Apply for a Ted DeLaney Youth Opportunity Grant (online application form here)

The Ted DeLaney Youth Opportunity Grant seeks to promote racial equality and equal educational opportunities for our community members in need. Thanks to generous donations from local institutional and individual donors, it offers stipends between $50 and $500 to cover costs of education-related initiatives, projects, or instruction.

The Ted DeLaney Youth Opportunity Grant is open to residents of Rockbridge County, Lexington and Buena Vista under the age of 22.

Apply for an Irma Thompson Educators of Color Grant (how to apply here)

Named after Mrs. Irma Thompson (1917-2019), a prominent educator and community leader from Buena Vista, Virginia, the Irma Thompson Educators of Color Initiative offers awards of $1,000 or $3,000 to eligible educators of color newly hired by the school systems of Rockbridge, Lexington, or Buena Vista, Virginia.

Established in 2020, the grant is intended to help teachers, counselors, school psychologists and administrators of color with moving expenses, housing, or other job-related expenditures. It is offered as part of a broader effort to help recruit and support educators of color moving to the area, and to promote diversity in the county and cities’ schools.