Embrace Stories and News

Outcomes From Our Soul Care Listening Project

This summer, Wendy McCaig and Cheryl Groce-Wright concluded Phase I of the Soul Care For Community Builders Initiative.  Through a listening project, Wendy and Cheryl discovered what helped the community builders survive and thrive through the many challenges of the past year and a half. Although…

Congratulations To Our Graduates!

Embrace Communities offers three levels of training in Asset-Based Community Development: The Introductory Power Shift Training Series: an introductory level training series for those who are new to or need a refresher in Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) principles and tools of practice.…

Introducing the Fall 2021 Power Shift Training Series

Embrace is excited to announce the first ever Empowered Communities Network sponsored Power Shift Training Series.  Who is this training for? This training is being offered by select members of the Empowered Communities Network who are inviting stakeholders from their respective communities. This…

Together We Rise Above 2020!

When I started Embrace more than 15 years ago, we were an all-volunteer organization made up largely of my suburban neighbors and individuals transitioning out of homelessness.  We had very little organizational structure and even less financial resources.  What we had was each other and together…

Embrace Chesterfield EDU Project Goals and Timeline

In this video we discuss the goals, partner roles and timeline of the Embrace Chesterfield EDU project. 

Embrace Chesterfield EDU Launch Announcement

Next Tuesday, October 6th 2020, we are launching our first ever online Youth Power Shift for Educators training!  When we developed our online training portal last year through a grant provided by The Community Foundation of Greater Richmond, we never dreamed this would become our primary means for…

Insights for Faith Leaders: Interview with Audrey Smith

Over the past several weeks I have been engaged in numerous conversations with faith leaders who are seeking to figure out how they can support families who are now facing the demands of virtual learning.  Audrey Smith is one of many faith leaders that I have had the privilege of training and…

2nd $5,000 Great Neighbor Grant Awarded

As we shared earlier this year, Embrace turned 15 years old on March 30th of 2020.  To celebrate we are giving away $15,000 in awards to community builders who are using the Empowered Communities Framework to strengthen communities from the inside out using Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)…

Insights from An Other Kingdom

I am so thankful that John McKnight and Peter Block teamed up with Walter Brueggemann to write An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture.   If you appreciated Block and McKnight’s book  The Abundant Community, with its thorough assessment of what makes communities work, or Brueggemann’s…

Introducing the First Recipient of the Embrace Communities’ Great Neighbor Award* (2020) – Xiomara Vidal

Congratulations to Xiomara Vidal! Xiomara (pronounced Zee-mare-a) Vidal is the community connector at the Southwood Community Resource Center. She is the face of the clinic for the residents of Southwood Apartments. Most of them are Hispanic, coming to the States from a myriad of other countries…