Julia Warren

Which Parish Area you live in? Grove

Which Parish Area you live in? I'm in the Grove Parish!

If you could describe your pandemic experience in 3 words, which would you choose? Illuminating, isolated, joyful.

Tell us about Celebrate RVA. When did you start it and why?
Celebrate RVA started in 2013. I was spending time volunteering in the Southside of Richmond with my Grandfather, Bob Argabright.

Through conversations with the children, it became clear that they didn't know when they were born (one in particular told me he thought he was born "when it was cold outside") and that birthdays didn't always carry joyful memories. We began celebrating birthdays in schools, hospitals, and shelters and we now serve more than 1,000+ birthday kiddos each year!

You made a big change this year to better serve students. Tell us about what you’re doing now, and how you got here. At the start of the pandemic, we pivoted to Birthday Bags. We delivered hundreds of bags to children all over Richmond as a way to bring celebration into their homes. We are continuing to run that program through at least June 2021 - children's birthday parties aren't exactly conducive to social distancing!

When Richmond Public Schools made the announcement that school would be fully virtual - we knew we had to provide joy in a different way and that we were in a unique position to provide it. In early March, we were set to open our 4,500 square foot space in the East End that we had spent nearly 18 months building out. Our grand opening never happened as it was scheduled for March 17, 2020 - 4 days after a National Emergency was declared. Consequently, the space was never used for what I thought it was intended - birthday celebrations. Instead, after a few months of the space sitting empty, I realized that it's purpose was much greater than just birthday celebrations - it was meant to be a place for joy in the darkness.

So, we opened up a Facilitated Learning Center for students of RPS to have a safe environment to learn virtually. We have reading specialists, grade specific tutors, and reliable internet to give our students the best shot at success in these times.

We communicate daily with teachers and parents, we advocate for behavioral health services, and we've supported families through the hard IEP process. We have daily mental health check-ins and we work hard to foster deep relationships with each of our students. We're so proud of our students as they work hard and show up everyday and it's an honor to have a front seat to witness their growth.

One day, we'll have a grand opening and birthday celebrations in the space - for now, we're filling it with joy each day!

What has this big change in your organization showed you or taught you this year?
I've learned that as much as I may plan, that constantly listening to God's word and spending time in thoughtful prayer are the only things that can show me what I'm truly supposed to be doing.

In Nehemiah 3, there are records listing off all the individuals responsible for repairing the wall and other structures in Jerusalem. Buried in the middle in Neh. 3:15 is "[Shallun, son of Col-hozeh] made repairs to the walls of the Pool of Siloam near the king's garden..."(NIV). The Pool of Siloam - where Jesus healed a blind man in John 9. Shallun, mentioned one time in the Bible, made repairs to a place where Jesus himself performed one of His greatest miracles. God knew this as he was molding Shallun, he knew what he would be responsible for and for the role he would play in the miracle. Surely if he had known, he would have obsessed over the pool being perfect, doing it just right, or allowed being responsible for such an important task to have inflated his ego.

Instead, God protected him from the knowledge that he was repairing the Pool of Siloam. I think that He does that for a lot of us - we can never know what 'pool' we're building or what we have been sent to repair. The important thing is that we continue to listen to Him, turn to Him, and follow His word, as he leads us to our purpose. We may not know what it is for on this side of Heaven, but we can trust in the One who does.

What do you think this time has afforded us that we wouldn’t be doing or seeing otherwise? I've had a lot of time to reflect inward and for that I'm grateful. I was also finally home enough to adopt a dog - so lots of walks and snuggles with her!

How can people learn more about Celebrate RVA or get involved? We are always in need of consistent volunteers to help tutor and supervise our students. You can also find out more about our programs or donate online at celebraterva.org.

Thank you Julia! What a gift your leadership and service are to our city.