Hogs and Kisses is a micro-sanctuary that opened its barn doors in Charlottesville in 2021. This year, Madison House is partnering with the farm to give UVA students an opportunity to volunteer with the seven pigs, five rabbits, and two turkeys! Click to learn more about Hogs & Kisses and the volunteer experience.
Madison House’s Creating Assets, Savings, and Hope (CASH) program works to train and coordinate student-volunteers to provide free tax preparation for low- and moderate-income community members…This year marks 15 years since the launch of the C’ville Tax Aid Coalition — a partnership including Madison House and the University of Virginia Community Credit Union that is coordinated by the United Way of Greater Charlottesville. Since its inception in 2007, the Coalition has generated over $35 million in direct economic impact for the Charlottesville area community.
As a first year at the University of Virginia (UVA), Chelsea Li (CLAS ‘20) wanted to soak up all the opportunities that the University had to offer. She found herself exploring new clubs and classes and was especially eager to be in the community. “In high school,” she said, “I felt as if I was missing a lot of the learning that happens outside the classroom.” This desire to stretch her curiosity across disciplines and interests, along with an intrinsic desire to uplift those around her, was what first brought Chelsea to Madison House.
The House has long been a place where students can come to find or rediscover themselves and their place within the community. This held true for Paige, who shared that “it gives me peace of mind knowing that I am a good swimmer but that's not what defines me. There's so much more to life, like helping others. My time at Madison House has allowed me to see that.”
Kruse, from Ridgeland, Mississippi, is a fourth-year student in the McIntire School of Commerce. She initially got involved in the program because of her prior experience in advocacy work.
“Ultimately, the goal of the program is for students to learn about environmental science through a native lens,” Kruse said. “Maelee Hearington, another UVA student, and I wrote the curriculum to focus on science, social activism and social justice. We also provide additional resources like workbooks, markers, easels and notebooks.”
As both a former board member and volunteer, Caroline recognizes the importance of service and the impact that Madison House volunteers have in the community. This is why she decided to stay involved as a donor. “When I donate to Madison House,” says Caroline, “I know that my money is going to be used to benefit both the Charlottesville community and UVA students.”
At first glance, medicine and music may not appear to have much in common, but Grant Frazier felt differently. He had seen first hand the power of music to bring joy and connection, and he felt that this happiness was its own medicine. As an UVA undergraduate, Grant worked with Madison House to explore this connection and founded the Harmonies for Healing program.
The House has long been a place where students can come to find or rediscover themselves and their place within the community. This held true for Paige, who shared that “it gives me peace of mind knowing that I am a good swimmer but that's not what defines me. There's so much more to life, like helping others. My time at Madison House has allowed me to see that.”
The PB&J Fund is a community partner of Madison House that improves access to affordable, healthy food for children and families. The fund utilizes a CHEF (Community/Health/Education/Friendship) framework to provide holistic experiences for participants of their programs that are educational, empowering and fun. This framework allows for diets to be improved while building relationships, providing a service that is needed for underserved families in the Charlottesville community.
As a first-year student, Loyd got involved with Madison House almost immediately.
“It helped me connect to the community in Charlottesville and have some perspective on my own privilege and feel more like a community member,” she said. “I was not that comfortable in the social scene, in the sorority and fraternity scene. I felt a little bit like fish out of water. … I was a little overwhelmed.
“And so Madison House was a nice way for me to find my people and way of being.”
Once a week, Loyd made a 40-minute drive to Louisa with a fellow volunteer to tutor the teenager.
“I remember being really challenged by her in ways that were important for me to face,” said Loyd, who lost touch with the teen after college. “She would just stand up for herself a lot, kind of like, ‘I don’t want to do that and you have no idea how hard my life is.’
Roughly 3,000 students a year volunteer through Madison House. Nearly 40,000 have participated since the center opened in September 1969, according to Tim Freilich (Col ’93, Law ’99), executive director of Madison House and a volunteer there during his undergrad years. In 2018-19 alone, he estimates, students contributed more than 108,000 hours to local projects, from adopt-a-grandparent programs and teacher’s aide positions to patient-care roles at hospitals and free clinics.
[…]
“You can’t learn this type of leadership through a textbook,” Freilich says. “The experience that our 300 student leaders get as they lead their peers is probably the most valuable thing that Madison House does.”
Madison House Alumna Discusses Food Justice
Shantell Bingham is Program Director of the Charlottesville Food Justice Network at City Schoolyard Garden, sits on the board of the Charlottesville Alliance for Black Male Achievement, chairs the Human Rights Commission and is a Dalai Lama Fellowship recipient. That list is just a few of her achievements. The UVa graduate and North Carolina native goes to work every day with one goal in mind: end food inequality and make sure everyone in the community has access to healthy and nutritious food.
“Right now that’s not the case,” Bingham said. “People of low income and of color have less access to healthy food options than others, for a number of reasons. That needs to change. I’m part of a collaborative movement that can make that happen.”
“When access to food is not consistent and dependable, a household is classified as food insecure,” Jane Colony Mills, Loaves & Fishes’ executive director, said. A UVA alumna, Mills herself volunteered with Madison House in a different program when she was a student.
Children make up almost 36 percent of the clientele served at the food pantry, and the percentage of senior citizens has more than doubled to nearly 14 percent, Mills said.
“We’re using the success of Mollie’s designs and product to help raise awareness for, and ideally, help support organizations that have a bigger cause beyond a clothing line,” says co-founder Taylor. She and head designer Mollie credit the experience of public service with organizations like Madison House as integral to their development as entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and creatives.
Madison House volunteers were the subject of a feature article in the summer 2015 issue of Virginia Magazine, published by the U.Va. Alumni Association. Volunteers from five of our programs were interviewed: Latino and Migrant Aid, Recreational Therapy, Big Siblings, Adopt-A-Grandparent, and Housing Improvement.
