We told our story. And the community showed up.
The year in brief
Since 2011, Vinegar Hill Magazine has carried the name of a neighborhood that was razed, and the promise that its people’s stories would not be. In 2026 we kept that promise in more rooms than ever.
We brought Charlottesville together to talk honestly about Black maternal health, and this month we hand the microphone to young people. We filled Live Arts Theater to celebrate our neighbors at the Best In Black Cville Awards. We brought in $114,250 in grant funding of our own, including $100,000 from Borealis Philanthropy, and our partnerships secured $195,000 in total. We strengthened the newsroom with a new associate editor, found a fiscal home with the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation, and spent ten months with Blue Engine rebuilding how readers support our work.
None of it happened alone. This report is a record of what our partners, funders, contributors and members made possible.
The Team at Vinegar Hill
Funding
Funders invested in Black-led local media.
Borealis Philanthropy invested in Vinegar Hill directly. Three more grants went to the collaborations we belong to, and Vinegar Hill received a 15% share of each.
| Funder | Total grant | Vinegar Hill |
|---|---|---|
| Borealis PhilanthropyAwarded directly to Vinegar Hill | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| Charlottesville Area Community Foundation2026 Reimagine Grant · 15% share | $47,000 | $7,050 |
| Worrell grantReceived through ANF · 15% share | $40,000 | $6,000 |
| BAMA Works15% share | $8,000 | $1,200 |
| Total | $195,000 | $114,250 |
Win 01 · Community convening
Can I Talk to You, Cville? made room for the conversations our city needs.
April 14 · Health & wellness
Bridging the Gap in Black Health Outcomes
Planned alongside partners at UVA Health, this convening centered Black maternal health and community well-being through a panel, breakout sessions and open dialogue on maternal health, mental health and nutrition.
The evening produced a formal community dialogue report by Dr. Sherica Jones-Lewis of JS Strategies, documenting lived experience, shared themes and next steps rooted in work already underway in Charlottesville.
Presented with Charlottesville Inclusive Media, the Black Professional Network, GOOD. and In My Humble Opinion.
Watch the conversation
Coming November 14 · Youth Edition
Your Voice. Your Future. Your Power.
The series is expanding to middle and high schoolers. On Saturday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., students in grades 6 through 12 will gather at the Boys & Girls Club on Cherry Avenue for a youth-led panel, breakout sessions, resource vendors, lunch and music by DJ Runway.
Presented with Charlottesville Inclusive Media, Albemarle County Public Schools, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Virginia and the Black Professional Network.
Event details
Future Heirlooms: We Are The Ancestors
Best In Black Cville 2026
Win 02 · Celebration
A sold-out night honoring Black excellence.
Best In Black Cville returned in June with a call to honor the ancestors. The community nominated, the community voted, and on August 14 Vinegar Hill and Soul of Cville filled Live Arts Theater to capacity, with a waitlist, to put honorees in the spotlight.
The evening paired awards and Legacy honors with live entertainment, a multigenerational fashion show, a Black business owners panel and press in the room. In October we published Khalilah Jones’s 2026 Soul of Cville recap, A Love Letter to Black Charlottesville.
Supported by the Black Professional Network, Prolyfyck, Hit the Deck, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Uplift Our Local Community, Woodard Properties, Chic by Khalilah, Dream Luxe Beauty and DREAM.
Moments from the 2026 Best In Black Cville Awards at Live Arts Theater.
Win 03 · Building to last
We invested in the team and the business behind the stories.
Katrina Spencer joins as Associate Editor
A longtime voice of the magazine, Katrina now helps lead our editorial work, shepherding community essays like Stepping In and reporting new stories, including November’s look at Los Angeles’s Leimert Park.
A fiscal home with the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation
ANF, a 501(c)(3) public charity, now serves as our fiscal sponsor, receiving grant funds on our behalf and powering our new membership system.
Ten months with Blue Engine
Through the Press Forward / LION Sustainability Program, monthly coaching with Blue Engine’s Colin McMahon gave us a KPI scorecard, a membership conversion plan and a fall campaign strategy.
A simpler way to belong
We launched new membership offers at $10 a month or $100 a year and moved members onto a single, streamlined tier, laying the foundation for reader revenue.
Win 04 · Recognition & reach
Our partners and peers noticed.
Spring 2026 · Feature
Amplify Community Spotlight
UVA’s Division for Community Engagement and Equal Opportunity featured COO Sarad Davenport in the Spring 2026 issue of its Amplify magazine, highlighting Vinegar Hill’s inclusive storytelling.
Read the spotlight
February 7 · Partnership
Black Love Symposium & Soirée
At The Center at Belvedere, our support of the Local Designer Fashion Show helped the Black Professional Network deliver what attendees called the best BLSS in several years.
Watch the nightWin 05 · Charlottesville Inclusive Media
The partnership we co-founded was honored and proven necessary.
Vinegar Hill is one of three founding partners of Charlottesville Inclusive Media, with Charlottesville Tomorrow and the In My Humble Opinion radio show. In 2026 the community recognized CIM’s work, and new research showed why it matters.
September 16 · Award
United Way Business for Good Award
CIM received the 2026 Business for Good Award, one of United Way of Greater Charlottesville’s Caring for Community Awards. Honorees are nominated and voted on by the public; the award was presented on the Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring.
Read moreApril 8 · Research
Central Virginia Information Ecosystem Assessment
CIM helped launch a Listening Post Collective study, done with the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, that surveyed 316 residents across Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison and Nelson counties. About 65% named a lack of local news outlets as their top barrier to staying informed.
Read moreWin 06 · The stories
A year of stories only we could tell.
July 14 · Madelyn ColesStepping In: Grandparents as Primary Caregivers When Parents are Absent
August 14 · Tiana WoodardCovesville History Day preserves the village’s Black history one memory at a time
October 14 · Khalilah JonesA Love Letter to Black Charlottesville
November 1 · Katrina SpencerNew ‘Kids’ On the Block in L.A.’s Leimert Park Name Community Needs
2026 at a glance
Month by month
Winter
- Jan–Feb Worrell grant funds arrive through ANF
- Feb 7 Black Love Symposium & Soirée
- Feb 20 Blue Engine coaching begins
- Mar Amplify Community Spotlight interview
Spring
- Apr 8 Information Ecosystem Assessment launches
- Apr 14 Can I Talk to You, Cville? on Black health
- Apr 15 Community dialogue report delivered
- Jun 9 Best In Black Cville nominations open
Summer
- Jul $10 / $100 membership offer built with ANF
- Jul Community votes name the honorees
- Aug 14 Sold-out Best In Black Cville Awards
- Sep In-house production studio comes online
- Sep 16 CIM wins United Way Business for Good Award
- Sep $47,000 CACF Reimagine Grant
Fall
- Oct 14 A Love Letter to Black Charlottesville
- Nov 1 Leimert Park feature by Katrina Spencer
- Nov 14 Youth Edition (upcoming)
Watch the year
See it for yourself.
Bridging the Gap in Black Health OutcomesCan I Talk to You, Cville? · April 14, 2026Watch on YouTube →
Best In Black Cville Awards CeremonyFuture Heirlooms: We Are The Ancestors · August 14, 2026Watch on YouTube →
Black Love Symposium & SoiréeDiner en Noire & Local Designer Fashion Show · February 7, 2026Watch on YouTube →
With gratitude to our funders and partners
Borealis Philanthropy · Charlottesville Area Community Foundation · BAMA Works · Alternative Newsweekly Foundation · Charlottesville Inclusive Media · Charlottesville Tomorrow · In My Humble Opinion · Blue Engine · Press Forward · United Way of Greater Charlottesville · Listening Post Collective · Soul of Cville · GOOD. · UVA Health · JS Strategies · Black Professional Network · Albemarle County Public Schools · Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Virginia · Live Arts · UVA Division for Community Engagement and Equal Opportunity
What comes next
Our goal: 150 new members by year’s end.
Our fall membership campaign aims to welcome 150 new paying members and raise $30,000, reconnecting with past supporters and inviting newsletter readers to belong. We are also pursuing NewsMatch funding and exploring a multimedia boot camp to train the next generation of community storytellers.
Support independent Black media
Become a member for $10 a month.
Every membership keeps Black Charlottesville’s stories in Black Charlottesville’s hands.
Become a member