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.”
While most UVA students leave Grounds after final exams in the spring, many Madison House volunteers continue to serve the Charlottesville community. In fact, a lucky 120 undergraduate students are able to volunteer for Health and Medical Programs during the summer months through Madison House. There are opportunities for students with a variety of backgrounds and interests. Read on to learn more…
With your support, Madison House provided service and leadership opportunities for over 1,600 students while supporting 63 local community partners last year. From Walking Bus and Tutor Bus programs to expanded tax preparation assistance across the region, Madison House student volunteers connected deeply with our community. With Executive Director Mary Denlinger at the helm, we eagerly anticipate our next phase of growth. We are excited to share the highlights of 2023 - 2024 with you!
With Halloween in the rear view mirror, the Holiday Sharing program at Madison House is in full swing. Michelle Tran, Head Program Director for Holiday Sharing, sat down with NBC29 on Monday, November 4, during the 4pm newscast to talk about the program and what it has meant to her during her time at UVA.
Several programs at Madison House strive to service the large Hispanic community in Charlottesville, a community of around 13,000 residents. Volunteers with programs through Latinx and Migrant Aid (LAMA), Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Creating Assets, Savings & Hope (CASH), UVA Health, and the Charlottesville Free Clinic specifically provide Spanish language services. Programs like Multilingual Learning and Thomas Jefferson Adult Career Education provide English language instruction for speakers of Spanish, as well as many other languages.
There is an impressive number of current and former Hoos who are Paris-bound for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games! We are especially excited to cheer on Paige Madden, a former Madison House volunteer for Cavs in the Classroom, as she represents Team USA in swimming the 400-meter freestyle, 800-meter freestyle, and 4x200-meter freestyle relay. Paige won a silver medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay at the Tokyo games in 2020. Go Hoos!
In an era where college students are increasingly focused on academic achievement and career prospects, volunteering with a non-profit organization like Madison House that places students in community service roles offers a unique and invaluable opportunity. This experience goes far beyond simply fulfilling a requirement or padding a resume; it is a transformative journey that builds essential skills, fosters leadership, creates lasting relationships, and encourages ethical engagement with the community. Read on to learn the top 15 benefits of volunteering that students cite most frequently.
As we approach the end of our fiscal year, we at Madison House are reflecting on the incredible impact our volunteers have made. This year, we are particularly proud of our recent graduates and the alumni who joined us for a heartwarming Reunions weekend. Their dedication to public service and community engagement continues to inspire us all.
The CASH tax preparation assistance program recently wrapped up another successful year. Final numbers are not yet in, but preliminary figures indicate that this year’s CASH program volunteers prepared more than 1,500 returns between February and April 2024. However, the volunteers say there is much more to CASH than the numbers. What they enjoy most is the opportunity to connect with the Charlottesville community. Read more about CASH and the volunteer experience.
The spring 2024 semester introduced a new Community Partner to Madison House: the Emergency Food Network (EFN). Phoebe Zamoff, currently a second-year UVA student, devoted the fall semester to fostering a relationship with the EFN in order to give UVA students an additional opportunity to fight food insecurity in Charlottesville. “I wanted to create a new program at Madison House that was dedicated to fighting food insecurity in Charlottesville,” Phoebe explains. Read more about this new Madison House partnership.
For over 40 years, UVA students have been volunteering with Therapeutic Adventures and IndependencePlus Adaptive Sports. Mark Andrews founded the program when he was a graduate student at UVA from 1980-1983. In the past four decades, a family-like community has developed among the athletes and volunteers as they inspire and encourage one another. “We exist to provide leadership, programs, and specialty therapeutic services to educate, to challenge, and to inspire persons of all ages and abilities. Individuals who have experienced traumatic or catastrophic life events learn positive ways to adapt and overcome those challenges. Our unique approach of teaching, coaching, guiding, and mentoring makes it possible for persons with disabilities and complex medical needs to restore, to rebuild, to re-create themselves,” comments Mark.
With seven programs under her Madison House umbrella, third-year UVA student Dao Tran manages 65 volunteers and oversaw 500 hours combined of service in the Fall 2023 semester. Dao is Head Program Director of After School Programming, as well as a co-Program Director for the Music Resource Center. Read on to find out why Dao is invested in serving the community.
The Holiday Sharing Program (HOLS) is one of Madison House’s oldest student-led programs and has long provided Charlottesville families with food and personalized gifts for the holidays, creating a remarkable impact and providing invaluable support to families in the Charlottesville area. This year HOLS partnered with the Hope House Program to serve unhoused parents with minor children in their physical custody. Under the leadership and dedication of Student Head Program Directors Alie Gibson and Carol Cho, enough money was raised to serve 53 families. Read more about this growing program.
As the holiday season draws near, a dedicated team of student volunteers is working to make the festivities even more special for families living in Charlottesville. Holiday Sharing, a volunteer program at Madison House, ensures that everyone gets to participate in the festive atmosphere. As a program director, Riley Sweet organizes volunteer shifts once a week to prepare for the final day of distributing gifts. Read more about the joy she feels in helping share holiday cheer to local families in need.
UVA Professor Kate Stephenson combines community engagement and writing skills in her first-year writing requirements. Essentially, her courses focus on community-based learning, which Professor Stephenson describes as the “intersection of activism and coursework”. Read more about the benefits of community-engaged learning as shared by Professor Stephenson and her students.
For Bonnie Gordon, community engaged learning, public service, equity, and Madison House are all intertwined. She is trained as a music historian but has spent much of her time at UVA thinking about community engagement in the curriculum and as a co-curricular endeavor. She says that Madison House has been a key partner every step of the way. Read more about how innovative curricular design, service opportunities, and collaborative partnerships work in harmony to enhance the student learning experience and benefit the community.
“The time we give is so little, but it has such a big impact,” says Sin Barreras Program Director Lily Clausen on her volunteer experience through Madison House. Sin Barreras is a nonprofit organization devoted to helping immigrants and native Spanish speakers in the broader Charlottesville community. The organization provides a variety of services, including advocacy work, social and legal help, and GED classes. Read more to learn about the opportunities Madison House volunteers have with Sin Barreras.
Madison House offers a wide variety of tutoring programs for UVA volunteers who want to work with students, ranging from elementary school years through high school. The tutoring programs are always seeking new volunteers, and scheduling can be extremely flexible, considering that elementary school students meet primarily with one teacher for the whole day. Read on to learn more about Madison House volunteer experiences and opportunities to get involved!
Walking Bus, a new Madison House program, arose when a detrimental shortage of bus drivers led Charlottesville City Schools to expand their walking zones. Because of this, all students within a 3/4 mile radius of Clark Elementary School must walk to school or be dropped off. In light of this, Madison House volunteers began walking children to school for what can be a long and dark route.
