Author: Carol Diggs

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News

It’s a wonder: Blue Ridge Tunnel trail opening is more than a century in the making

Community members use the trail leading to the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Afton. Photo: Zack Wajsgras

It’s dark. It’s damp. It’s cold. And it’s so cool.

The newly opened Claudius Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel trail lets you walk under the Blue Ridge—under Rockfish Gap, under I-64, under the Appalachian Trail and Skyline Drive. More than 700 feet above, drivers sweep through forested hillsides while you peer at walls of hewn rock and brick. Up there, hikers hear leaves rustling in the wind while you hear water dripping from the tunnel walls; they see dappled sunlight while you see flashlights bobbing like underground fireflies—and one small point of light ahead, a beacon from a mile away.

The tunnel is a secret world but not a closed one. A steady breeze brings fresh air through the passage, which is arrow-straight and has a very slight incline. Kids coming through will laugh to stir an echo, and squeal when they find wildlife—salamanders and crayfish live here, so be respectful. And it’s hard not to think about the men who labored here, mostly Irish immigrants and enslaved workers hired out for cash, pitting their strength—and their lives—against the unyielding mountain.

When the 4,273-foot Blue Ridge Tunnel was completed in 1858, it was the longest railroad tunnel in North America. Construction was overseen by Claudius Crozet (yes, the town was named for him), a French immigrant and highly trained engineer. When the eastern and western tunnel crews first connected, the two sides were only a few inches off. But it took years before the tunnel was up and running, and Crozet, fed up with management problems, public pressure, and criticism, eventually resigned—three months before the tunnel’s grand opening. He didn’t get to ride on that first ceremonial train.

The Blue Ridge railroad tunnel was in service for 86 years—it closed in 1944, when an adjacent tunnel designed for larger locomotives was completed. In 2007, CSX generously donated the property to Nelson County. The Blue Ridge Tunnel Foundation, including representatives from Albemarle, Nelson, and Augusta counties, the City of Waynesboro, and local community organizations, was set up in 2012 to develop community support and funding. The opening last weekend was the culmination of more than a decade of that work.

The trail is now open every day, sunrise to sunset. Nelson County Parks and Recreation Director Claire Richardson recommends checking the department’s Facebook page or website before coming, since there may be occasional closures due to weather or maintenance. There are access points at either end (one in Nelson, one in Augusta), with small parking lots and half-mile approach trails leading up to the tunnel entrances. (Word to the wise: The western approach trail is much steeper than the eastern one.) Bring a flashlight, headlamp, or lantern for safety, and a jacket for comfort; the crushed gravel path can be uneven, so wear decent walking shoes. And bring your mask.

But mostly, bring your sense of wonder: at this area’s natural beauty, at a remarkable human achievement from 160 years ago, and at a marvelous opportunity to visit a world we don’t usually get to see—unless we’re salamanders or crayfish.

And, as Richardson says, “Stay tuned for Halloween 2021.”

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News

Ash disaster: Local ash trees face their own pandemic

The Van Yahres Tree Company treats ash trees at Monticello to guard against the invasive emerald ash borer. Credit: Van Yahres Tree Company

As if COVID-19 weren’t enough, central Virginia is fighting another plague, only this one—the emerald ash borer—threatens our trees. The beetle may look like a tiny jewel— it’s a bright metallic green, small enough to sit on a penny— but it’s been scything down local ash trees like a malevolent Paul Bunyan. 

“No ash tree is safe,” says Jake Van Yahres, co-owner of Van Yahres Tree Company, which his great-grandfather founded in 1919 during another pandemic. “If you have an ash tree and don’t get it treated, it will die.”

The emerald ash borer, native to northeastern Asia, was first detected in the U.S. in Michigan in 2002, and in Albemarle County in 2017. The beetle lays its eggs in the ash’s bark in spring; when the larvae hatch, they tunnel through the bark and feed on the layer beneath all summer, effectively cutting off the tree’s nutrients. The following spring, they emerge as adults to eat leaves, mate, and lay more eggs—killing the tree in three to five years.  

Katlin DeWitt, forest health specialist with the Virginia Department of Forestry, says ash is a popular landscaping and urban species because it is hardy, fast-growing, and shapely. “After we lost elms, people planted with ash,” she says. Just ask UVA—it has hundreds of ash trees on the Lawn, Carr’s Hill, the East Range, and along Rugby and McCormick roads. 

A tree can be protected by injecting insecticide around its base, but the treatment has to be administered by a certified arborist and repeated every two years. If started in time, treatment ($350-$600 per tree, depending on size) can be more cost-effective than removal. But if the tree is significantly damaged, removing it may be preferable; while living ash trees are strong and hardy, dead ones quickly become brittle and pose a danger if they are near a building, roadway, or public space.

Michael Ronayne, urban forester with the city, says Charlottesville is currently treating 37 trees that are particularly large or well-placed; in 2018, the city spent $8,600 on emerald ash borer protection. Ash trees make up roughly 2 percent of the forest mix in central Virginia, but their noble shape makes them common ornamental trees, and their loss will be felt by even casual observers. One of the city’s largest ash trees stands just behind the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society building downtown. “Losing that tree would change the entire block,” says Ronayne.

DeWitt recommends homeowners check their ash trees for signs of infestation: patches of light-colored inner bark exposed by woodpeckers seeking the tasty larvae; canopy die-back; sprouting from the tree’s base; and small, D-shaped holes in the bark where borers have eaten their way out. If you see these signs—or aren’t sure whether it’s an ash tree—hire an arborist to evaluate the damage and outline options.

Infected ash trees can be salvaged as firewood, which should be burned that season before ash borer pupae emerge again in the spring—but to prevent spreading the infestation, don’t sell the wood. Homeowners buying firewood should purchase wood from their immediate area, or make sure it’s labeled heat-treated.

Spending money to protect a tree may not seem to make financial sense, but it’s worth it, say many homeowners. “My parents’ house in Charlottesville has a huge ash tree, hanging over the entire house,” says Van Yahres. “It’s being treated, and it’s still up. If we had to take that tree down, it wouldn’t feel like home.”

Correction: The print version of this story reported that the city spent $86,000 on ash borer treatment; in fact, it spent $8,600.

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C-BIZ

Recipe for success: Vu Noodles’ survival story

Julie Vu Whitaker of Vu Noodles. Photo: John Robinson

Those who work in business can tell you that success requires hard work, adaptation, and some smiles from fate. Julie Vu Whitaker, founder and driving force behind Vu Noodles, can attest to all three.

In 2013, after 20 years as a social worker, Whitaker decided on a career shift. “[While] I still loved it, I was ready for a change,” she says.

From childhood, she enjoyed cooking and sharing foods from her Vietnamese heritage, and she credits her immigrant family (they arrived in Waynesboro when Whitaker was 8) with instilling a strong work ethic: “My family has always been in their own business.” She began selling Vu Noodles, her “to-go” take on traditional Vietnamese vegetable bowls, at The Farm corner grocery in Belmont. “It really opened my eyes,” she says. “People liked my food.”

Vu Noodles’ popularity led Whitaker to get her home kitchen commercially certified so she could supply vendors around town, from Whole Foods Market to Rebecca’s Natural Food and Martha Jefferson Hospital’s café. After three years working long hours—her bowls are prepared fresh every day—Whitaker says she needed some help. “I was thinking, ‘I can’t keep doing this alone.’” She jumped at the opportunity to take over The Spot on Second Street in partnership with Kathy Zentgraf of Greenie’s.

Demand soon meant the business had outgrown Whitaker’s home kitchen, so she struck a deal with Pearl Island Catering to rent the kitchen at the Jefferson School City Center and supply the café there. “Now I had a sit-down space, and could interact more with the customers, which I loved,” she recalls. But sharing the kitchen with Pearl Island’s growing business began to bind. By late 2019, Whitaker was considering the new Dairy Market, which would have meant taking on significant debt. “I’d always been able to fund my business myself,” she says.

One of Vu Noodles’ offerings. Photo: John Robinson

Enter another opportunity: Early this year Whitaker got an offer to take over The Flat Creperie’s space—right off the Downtown Mall, with its own kitchen, and small enough for Whitaker to handle with help from her husband and two sons, now in high school.

In another smile from fate, in May the United Way of Greater Charlottesville and the city’s Minority Business Alliance announced the first grants under a new partnership to help support local minority- and women-owned small businesses. One of the $5,000 grants went to Vu Noodles, although Whitaker had to be convinced by a friend to even apply. “I always feel that someone else needs the money more,” she says.

The timing was perfect. The grant (and the pandemic shutdown) enabled Whitaker to renovate the kitchen and install a microphone for contactless ordering before opening in July.

Starting up at a new location while downtown foot traffic is just recovering is a challenge, but over the years Vu Noodles has developed a sizable and devoted following. Whitaker’s offerings now include pho and banh mi sandwiches as well as her noodle bowls, and are all completely vegan—except for one important holdout. “I had to keep the fish sauce,” she says with a smile. “It’s so much a part of our food tradition.”

Categories
Culture Living

Eyes to the sky: Young birders build their skills

The Blue Ridge Young Birders Club gets kids into the woods and sets them on a path to a lifetime of exploring.

Dusk. A cold fitful breeze. Quiet except for our footfalls on dry leaves. Far above, a hawk glides, dark against the twilight sky.

“Cooper’s,” says Theo after a swift glance.

Theo is leading our group along the Rivanna Trail in search of woodcocks. It’s sunset in spring—courting time.

Theo picks a spot on the border between a large cut hayfield and the woods. We hunker down, breathing on our cold hands, and wait.

“Peent! Peent!”

It’s the male woodcock’s call, a prelude to a remarkable display. The bird flies upwards in a spiral, his wings making a twittering sound, and then descends with a gentle chirping. He will do this over and over, charming whatever female woodcock he can lure out.

We wait, trying not to stir.

“Peent! Peent!”

A swift blur in the twilight. “See him?” whispers Theo, gesturing up and right. Some of us are quick enough, others miss the elusive target. We wait again. The cold settles into toes and ears; no more calls. Dark sets in. We head back along the trail, using our flashlights sparingly, stopping at intervals while Theo plays owl calls on his phone. Faintly, a screech owl replies. It’s like many other bird walks—except that most of our group is still in grade school, and Theo, our intrepid and knowledgeable leader, is 14. This is the Blue Ridge Young Birders Club.

Theo’s brother Ezra, 16, is also along tonight, and says the club started in 2012 with four young birders who liked both birding together and teaching others. As the original members “aged out,” others got involved. Joanne Salidis, the boys’ mother and an avid naturalist herself, signed on as coordinating adult. New members have connected through the club’s website, through the Wild Birds Unlimited store, or word of mouth.

BRYBC is designed for young people ages 7-18, and monthly meetings are held at Ivy Creek Natural Area. The club runs at least one field trip a month, seeking a specific bird (like woodcocks, or golden eagles in Highland County) or visiting a special habitat (like the Great Dismal Swamp). The group also monitors the bluebird trail at Piedmont Virginia Community College from March through August, collecting data for the Virginia Bluebird Society. The weekly monitoring is open to anyone, says Salidis, “and kids can be younger than 7, with a parent’s full cooperation, of course, so it’s really a family project.”

Ezra started going on club outings in elementary school, when he got interested in peregrine falcons—“how fast they could fly, and the whole DDT story.” (The peregrine was pushed almost to extinction by the now-banned DDT insecticide.) He enjoyed both the sharing and the competition, spotting the most birds or the most unusual species. Ezra’s interest sparked Theo’s curiosity, and now both are avid birders and knowledgeable naturalists.

“When kids get interested in something, that naturally leads to more interests—from birds to habitats, seasonal changes, photography,” their mother says.

The other young birders on our woodcock trip represent a range of knowledge and interests. Isabella, 11, says, “I just really like animals.” At the school she used to attend, in England, they were lucky enough to host visits from both Jane Goodall and Sir David Attenborough. Isa, 10, credits her grandmother: “She sent me out on nature walks all the time.” Cyrus, 9, is mostly all eyes and ears. But he’s learning, even if it’s just how to walk and observe in the woods.

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C-BIZ

What dreams are made of: 5 stories of locals turning their passion into their business

Adam and Nicole Goerge of Elevate Training Studio (Photo Credit: Amy and Jackson Smith)

If thinking about your passion keeps you up at night, while your job leaves you snoring, it may be time to see if you can make a living doing what you love. The Charlottesville area is home to plenty of small business entrepreneurs— and dreamers. Albemarle County, and much of central Virginia, has a self- employment rate ranging from 10-20 percent, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2019 state profile. And local initiatives, like the Community Investment Collaborative and the i.Lab at UVA, are here to help. So as you contemplate transforming your dream into a business, let these five stories inspire you to take the next step.

Adam and Nicole Goerge | ELEVATE TRAINING STUDIO

Adam Goerge and Nicole Yarbrough met as trainers at ACAC, where they both continued working after their marriage in 2006. But they always dreamed of opening their own training studio. “We wanted to be our own bosses,” Nicole recalls.” We wanted to develop a community of clients who supported our style of training—not like a big-box gym, more like a family.” Adam says they talked about the idea for seven or eight years. In September 2017, they agreed the time had come—and 14 months later, they opened Elevate Training Studio.

In preparing to make the leap, the couple spoke with colleagues at other gyms—“all different styles, from big gyms to boutiques,” Nicole recalls. They cruised small business websites (see sidebar), worked out the space and equipment they needed, and estimated expenses, from rent to taxes and salaries. They even had a color scheme (royal blue and grass green) and a mascot (their goldendoodle Velo).

While still working full-time, the Goerges took on everything from finding a location to figuring out financing—as independent contractors at ACAC, they couldn’t show a steady monthly income, which made it hard to qualify for business loans. They went through four possible sites before settling on a space on Berkmar Drive off Route 29 North, close to town and convenient for clients.

But that was just the beginning. When their contractor fell through, Adam, who had construction experience, stepped in as subcontractor for the renovation. They hired independent contractors for specialized tasks, but handled everything from demolition to drywall themselves, with their son Caden, inlaws, and friends pitching in. Handling a business license, a LLC application, rezoning, permitting, and building inspections was an education. Adam recalls spending a lot of time on the Albemarle County website.

Not everything went to plan, says Nicole: “It was all about doing what needed to be done at that moment.” Because they were both still employed—and because, as Nicole notes, “Charlottesville is a small town, especially in our field”—the couple kept the idea quiet until they were ready to launch. In the meantime, Caden was making the transition to middle school and the family moved into a new home.

Now, as they enter their second year, was it worth it? Absolutely, both agree. “We’ve been able to create our own space,” says Adam with satisfaction. Nicole says, “I walk in, and this is where I belong.”

Heather Hightower | THE CENTER FOR VOCAL STUDY

Heather Hightower had a passion for singing and performing from an early age. But her journey to becoming founder and owner of The Center for Vocal Study took a roundabout—and often serendipitous—path.

After majoring in voice at UVA, Hightower applied to graduate schools, but “my intuition told me that this was not the next step for me,” she recalls. Instead, she took a more winding route: teaching music in Guatemala; taking a series of corporate jobs; and working retail back in Charlottesville. With friends urging her to put her vocal and coaching skills to work, in 2012 she began a side gig teaching voice students in her home.

In 2013, Hightower was hired as choir director at The Field School. “It was a total adventure,” she says. “I was starting the program from scratch.” As she was developing the school’s music program, Hightower’s private lessons were outgrowing her home. In 2016, another voice teacher mentioned renting space together, “so I opened an Excel spreadsheet and started crunching the numbers,” she recalls.

In 2017, Hightower took the plunge, signing a lease on space on the Downtown Mall, and—with lots of cleaning and furnishing help from her family, friends, and students—The Center for Vocal Study opened. Soon, a group of voice teachers was using the space to collaborate, and The Center began to offer expertise in other aspects of singing and performing, from Alexander technique to auditioning.

“When you’re getting started, you have to do everything—editing the website, figuring out the online scheduling,” Hightower says. She drew on her past experience in business, in fundraising, even in sales and customer service—augmented with the help of a coach she found through a business program. And she did hire both part-time administrative help and an accounting firm.

In 2018, she left her Field School job to focus full-time on The Center—just in time, because soon her lease was up. “We knew it was coming, but I wasn’t quite ready,” she says ruefully. “But again, like with our first location, I just had to leap.” The Center’s new location on Pantops “feels like a retreat center,” she says, “and has me thinking in new ways about what we do here to embolden singers to find their voice.”

Clearly, bringing her dream to life has been both grueling and inspiring. “Making so many decisions—it can be exhausting,” Hightower admits. “Some days are glorious, and others are more like being swept away into the ocean. But I am constantly being surprised at what is being created here.”

Angelic Jenkins | ANGELIC’S KITCHEN

Angelic Jenkins has always loved to cook. “My house is the come-to house for the holidays, because everyone knows I’m going to cook up a feast,” she says.

Growing up, “I was always in the kitchen, under my mother and my grandmother, watching them and asking questions.”

The Charlottesville native also has vivid memories of eating fried fish at summer festivals in Washington Park. “To me, it was just something totally different,” she recalls. “I thought, when I grow up I want to be at the park and I want to sell fried fish.”

In high school, she spent three years studying culinary arts at CATEC, even winning a bread contest. She thought she might become a chef. But instead, she veered into another career path, taking up office technology, and eventually landing a job in HR.

While she was working full-time for DoubleTree, she spent her weekends shopping. “My husband said, there has to be something better you can do with your weekends,” she recalls with a laugh. That’s when she remembered those childhood festivals. “And I said, ‘I want to sell fried fish.’”

Her husband, Charles, encouraged her to go for it, and he rented the equipment she would need. She started off with a tent at the African American Cultural Arts Festival, in Washington Park. The event was so successful that before she knew it she was working festivals as far away as Virginia Beach, selling her fried fish, wings, hush puppies, and onion rings to a rapidly growing fan base.

Jenkins then entered a program for entrepreneurs at the Community Investment Collaborative, received her catering license, and went on to open her own catering business, Angelic’s Kitchen, renting commercial kitchen space at Bread and Roses.

As she continued to sell at festivals, she also tweaked her fish breading, experimenting with different herbs and spices to make her product stand out. Once she got the recipe down, she found a manufacturer through CIC. She had the breading bagged so she could sell it to customers interested in frying at home.

And in 2018, she and Charles bought a food truck: Angelic’s Mobile Kitchen. They sell from a parking lot on Pantops in the summer and at various festivals and other spots throughout the fall.

Now, Jenkins is poised to open her first bricks-and-mortar location, at the new Dairy Market food hall in 2020. Jenkins says her 609-foot stall will focus on soul food—her famous fried fish, but also classic down-home dishes like barbecue chicken, yams, corn pudding, and potato salad.

The biggest challenge, she says, has been the financial strain of growing the business. Because she’s still working full-time, as the head of HR for DoubleTree, she doesn’t qualify for a lot of small grants. At the moment, she has a GoFundMe up to help cover the start-up costs of the new location.

But while she plans to keep working for the first year (covering evening and weekend shifts while Charles mans the stall during the day), she’s hopeful that she’ll eventually be able to work at Dairy Market full-time.

“My hobby has turned into a career for me,” she says. “I never thought I’d end up here.”

Jenny Peterson | PARADOX PASTRY CAFÉ

Jenny Peterson has always had two passions: “From the time I was a little kid in West Virginia, I was either doing gymnastics in the yard, or [I was] in the kitchen baking with my mom.” She built a career as a personal trainer, and while her then-husband was stationed in Europe, Peterson attended the famed Cordon Bleu in Paris and interned at a noted French patisserie.

When the family came to Charlottesville in 2004, Peterson began working in the kitchen at the Boar’s Head Inn— but “I knew if I wanted to open my own business, I needed to be out in the community.” She became a personal trainer at ACAC, and started building a client base by baking for friends, giving samples to her training clients, and taking on jobs at cost to build word-of-mouth.

Through SCORE, a local business organization (see sidebar), Peterson was connected with Joe Geller, retired owner of the Silver Thatch Inn, whom she credits with helping her develop her business plan. Peterson’s concept: an open bakery. “My idea was based on my mom’s kitchen. She always has someone in, it was a community place. I didn’t want to have a wall between us and our customers—I wanted to see who we were serving, and have them see us.” Thus the name: Paradox Pastry Café, where a personal trainer is making delicious treats, and the bakery becomes a place to convene.

Peterson got a business loan through a small local financial institution. She found her space on Second Street SE– “I signed the lease before I got my loan approved,” she admits—and much of the renovation was done by “me and my friends, and a rag-tag bunch of guys working on another restaurant nearby.” She hired and then fired a business consultant. Meanwhile, she was still working at ACAC, running her home business, raising her two children, and navigating a divorce. “I was 49 years old,” Peterson recalls, “and I thought, ‘I don’t want to be 80 years old and never have tried this.’”

In June 2012, Peterson launched her café—and, almost eight years later, she admits there are still parts of her business plan she hasn’t gotten around to implementing. But her core vision remains: a community place where she and her staff greet the regulars and patrons can linger.

“There are other bakeries in town, but they’re not my competition,” Peterson says. “We don’t make breads. We don’t offer gluten-free—I don’t have the space for completely separate ingredients and equipment. To me, it should be, do what you love and do it better than anyone else.”

Emily Morrison | THE FRONT PORCH

Music has always been vital in Emily Morrison’s life; the daughter of two musicians, she is a skilled banjo player herself. But she also has a calling to teach. When she came to Charlottesville in 2000, her “real job” was teaching high school English. Then she began teaching music and drama at Mountaintop Montessori school.

“It was the first time I had taught music,” Morrison recalls, “and it was so much fun!” She created a musical/ cultural “world folk tour,” recruited local musicians to help start a school string band, and launched a children’s choir. She had found her passion: people making music together—“performance as, not outcome-based, but as experiential.” That’s how the dream of a community music school began.

Morrison and a friend came up with the name The Front Porch because “that’s the place, all over the world, where people gather.” She went to a hackathon at Monticello High School to develop her website, and got a business license to offer music lessons out of her home. In summer 2015, she took part in the i.Lab incubator program at UVA. “This former English teacher didn’t know anything about business,” Morrison says. “That’s where I decided this [venture] should be a nonprofit and learned how to set it up, with a board and everything. That little test model is still what we’re doing today.”

Morrison leased space at Mountaintop for her burgeoning school. The first year’s budget was $50,000, half of it raised on a GoFundMe page. While Morrison was committed to paying her teachers a market wage, she herself was working for free. Among her “success factors,” Morrison credits her husband John, whose steady income and support enabled her to pursue her dream.

By 2016, student enrollment had doubled–and Mountaintop needed its space back. Morrison found a new location, just off the Downtown Mall, that needed extensive renovation. Another “success factor:” Jack Horn of Martin Horn Inc., a supporter of The Front Porch’s programs, whose firm handled (and partially funded) the renovation.

By 2019, the school’s annual budget surpassed $300,000, and “we were finally appropriately staffed,” she says. From hiring staff to recruiting board members, Morrison drew on relationships she had built as a teacher and as a musician. And she kept learning–visiting other community music schools around the country, and cold-calling people around Charlottesville to “have coffee with me so I could pick their brains.”

Her assessment, after five years? “I’ve mentored people who want to start a nonprofit, and I tell them it’s going to take over your life,” Morrison says. “But there’s still a learning curve, which keeps me interested.” And she’s keeping her dream alive: “The world—all of us—needs more time being together, playing music and being peaceful.”

TOP TIPS FROM FELLOW DREAMERS

We asked our featured entrepreneurs to share some of their hard-won wisdom:

Don’t quit your day job—yet. Finances are the single biggest source of stress, and the main reason business ventures fail. Having an outside job while you test the waters is a good way to prepare. (If you’re lucky enough to have a spouse or partner with a steady income, that’s a huge help too.)

Plan, plan, and plan some more. All these entrepreneurs developed (and kept revising) their business plans, financial spreadsheets, and to-do lists. Work out how much money you need (including your salary), where it’s coming from, and what you will have to charge. At the same time, as Heather Hightower cautions, expect problems—and opportunities—to come up before you’re ready.

Be willing to do everything. Jenny Peterson says on any given day she might be cleaning toilets, training a new worker, or coming in to cover for a sick employee—in addition to baking, running the café, and greeting customers. There is no 35-hour work week for a business owner.

Find the skills you don’t have. While your personal work experience may be helpful, there’s always something you won’t know. Find a mentor, hire a consultant, take a course, search the Internet— and be willing to pay for the expertise you need, whether it’s bookkeeping, marketing, or legal advice.

The buck stops with you. If you have a hard time making decisions or taking on more responsibilities, think twice about running your own business. “The owner is the catalyst,” says Peterson. “We set the tone, the vision—it’s our full responsibility to make it happen.”

It’s also your dream; don’t forget to enjoy it. Every one of these entrepreneurs said their goal was not huge profits or thousands of clients, it was the creation of their dream. Being happy in your work is a perfectly acceptable measure of success.

FINDING SUPPORT

Ready to take the leap and start a business? Here are some local resources that can help:

Community Investment Collaborative (cicville.org) focuses on helping microenterprises with financing support and counseling, networking opportunities, support groups, co-working space and services, and education. CIC’s small business classes range from a two-hour “How to Start Your Own Business” course to a 16-week “Entrepreneur Workshop.”

City of Charlottesville’s Office of Economic Development (Find it on the city’s website, charlottesville.org) has a range of resources for small business owners at any stage. “Cville Match” provides additional funding to companies that have received grants from a range of state and federal programs; once you’re launched, the “Advancing Charlottesville Entrepreneurs” program assists small (fewer than six employees), city-based businesses with grants for advertising, equipment, and supplies.

Central Virginia SCORE (centralvirginia.score.org) offers an online business library, webinars on everything from budgeting to marketing, and assistance in developing a business plan. SCORE also provides access to a stable of retired business professionals who serve as volunteer mentors for fledgling entrepreneurs.

Small Business Development Center (centralvirginia.org/ small-business-development-center) provides free business counseling services and assists with feasibility studies and business planning. SBDC also sponsors seminars and training, often in conjunction with CIC and SCORE —including the monthly Charlottesville “Entrepreneurs & Espresso” at UVA’s i.Lab.

If your dream is evolving in a nonprofit direction, the Center for Nonprofit Excellence (thecne.org) offers its members workshops, training and consulting in areas from financial management, fundraising, and grantsmanship to marketing and advocacy, as well as board recruitment and development. Membership dues start at $100/year and are keyed to the organization’s annual budget.

Don’t forget to check the course offerings at Piedmont Virginia Community College (pvcc.edu) to build skills in accounting, management, business law, IT and marketing.

Once you’re launched, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce (cvillechamber.com) can help you connect with other entrepreneurs and potential customers and clients. Some Chamber programs, like the monthly Business Women’s Round Table and ProTip Tuesday, a social and learning event, are open to the public; its signature networking event, Let’s Connect, is for members and prospective members only. Note: If your small business (fewer than 11 employees) belongs to the Chamber in a neighboring county, you can become an affiliate member of the Charlottesville chapter at no additional charge.

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C-BIZ

Dollars & sense: The Tax Ladies bring a personal touch to financial services

Libby Edwards-Allbaugh co-founded The Tax Ladies to cater to small businesses. (Photo Credit: John Robinson)

Libby Edwards-Allbaugh, co-founder and co-owner of The Tax Ladies, thinks being a woman in a male-dominated industry is a strength. “This is such a traditional, conservative field,” she says. “The people in accountancy often lack people skills; I felt I could set a more personable tone.”

The Tax Ladies, which she and partner Treat Jackson launched in 2011, specializes in small business clients. While larger businesses can hire staff or engage accounting firms, “there’s a real void for small businesses, start-ups, and nonprofits,” Edwards-Allbaugh says. The Tax Ladies’ tagline: “Your small business is big business to us!”

With the triple challenge of being a SWaM (Small, Woman-owned, and Minority- owned) business, Edwards-Allbaugh says “we spend so much time building relationships to get our name out.” She has taught courses at PVCC, works with the Community Investment Collaborative and SCORE, and participates in the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, in addition to being active in Black Women of the Charlottesville Metropolitan Area. In January, Edwards-Allbaugh was chosen as one of four Community Fellows-in-Residence by UVA’s Equity Center to support her project to expand BWCMA’s Sister-nomic$ financial literacy program to include elementary, middle, and high school girls.

The Tax Ladies’ four full-time employees provide more than just tax help–services include accounting, budgeting, systems development, and/or back-office support. For each client, the firm develops a customized plan and charges by retainer (ranging from $69 to $800/month). The usual hourly billing model can discourage small businesses from asking for help, Edwards-Allbaugh says, while a retainer “encourages continual dialogue” and makes The Tax Ladies a true business partner.

Edwards-Allbaugh thinks the City of Charlottesville is “doing a phenomenal job–close to as much as possible” in supporting minority businesses. While The Tax Ladies is based in Albemarle County, the city’s programs “often help with infrastructure and supplies, things that are good for my clients’ businesses.”

As a Tax Lady (and a small business owner), Edwards-Allbaugh has valuable advice for entrepreneurs:

1. “Treat your business like a business.” Have a separate business checking account or credit card– commingling personal and business finances is a common mistake, and can be disastrous.

2. “Get your processes in place. You don’t have to hire a person, but you should consult with someone with expertise to find out what you don’t know.” Skimping on financial advice is also common, and usually ends up costing you money.

3. “You should be able to tell at any time, here’s what I’m making and here’s what I’m spending.” As for 2020 tax advice, Edwards-Allbaugh doesn’t expect big changes this year, given the extensive tax overhaul in 2019. But business taxes are complex, and as in every other arena, information is power. “People cheat themselves more than they cheat the government,” she says.

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News

In kind: Making our city a little brighter, one good deed at a time

Nancy Kechner is coach and surrogate mom for the athletes on the UVA women's rugby team. Photo: John Robinson

Whether you think in terms of “random acts of kindness” or “points of light” or “it takes a village,” all around Charlottesville there are people who go out every day and do their part to make this city a more human place. It’s not their job, but it’s their work. While we, as a community, continue to tackle some big problems, here are a few stories of neighbors who are doing their best to make our town a little kinder.

A tip to remember

The idea came from a Christmastime Facebook post. Sandi and Jeannie (both asked that their last names not be used), friends since the days when their children attended Hollymead Elementary School, were inspired by a story about a group of women who meet every year for a holiday breakfast and leave a tip of $100–each. Sandi shared the post, with the comment “Who’s hungry?” They easily recruited seven more women, set a breakfast date (one woman who couldn’t make it sent in her $100 anyway) and the venue: The Villa Diner, convenient for all of them. In a moment of doubt, Jeannie recalls, “I said, ‘What if we get a really grouchy server?’ and then I answered my own question: ‘That person needs this even more.’”

The $900 tip that a group of local women left for their server at The Villa Diner last December.

The group, many of whom didn’t know each other, were almost giddy with excitement when they sat down. “The server was just happy we told her it was only one tab,” Sandi laughs. When the $72 check came, Jeannie was nonplussed to see that she was expected to take it to the register herself. Instead, she asked their server to take the tab up for them (with nine $100 bills carefully tucked underneath), and said, “Keep the change.”

Getting ready to leave, they saw their server finish up with other tables and then check their tab. Stunned, the server caught them at the door, thinking there had been some big mistake. “She said, ‘Is this for real? This is going to change my Christmas,’” Jeannie recalls. “As we were leaving, I looked back and she was standing in front of the coffeemaker, just weeping.” Outside, the group (many of them teary-eyed themselves) vowed to make this an annual event.

Sandi and Jeannie both say that the few people they have told this story to have all been inspired to do their own acts of kindness. “It’s almost like we need permission,” says Sandi, “but these little contributions add up to something much greater.” Jeannie adds the most heartening part of the whole story:  A few days later, someone she knows at The Villa told her that their server had shared her Christmas gift with others on the staff.

Empowering donors

Usually, parishioners give money to their church so it can do good work, but one Sunday last November, pastor Tony Schiavone of Cornerstone Community Church took a different tack. “We wanted to find a creative way to empower people not only to give, but to connect with the community,” he explains. “The need out there can seem overwhelming. So I thought, ‘Let’s flip the script.’”

Pastor Tony Schiavone of Cornerstone Community Church gave congregants $50 each to help people in need.

His challenge: Each individual or family, including visitors who weren’t even members of the church, was given an envelope with a $50 bill in it, with the charge to give that money to someone in need. There were no rules or restrictions, just encouragement to “do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.”

Schiavone admits when he first discussed the idea with the congregation’s leadership, some raised concerns that people might keep the money–and they decided if the person needed the cash that much, so be it. The total cost was more than $7,200, drawn from the church’s fund.

The congregation’s response has been overwhelmingly positive, with suggestions it should be an annual occurrence. One woman donated her $50 on Giving Tuesday, to a special education teacher raising money to buy school uniforms and supplies for her autistic students; another parishioner gave her envelope, with an additional $50 inserted, to a recently widowed co-worker struggling to make ends meet. Schiavone got an email from a stranger, a woman who had been in line at Kroger with her fussy toddlers when two teens from Cornerstone came up and handed her their $50 bills. Her husband is currently out of work, she wrote, and “sometimes we don’t know how we will pay all our bills.” Schiavone’s family still has their envelope taped up on the refrigerator. “We want to make a family decision on how to use it,” the pastor says, “and the need can be greater after the Christmas season.”

The den mother

Nancy Kechner, who works in research data services at UVA Library, is a small powerhouse with a doctorate in physiology–and both qualities come in handy in her other role, as the volunteer coach of the UVA women’s rugby team. Since women’s rugby is a club, not a UVA varsity sport, the team only exists because Kechner, her volunteer assistant coaches, and the student players raise money for equipment and travel expenses (with a small contribution from UVA’s student council). When Kechner, who learned to play rugby as a UVA undergrad in the 1980s, took over as coach in 1997, there were seven women’s college rugby teams in their division–and UVA ranked seventh. At the end of her first season, the team ranked third; by 2016, they made it to the national championships. Kechner was named USA Rugby’s female college coach of the year in 2018.

More than the accolades, though, the team is a surrogate family for the students. “Every Friday night we have a home game, I cook dinner for the team–lots of vegetables,” says Kechner (who also works part-time at Harvest Moon Catering, when she’s not visiting hospitals with her Swiss Mountain therapy dog). Players come by her house to hang out and play with her dogs, and if they can’t afford to go home over semester break (“many of our players are Access UVA [a form of financial aid],” she notes), they can stay with Kechner. One Thanksgiving, when a player was stranded in Charlottesville by a heavy snow storm, the coach drove her to Washington, D.C., to catch a train home.

“I love the game,” Kechner says, “and I love these kids. They are fun, and smart–smart kids make great rugby players.” Former players stay in touch, come to games, make donations, help raise money. “They live all over the world now, but they still get together,” says Kechner. “I get more from them than they do from me.”

Outside of her full-time work in foster care, Charlsie Stratton volunteers as a doula, offering support to new moms.

Ally and advocate

Charlsie Stratton credits her parents for giving her a dedication to helping others: “They are very involved in human services and the community, so I blame them–every single day.” Stratton works full-time for the city’s Community Attention Foster Families program, but her “other job” is volunteering as a doula: a trained, non-medical person who supports the mother and family through pregnancy and labor.

Stratton’s interest began when she was present for the birth of her sister’s first child. “I thought, ‘This is a miracle, seeing a whole little person come into this world. There has to be a job like this.’” She started researching, and found a local organization that was training women of color to help women of color, without charge.

Stratton is drawn to hands-on helping, getting to interact with people, which fits with being a doula. “We’re there to support the mom–medically, emotionally, spiritually. We’re her ally and her advocate,” she says. This service and support, Stratton says, is especially critical for women of color, who face an appallingly high–and disproportionate—rate of maternal mortality. She and other minority doulas are forming a new group, Birth Sisters of Charlottesville, to meet the need. While some of her clients may be first-time mothers, others are experienced moms who want or need additional support, and many of them are facing other issues as well, from housing insecurity to medical problems.

Stratton may be helping several women at once, but she tries to makes sure she’s only handling one due date a month. “I was trained, but wasn’t prepared for the emotional demands,” she admits. “There are a lot of family dynamics involved, and labor doesn’t always go as planned.” But Stratton, who credits both her partner and her day-job colleagues for being “amazingly supportive,” is exactly the kind of grounded, empathetic-without-drama person you’d want in your corner. “You have to have a strong spirit,” she says. “When mama’s tired, you can’t be tired; when dad passes out, you have to hold up. But every time, it’s worth it.”

General manager Jason Phipps and service manager Ashley Bugbee, of Burtons Grill, helped train employees in how to make a comfortable space for customers with dementia and their families. Photo: John Robinson

Serving with care

When Stonefield management asked Jason Phipps, general manager at Burtons Grill, if he would be interested in training for his staff on how to work with patrons with dementia, Phipps jumped at the opportunity—not to boost business, but because he understood the need. “My uncle was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago,” he says, so he was aware of the challenges for both those with the disease and those who care for them. Phipps and front-of-house service manager Ashley Bugbee—who grew up with a relative who had dementia/borderline Alzheimer’s—invited George Worthington from the Dementia Friendly Central Virginia initiative to come teach the staff. They were coached on the signs and symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, communication tips (e.g., speak directly and slowly to the person, and leave them time for response), and environmental adaptations.

Bugbee, who also trains servers, has spread the information so that most of Burtons front desk, server, and bar staff are prepared. Sometimes, patrons making a reservation will indicate someone in the party has dementia or cognitive issues, and ask for a trained server. Other times, it’s the staff who recognize and adapt: Will this person need more time in ordering? A table in a less busy section? Should we assign a server who is handling fewer tables, so the party doesn’t feel rushed? Bugbee says the servers feel the training has helped them be more patient and more understanding of patrons who show signs of cognitive impairment—and that can be a big assist for the family or friends handling the difficult role of caregiver. “We had one lady who brought in her elderly mother [with dementia] who didn’t get out much,” Bugbee recalls. “It was her mom’s birthday, and the server heard that, so she took a little extra time, wrote a little note on the check, and comped their dessert. The customer spoke to me afterward—she was really touched.”

Mack McLellan wanted to get kids of color excited about reading, by connecting them with books featuring characters who look like them. (The ice cream and bouncy houses don’t hurt, either.) Photo: John Robinson

The reading ambassador

“I hated reading as a kid,” says Welford Lee “Mack” McLellan, Jr. “There were never any characters who looked like me–or if they were black, they were poor kids, or slaves.” In 2017, McLellan was working with the Boys & Girls Club when a college professor shared with him statistics showing that, as children of color go through the school system, they are increasingly left behind on reading proficiency—and, eventually, higher education. That’s when McLellan, who has a master’s in social work, decided to hold a reading event for children and give away books. “I wanted these children to see people like them, and make reading fun,” he says.

McLellan began researching books about children of color by authors of color and, for the fun part, a friend helped him arrange for free ice cream and a moon bounce. In July 2018, McLellan and friends held their first Bridging the Gap event. “We called it that,” he says, “because we need to bridge not just the achievement gap, but the gap between parents and schools.” His goal was to hold an event in a different neighborhood each month. At Friendship Court, so many Afghani children came out that McLellan realized he needed to find books not only about black and Hispanic children, but about Muslim and Asian children…and about girls. He started a GoFundMe page, which raised more than $700, and then posted a wish list on Amazon so people could donate books.

Through Bridging the Gap, McLellan has seen parents reading to their children, in their own language; a young Muslim girl beaming because she now has a book about a girl who shares her name; a Japanese girl astonished at not one, not two, but three books about Japanese girls—and fourth- and fifth-graders embarrassed because they can’t read a picture book. “Our only rule,” says McLellan, who is now a teacher a Woodbrook Elementary, “is, you have to read a couple pages—for yourself, or to a younger child—before you get your ice cream.” So far, no children have objected.

Hands-on help

Lexi Hutchins is certainly busy enough: She’s an entrepreneur, founder/owner/creative director of Greenthumb Design, and a visual artist. But she also feels called to serve the community, so in February 2018, Hutchins and a group of friends formed Catalyst, named for the word that means “something that creates reaction and change.” The core of Catalyst is young people, but “we draw members from all walks of life,” Hutchins says. The group is informal, social, and dedicated to a practical, hands-on, one-on-one vision of service.

Catalyst’s Lexi Hutchins says the group, “a little tribe that loves to be together and serve the city,” takes on several projects (like helping someone move, above) one Saturday every month. Photo: John Robinson

“We clean houses, help people move, whatever the person needs,” Hutchins explains. “One man and his family needed a water drain dug while he was recovering from surgery, so five young men came and dug the trench. Some of them had never done that kind of work before, but they had a great time working together for the family.” In the early days, as Catalyst was figuring out its approach, Hutchins took several people over to her neighbor’s and offered to clean his house. He said no thanks, but he wanted to join the group.

Hutchins, co-leaders Sarah Borchelt (a palliative care nurse) and Kelly Chambers (in student services at UVA), and many others bring potential projects to the group by referral, word of mouth, or personal connections in churches, social service agencies, and advocacy groups. One example: A PACEM client had found a place to live, but couldn’t move in until she had a bed. Hutchins found a bed on craigslist, a Catalyst member had a truck, and they delivered the bed in time for the woman to settle in at her new home.

Catalyst now has a stable of about 60 volunteers—people show up when they can—who take on from five to seven projects one Saturday a month. Every project team has a leader and up to four other members. “The teams go out and get the job done, and then we all get together to have lunch afterwards,” Hutchins says. “We’re just a little tribe that loves to be together and serve the city.”

Thanks to everyone who provided examples of those doing good work around our community, with a special nod to Charlie Bourne of B&W Auto Body, whose tale of selling his prized vintage Harleys to fund his community service work sparked this article.

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C-BIZ

It’s a match: A little green helps grow local businesses

Photo: Zack Wajsgras

For small business, money is manure– it fosters growth. Charlottesville’s Office of Economic Development has launched an innovative program to provide financial fertilizer for budding businesses, encouraging them to put down roots here in hopes they bear fruit– i.e., tax revenues and jobs.

The new program, called Cville Match, uses funds from the Charlottesville Economic Development Authority for grants to Charlottesville-based start-ups that have already received federal and state grants, through initiatives like the Small Business Innovation Research program. Cville Match funds, however, can be used for any costs that contribute to the growth of the business, and individual grants can be as much as $25,000 over a two-year period.

Why give money to companies that have already gotten money? Because it increases the odds of success. Getting one of these state and federal grants, explains OED director Chris Engel, “is a pretty rigorous process”–a vetting the city doesn’t have the resources to do. Engel says the Charlottesville area “usually has four to five of these grants [recipients] a year,” so the idea behind Cville Match was to help ensure those companies succeed– and stay in Charlottesville.

Cerillo, a Charlottesville-based company that designs and produces innovative lab equipment to help researchers collect large amounts of data, is a local SBIR grant recipient. CTO and co-founder Keith Seitter says the unrestricted Cville Match grant “allowed us to file a patent, which is really critical for us–it covered the filing fee and hiring a patent lawyer–and to attend a conference to meet with our customers and help target our products to their needs.” Launched in April 2016, Cerillo now has three full-time and two part-time employees, “and the Cville Match grant was a real incentive to stay in the city,” says Seitter.

In a small city with little room for large industrial parks or business expansion, says Engel, small businesses can help build the economic base without putting pressure on residential or public space. Cville Match is one of a range of city programs–including Growing Opportunities, the Downtown Job Center, and Advancing City Entrepreneurs–aimed at supporting local small businesses.

So far, Cville Match grant recipients come from a variety of sectors, from biotech startup Cerillo and medical device company SoundPipe Therapeutics to women’s footwear makers OESH and indoor farming outfit Babylon Microfarms. Every one, says Engel, “will have an economic impact, through the company and its employees and through the companies that support their business.”

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C-BIZ

It takes a network: PVCC program connects people with jobs—and the resources to help them succeed

Photo: Amy and Jackson Smith

This area’s affordable housing crisis is often in the news, but what about the other side of the issue–a sustainable income? Businesses can do their part by hiring local residents, who with some assistance or training could step up to a better-paying job. The challenge is, how to find those people, match them with the right jobs, and get them the training they need.

That’s the mission of Network2Work@PVCC– the employment version of ‘it takes a village.’

Here’s how it works: Employers who have jobs paying a minimum of $25,000 ($12.50/ hour) that don’t require a college degree list their positions in the Network2Work database in one of four categories: health care, hospitality/services, transportation/logistics, and construction/skilled trades.

N2W then reaches out to its “connectors,” a web of more than 250 individuals working in local advocacy groups, fraternal organizations, churches, veterans’ programs, and so on–the kind of plugged-in people who “know everyone” in their community, and can help identify and refer potential candidates. Once the connectors identify potential candidates, N2W helps these job seekers figure out what stands between them and that particular position. Affordable transportation? Reliable child care? A driver’s license? Training? Then the program’s staff taps into its network of about 50 nonprofits and human services agencies whose assistance can help them meet those needs.

Every job seeker gets coaching and a final screening from volunteer human resources professionals to make sure they are application-ready. There’s no hiring guarantee—but when program graduates submit an application, N2W director Frank Squillace sends the employer an email flagging this candidate as someone who has already worked hard to qualify and succeed.

The beauty of the program is that it taps what’s already out there. Businesses have positions to fill–but, faced with legal restrictions and online hiring processes, employers appreciate knowing that N2W candidates have already been vetted. Government and nonprofit programs can help people overcome barriers to work, but “people need guidance through the system,” Squillace says. N2W’s staff and volunteers provide the ongoing support and encouragement that can make success possible. “And, he notes, “it’s all funded by philanthropists, grants, and local donors.”

What started as a pilot program in fall 2017 is already proving its worth. N2W began with four employers and now has 90, representing 100 positions (a position could represent several jobs, as in server or maintenance worker) and about $8.6 million in wages, according to Squillace. Businesses that have hired qualified employees through N2W range from Walmart to Farmington Country Club, and also include Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital, Linden House, UVA Medical Center, Design Electric, and L.A. Lacy.

Piedmont Housing Alliance, a nonprofit providing housing, counseling, community development, and management services to low-income communities in this area, has hired maintenance and administrative staff through the program. “Our partnership with Network2Work helps us address the affordable housing shortage here,” says Deputy Director Karen Klick, noting that its housing counselors also serve among N2W’s connectors.

More than 90 percent of N2W’s graduates have found jobs, two-thirds of which pay more than $25,000 a year; 39 percent of graduates are single mothers. And N2W staff follow up and support graduates for a year after hiring.

N2W is the brainchild of Ridge Schuyler– author of the Orange Dot Project report on poverty in the city, founder of the Charlottesville Works initiative, and now dean of Piedmont Virginia Community College’s Division of Community Self-Sufficiency Programs, of which N2W is one. Its innovative approach has already attracted attention outside our area; Squillace says state officials have expressed interest in taking the N2W model to other community colleges around Virginia.

It’s an exciting possibility, says Squillace: “We’re changing the face of poverty.”

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News

Lending a paw: Local groups harness the power of animal therapy

Catherine Erikson, a trauma counselor at UVA, uses her dog Poe to help reassure and ground clients. Poe is so popular he has his own drop-in office hours for students and staff. Photo by Eze Amos

Tamera Mason, an EMT working at Augusta Health’s emergency room in Staunton, lives with a life-threatening medical condition: In July 2015, a yellow jacket’s sting set off an extreme autoimmune reaction that devastated her hormonal systems and caused Addison’s disease, which affects the adrenal glands’ ability to produce cortisol. When Mason’s body goes into Addisonian crisis, she explains, “I have three minutes to mix and inject medication that will give me 15 minutes to get to an emergency room.” In the last four years, she’s ended up in the resuscitation unit 11 times. Her team of specialists tried more than 40 medication changes and a range of medical devices, but nothing succeeded in stabilizing her autoimmune reactions.

After two years of struggle, a nurse colleague suggested Mason contact Service Dogs of Virginia, a Charlottesville-based nonprofit that raises, trains, and places dogs to assist people with disabilities.

A dog might seem to be a strange solution to Mason’s health problems: Many people associate service dogs with “seeing eye” dogs that help the visually impaired (The Seeing Eye, the first guide dog training facility in the U.S., was founded in 1929). But while service dogs have been assisting the seeing- and hearing-impaired and the physically disabled for decades, in the last 10-15 years they have been trained to help with a much wider range of disabilities.

Medical alert dogs, for instance, take advantage of a dog’s highly developed sense of smell. Certain medical conditions produce a scent that humans can’t detect, but canines can; Sally Day, SDV’s director of development, says, “If you can isolate the scent, you can train the dog to it.” In 2003, for the first time, a dog was trained to recognize hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) by smell, making it possible to train alert dogs for diabetics whose blood sugar isn’t well controlled by other methods.

In Mason’s case, SDV was ready to help, although clearly the training would be a challenge: Dropping cortisol levels create a scent unique to that individual, which meant Mason had to allow herself to go into Addisonian crisis—actually send herself to the emergency room—in order to collect swabs with saliva samples to provide the precise scent needed for the dog’s training.

Mason still remembers meeting Irene, her golden Labrador. “This dog looked into my soul,” she says. In the first 12 months of their partnership, the dog’s alerts have been accurate every time—a phenomenal record—and Mason has been hospitalized only once. Having that security and confidence has helped stabilize Mason’s condition. She sleeps better at night; her husband works in the yard with confidence that she is being watched carefully; their children don’t check in fearfully every day. Maybe it’s not a coincidence that the name Irene derives from the Greek word for peace.

Jessica Neal says Forest, a black Lab, helps keep her son Samuel safe in crowded places, and calms him down when he gets overwhelmed. Photo by Eze Amos

We know humans value animals just for their companionship: Two-thirds of American households, according to the most recent American Pet Products Association’s survey, include one or more pets, from cats and dogs to rabbits and reptiles. But the more researchers learn about human physiology and animal behavior, the more therapies are being developed that build on the special qualities of the human-animal bond. Here in the Charlottesville area, SDV is just one of many organizations that are harnessing the power of animal therapy to improve patients’ physical and mental health.

One of the newest frontiers in animal therapy, psychiatric service animals, is based on research showing that human-animal interaction lowers blood pressure and stress hormones, lights up the brain’s pleasure centers, and increases levels of oxytocin, the hormone that promotes bonding. Dogs are now trained to assist those with behavioral and mental health conditions ranging from autism to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Jessica Neal’s son Samuel’s autism spectrum disorder causes major behavior issues that make daily living difficult not only for Sam, but for the whole family. In stressful situations, Sam is prone to run off, and in unfamiliar or crowded public spaces, Sam can get overwhelmed and act out. Neal, a single parent with two other sons, found the entire family was becoming more stressed and isolated. She contacted SDV with a simple goal: “I just want to do normal things with my family,” she said.  She waited six months for a black Labrador named Forest.

“Forest is the most chill dog ever,” Neal says. She is the dog’s handler, giving Forest cues and rewards as they work together to keep Sam safe and calm. While Neal holds Forest’s leash, Sam is connected to the dog by a vest/harness that allows the boy to move freely; if Sam starts to run, the 80-pound Lab simply lies down, keeping the child anchored while Neal can calm him. When Sam feels overwhelmed, Neal finds a quiet spot where the two can “pillow”—Forest lays down, with Sam leaning against him. If Sam is very agitated, they “hug”—Sam sits on the floor with Forest draped across his legs, and the dog’s warm, calming pressure (an established technique for lessening anxiety called deep touch pressure therapy) helps soothe the boy. And because autism, like PTSD and other psychiatric conditions, is an “invisible” disability, Forest in his service dog vest helps other people understand Sam’s behavior and needs.

The result has been not only a much more manageable life for Sam, now 11, but a more normal life for the entire family. Neal recalls taking the whole family to Disney World last Christmas, which would have been unthinkable before: “One of the greatest things Forest has given our family,” she says, “is memories.”

The canine ability to tune in to the unspoken emotional needs of humans is as important as the tasks service dogs perform. SDV’s Day points out that for many people with physical or psychiatric disabilities, social isolation can be an additional barrier. “If their dog can help them get out of the house, that’s a huge step.” Although service dogs are trained to ignore people and other dogs while working, dogs naturally draw people, which facilitates more social interaction and acceptance from the public.

This canine empathy makes dogs great candidates for animal-assisted therapy, in which a trained professional in mental health, physical therapy or occupational therapy uses the animal in specific ways. Catherine Erickson, trauma counselor at UVA’s Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center, had been reading extensively about animal-assisted therapy. When she noticed that her adopted goldendoodle Poe, trained as a psychiatric service dog, was extraordinarily attuned to humans (“even at the dog park,” she says, “he focuses on the people”), Erickson proposed using him for therapy with her clients at the Women’s Center.

The dog’s mere presence can help reassure or ground a client. And Poe helps Erickson notice  when a client is feeling tense or frightened. Trauma survivors especially can have issues with trust and connection with other people, but Poe sits quietly, not judging, completely present and accepting. In fact, Poe has become so popular he has his own drop-in office hours—for both students and staff, who also enjoy a little canine time-out.

Riding horses at Charlottesville Area Riding Therapy gives clients the chance to exercise physical skills like posture, balance, and coordination, as well as develop an emotional connection with the animals. Photo by Eze Amos

Horses are another natural choice for animal-assisted therapy—they combine trainability with an innate ability to read human body language and mood. Riding, walking, or grooming a horse offers recreational, rehabilitative, and cognitive therapy for children and adults with physical, emotional, or developmental disabilities. A professionally certified instructor works with horses based on their calmness, responsiveness to direction, patience, and unflappability—a quality referred to, in both horses and dogs, as “bombproof.”

Sarah Daly, executive director at Charlottesville Area Riding Therapy and a certified therapeutic rider instructor, explains that sitting astride a horse provides exercise in posture, balance, and coordination; the animal’s motion mimics the joint movement and balance shifts a person’s body would get from walking. In addition, the sessions offer social interaction with other riders, outdoor activity, and confidence-building as the client learns to approach, mount, ride, lead, and just enjoy this large, gentle creature.

Daly has seen over and over how both children and adults respond to the horses, and how the animals can connect with them emotionally. In one group of troubled teens, she recalls, there was a boy who wasn’t interacting with anyone, at school or in therapy, and was openly negative about riding. The next week he came to the stable, walked into a stall, and crouched down in a tight ball in one corner. The horse came over to nuzzle his shoulder, and the boy began to sob. When the counselor came over to console him, the boy revealed a family member had been killed in an accident a short time before—he’d never spoken to anyone about it. “I start crying every time I tell that story,” says Daly.

Dorothy Gorman’s grandson Desmond is one of CART’s riders. Desmond, 10, has autism spectrum disorder; he’s nonverbal, has low muscle tone, and some sensory issues. But coming to CART is clearly fun—the boy recognizes Hope, his usual mount, and shows no hesitation about getting up on this big brown friend and going into the ring with the horse’s leader and volunteer sidewalkers. (Each rider has three attendants, to ensure safety for both rider and horse.) Gorman says riding has improved Desmond’s posture and core strength, and the exercise Daly has him doing, of alternately sitting on the saddle and standing up in the stirrups, has strengthened his legs to help in pedaling his bike.

Trainers and volunteers with the Keswick-based Love of Little Horses, which uses miniature horses as therapy animals. The horses’ small size and sweet natures make them less intimidating. Photo by Eze Amos

It’s the emotional reactions of humans to animals that has led to the development of therapy animals. Commonly used in group settings such as hospitals, schools, senior centers, and nursing homes, therapy animals (usually dogs or miniature horses) don’t do any special tasks—they simply provide comfort and ease loneliness. Therapy dogs can be any breed, but have to be calm, obedient, and social without being over-eager. Deven Gaston of Canine Campus, which offers both obedience and therapy certification prep courses, emphasizes that handler and dog must work as a team to ensure the safety and comfort of both dog and humans. People who want to train their pets as therapy animals, she says, “have to be deft at handling both people and the dog.”

John Williams and his golden retriever Sunny work at several sites around Charlottesville. In their weekly visits to Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital, they stroll through administrative offices, wards, and the chemotherapy center, spending time with both staff and patients. Sunny approaches people calmly and stands while they pet him. “His job is to say hello and brighten people’s day,” says Williams. “That is why I called him Sunny.”

The Charlottesville area has several programs using miniature horses as therapy animals. Keswick-based Love of Little Horses has two teams: Minis on the Move, run by founder Nancy Wheeler, and A Little Magic, managed by Judy Rennyson. Rennyson says therapy horses, like dogs, “need to have the personality:” calm, gentle, patient, and people-oriented, with a high level of trust in their handlers. Their small size and sweet nature is an asset, Wheeler notes, since a horse that’s only waist-high is far less intimidating. Children want to walk them, groom them, put clips in their manes; clients with autism will touch, even drape themselves across the horse’s back; people in wheelchairs will reach out and hug the horse’s neck.

Then there is the newest category, for which almost any kind of animal can qualify: emotional support animals. The animal’s owner must be diagnosed by a qualified mental health professional as having a mental disability that significantly limits one or more major daily life activities, and for which the animal is a therapeutic aid. The ESA category is intended to allow people to have their designated animal in no-pet housing and on planes. Unfortunately, abuse of the ESA designation (e.g., the recent “emotional support peacock” news item) can hurt its credibility, and undercut the valid use of these animals for those with mental health disorders.

Dr. Adam Colbert, chief resident in the psychiatry department at UVA School of Medicine, is open to incorporating animals into his work with his patients—“it’s amazing how much the person’s walls come down.” The human-animal nonverbal connection is important, he says, especially for those with autism or attachment disorders. Colbert also sees benefits in the sense of responsibility that caring for an animal fosters; one of several examples he mentions is a patient who had trouble taking his medication regularly, but found having to feed and care for a hamster helped reinforce the discipline of taking his own medications.

Colbert, who had considered training as a veterinarian, recalls the human-animal bond being illustrated in one of his medical school courses, in which horses (“very intuitive animals,” he notes) helped teach future doctors the importance of non-verbal communication. Now Colbert is trying to raise awareness about these kinds of benefits among his medical colleagues, who are more likely to know about physical assistance dogs. SDV’s Day says almost all their inquiries come from people who have been referred by friends or done internet research: “Doctors often see the benefit once the patient gets a dog.” Daly at CART does get referrals from physical and occupational therapists, as well as over the transom.

Colbert and Erickson are familiar with a range of research findings in physiology and neurobiology showing the positive benefits of animal-human interaction. Other studies into social and quality-of-life aspects show having a pet fosters social interaction and reduces feelings of loneliness or isolation. Erickson mentions increasing levels of social detachment and anxiety in our society, citing factors from social media to gun violence; in contrast, “touching an animal activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms us,” she says. “We all need attachment—and, while we wouldn’t want them to replace human connection, animals are a good place to start.”

Everyone involved in this work—from service dog partners and disabled riders to the trainers, handlers, and therapists—has so many stories about the physical, health, and emotional benefits of animal therapies. Researchers will continue to find out more about the whys and hows of human-animal interaction, but miniature horse handler Rennyson explains it simply: “It’s the living breathing animal that makes this work.”

Author’s Note: For feline fans, cats can make wonderful companions, emotional support animals, and (if naturally calm and social) therapy animals. But for evolutionary and biological reasons, they are not as easily trained or as attuned to human emotions as are dogs and horses. As even us cat-lovers admit, our cats would do anything for us—when they feel like it.

Where to find help

One of the challenges in the new and evolving field of service animals is that there is no one organization credentialing the animals—or their trainers. Here are some guidelines:

Service Dogs

There are several organizations online that will “register” a service dog, but the ADA does not require registration (or even that the animal wear a vest or other identification). Think carefully about claims to train your current pet as a service animal; many wonderful companion animals just aren’t suited for service dog work.

The following are the organizations in Virginia certified through Assistance Dogs International,
the largest global service dog
organization:

Service Dogs of Virginia, Charlottesville, servicedogsva.org, 295-9503

St. Francis Service Dogs, Roanoke, saintfrancisdogs.org, (540) 342-DOGS (3647)

Mutts with a Mission, Portsmouth
(for military veterans), muttswithamission.org, (757) 465-1033

Therapeutic Riding Programs

Look for instructors certified through the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International.

Charlottesville Area Riding Therapy, Crozet, cartcrozet.org, 823-1178

Ride With Pride, Staunton, ridewith prideva.org, (540) 255-2210

Heartland Horse Heroes, Buckingham, heartlandhorseheroes.com, 983-8181

 

Therapy Animals 

Love of Little Horses, Keswick, lovelittlehorses.org, 540-272-5267

For therapy dogs, look for programs providing evaluation through Pet Partners, the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, or Therapy Dogs International.

Canine Campus, Charlottesville, caninecampus.wpengine.com,
218-0951