends past our hospital and clinic walls, and our 10-year strategic plan strives for the health system to cultivate healthy communities. Culpeper Food Closet embodies that spirit, offering nutritious, no-cost food options right in their neighborhood.  

Through this collaboration, UVA Health and Culpeper Food Closet continue to strengthen the community’s safety net — ensuring every resident has access not only to food — but also to the compassion, dignity, and support that nourish a healthier future for all.