Community Partnerships
Our efforts are multiplied when we work with schools,
community organizations, and other partners.
These partnerships provide volunteers, leadership, and material support from St. Stephen’s to local organizations; our partners bring knowledge of their communities and their needs, and specialized skills and expertise to these collaborations.
Two of our partners, ReWork Richmond and Anna Julia Cooper School, were founded by St. Stephen’s Church along with other churches and organizations.
Many of our relationships go back decades, including Peter Paul RVA, Fairfield Court Elementary School, the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, and others. We are grateful for these long-standing collaborations, sharing ideas, volunteers, and resources, and we also welcome opportunities to work with new partners.
Outreach Grants
St. Stephen’s Church supports outreach ministries in a variety of ways, including expertise, leadership and direct involvement by parishioners who serve in these ministries; church staff; financial and prayer support for our missionaries in Argentina; annual outreach grants to local organizations, and grants made by the Women of St. Stephen’s.
Funds for outreach grants come from the annual parish budget as well as special fundraising events.
St. Stephen’s Church evaluates grant requests with particular attention to those which serve the marginalized and vulnerable. We focus our efforts in the East End of Richmond, where we support institutions with a spiritual component as well as those in which St. Stephen’s parishioners are, or can become, involved.
A grants committee of parishioners evaluates grant applications and makes recommendations to the rector and vestry for their approval.
Timetable for the 2026 grants process
January 15, 2026: Applications available
February 13, 2026: Completed applications due
March 1, 2026: Review process by outreach committee begins; this may include site visits
June: Grant approvals issued, applicants notified
Application form
Two versions of the application are available below. The first has fillable fields which can be completed on your computer. The second can be printed and completed by hand. The content is identical in both versions. Submission instructions, including email and mailing addresses, are on the application.
Recipients of 2025 Outreach Grants
ACTS
Anna Julia Cooper School
CARITAS
Challenge Discovery Projects
Communities in Schools
CrossOver Healthcare Ministry
Dogwood Preschool
Elijah House Academy
Full Circle Grief Center
Greater Richmond SCAN
Healing Place
Health Brigade
Housing Families First
Imago Dei Neighborhood School
Lighthouse RVA
Peter Paul
Rebuilding Together Richmond
Richmond Christian Leadership Initiative
RxPartnership
Shalom Farms
SupportWorks Housing (Virginia Supportive Housing)
St. John’s Church Foundation
Urban Hope
Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care
Westminster-Canterbury Fellowship Fund