In Summer 2008, I taught a creative writing workshop to fourth and fifth grade students at the Peter Paul Development Center.  The outreach and community center serves children from an inner-city Richmond community that is one of the ten poorest in the nation.  The stories and artwork created in her workshop were collected into a journal for the children and their families.  Please click on image to view sample pages from the journal.

Photo credit: Sandra Shelley

I have conducted grantwriting and research for a number of non-profits, including Virginia Commonwealth University’s First Novelist Award, the William Byrd Community House, Jake’s Reindeer Race, and the Billy Austin Sidewalk Project.

Photo credit: VCU First Novelist Award

Billy Austin had a dream for a safe route to Maymont Park.  But the quadriplegic, who uses a computer to speak, needed help.  I joined other volunteers in establishing the Billy Austin Sidewalk Project.  As co-chair of the project, I helped shepherd the project through city, state, and federal agencies.  The project raised $123,000 through private donations and a successful federal grant application, which I helped write.  To support the grant application, I gathered letters of support from senators, congressmen, and other officials.  The result was the construction of an accessible sidewalk linking the Virginia Home, a nursing facility for adults with severe physical disabilities, and Maymont Park.  Please click on image to view sample pages from the grant.

Jake Mulray had moved out suddenly from his apartment, but his mail continued to arrive.  The letters might have gone unnoticed, had the new tenant not been a single woman, lonely enough to take an interest.  This story was published in HandHeld Crime, an online literary magazine dedicated to mystery short stories, articles, and reviews.

Photo Credit: The Big Combo ( in public domain)