Nikkia Tolbert founded the nonprofit Hearts Full of Grace in 2009. She wanted to help women and children who struggle to find a safe place to live, access to healthy and nutritious food, and the training necessary to improve their financial situation.
During the pandemic, however, Tolbert recognized her Virginia Beach organization needed to address the root causes of the trauma many of the families experienced.
“We had to do more than give out food and help with the bills,” Tolbert said. “We needed to incorporate mental health support.”
The funds to do that came from a grant from Visionaries for Change, a giving circle of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation founded in 2019 by African American business and civic leaders.
Members strive to develop solutions for Black communities, which are often underrepresented in large philanthropic institutions. They invest in organizations that foster a healthy community, increasing everyone’s opportunity for success.
“Today we have members from other racial and ethnic backgrounds who also believe in the mission,” said Vivian Oden, who oversees Visionaries as vice president of equity and inclusion for the foundation.
“The word has really gotten out in other communities beyond the Black community about the importance of giving back and being together as a collective unit.”
More than 120 people have joined Visionaries, which recently marked its five-year anniversary. The Circle has awarded $30,500 in grants to local organizations, particularly those assisting people who are struggling financially. Hearts Full of Grace was one of the first grant recipients. After asking for $5,000, Visionaries awarded the nonprofit $10,000.
Tolbert’s personal story resonated with the grantmaking committee, said chair Dyteya Lewis. Her husband had died, leaving Tolbert with four children to raise.
“Nothing really prepared me for what my family experienced.”
Hearts Full of Grace used the grant to contract a licensed clinical social worker to work with people in crisis, helping them to regain their emotional wellness and resilience.
Other grant recipients include the Don Carey REECH (Reaching Educating Empowering Children) Foundation, which introduces students to diverse career fields; Envision, Lead, Grow, which offers a financial literacy program for women 18 to 25; and the James E. Newby Jr., MD Foundation, which promotes health through public programs such as community gardens and markets. Additional grants support entrepreneurs and provide in-demand skills to people who need them, enabling them to increase their income.
The 2025 list of grant awardees includes $8,000 to ForKids to support its economic mobility program. Additionally, $7,500 was awarded to The Micro Nonprofit Network to develop an interactive course that helps participants improve their financial planning and budgeting skills, particularly those with negative experiences with money.
Lewis said the grantmaking committee prioritizes impact.
“Even if you’re serving five, would those five people be able to be served in any other way?” is a question she said the committee asks. “If we’re serving five people that nobody else is serving, that’s a unique ask.”
Outcomes are important as well. Grant recipients must show how they will achieve the desired outcomes.
“We have to be good stewards of the funding we receive,” Lewis said. She added that nonprofits heavily dependent on government funds don’t score as high because of the constant threat of losing federal funding.
“We look for direct service providers,” she said,” boots on the ground.”
Members join and fund the circle at varying levels, such as $5,000 at the platinum level and $500 for young professionals. The annual dues are invested in a fund managed by the foundation.
“As an endowed fund, this will be a forever fund to support charitable causes in the Black community,” Oden said. “That’s unique from other giving circles across the country who do not have that same mentality. We are teaching philanthropy in a different way.”
The endowment has grown from $100,000 to more than $1 million.
Visionaries also has a building wealth series, which includes topics such as the racial wealth gap, leaving generational wealth and building wealth.
“Five years ago, we didn’t know what we were really starting and getting into,” Odin said. “Now we see the growth and look forward to another five years.”
August is Black Philanthropy Month and the Hampton Roads Community Foundation will host its 8th Annual Black Philanthropy Month Celebration, a free event, at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach. A panel discussion will explore the intersection of arts and philanthropy.