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.”
On March 11, 2020, all Madison House in-person volunteering was suspended in an effort to slow the emergence of COVID-19. Shortly after, a Spring Action Team headed by Madison House student volunteers Simmy Bhatia, Caroline Hallowell, and Mikaela Rirchardson worked in coordination with Dr. Rose Cole, the Madison House Director of Community Engagement, to begin developing a virtual volunteering initiative called "Hoos Helping."
My grandfather served in the Navy and then as a police officer for many years, and from an early age, he instilled in me a sense of service and benevolence that I have always carried with me. He inspired me to join the University Judiciary Committee in my first semester at UVA, and I ended up enjoying the job so much that I wanted to find new ways to give back to the University Community. I joined a Madison House program and became a peer advisor, and everything else just spiraled from that.
Julia Larsen (CLAS '21) and Heath Yancey (CLAS '22) are Peer Health Educators who organized the annual Fourth Year 5K. Despite being virtual this year, this UVA tradition raised around $3,000 for the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation and benefited community members that were profoundly impacted by the pandemic. Julia is a Spanish and Biology major and a member of APO, a medical scribe with the UVA Emergency Department, and a pen pal to assisted living residents. Heath is a Neuroscience major and a volunteer on the UVA Hospital Acute Pediatrics floor.
Photographs were selected as representative of the various public service work in which University students engage throughout the year—from Alternative Spring Break trips to volunteering with Madison House programs to community-based research projects abroad—we are excited to showcase and celebrate the partnerships between the University, the local community, and beyond.
