Each one is tackling some of our community’s most pressing issues and has partnered with SVP to take their work to the next level. We’re honored to work alongside them to strengthen their work and help them fulfill their missions.
Feeding Charlotte was founded by three local women conquering the issue of food waste. Feeding Charlotte’s mission is to rescue surplus, freshly prepared meals to reduce food waste and feed the hungry. Their operating model leverages technology and volunteers to match organizations with excess food to other nonprofit organizations that serve people in need. Since launching their operations in 2020, they have rescued 118,000 pounds of food, and the positive Greenhouse gas benefit of reducing food waste in 2021 is the equivalent of removing 13 vehicles from the road for one month.
Feeding Charlotte hopes to leverage the SVP funding to find space with refrigeration and freezers to safely store food that cannot be matched immediately. With such a clear and compelling mission, Feeding Charlotte is at a perfect inflection point for SVP Charlotte to also provide human capital to support building capacity that will further their transition from a founder/volunteer led operation toward significant growth and sustainability for their mission and vision.
Executive Director: Rich Armenia
SVP Lead Partners: Raj Merchant
GardHouse GardHouse is a Charlotte-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that focuses on creating a seamless pipeline to employment for underserved college students. As Charlotte’s leading workforce development program for college students, we provide paid semester-long internships, career coaching, and professional development opportunities.
GardHouse was first introduced to SVP through our annual SEED20 program. Within the first year of SVP Charlotte’s investment, we are collectively working to strengthen its board and grow its social capital to increase placement opportunities for its interns.
Executive Director: Jonathan Gardner
SVP Lead Partners: Michelle Cottrell, Holly Edwards (RSM), Michael Sinsheimer, and Cristy Travaglino
Youth Meditation is a nonprofit organization founded in 2014 dedicated to empowering youth, teachers, and parents with practical knowledge and effective tools for managing stress, anxiety and emotions as they navigate through adolescence. Leveraging trained professional instructors, Youth Meditation offers 8-week, age-appropriate programs for children in select Charlotte Mecklenburg schools (special emphasis on Title 1 schools) and other local nonprofit organizations. They offer similar programs for teachers and parents who support these students. Teachers have reported gaining an average of 15 min of teaching time per day in classrooms who use YM’s techniques. Youth Meditation financially augments their support of the work in schools and nonprofits by also offering their programs to companies, organizations and private individuals. Emerging from the pandemic, SVP Charlotte is collaborating with Youth Meditation to help identify and overcome barriers to bringing their innovative and effective program to more schools in the CMS System. They are also working together on a strategy to increase awareness of their programs in the community and to diversify revenue streams to help the nonprofit grow more sustainably and quickly.
Executive Director: Angela Gala
SVP Lead Partners: Scott Leo and Josie Rivera