Environmental Projects
Rainwater Harvesting - Goals
- Promote water and energy conservation, green environment, and mitigating climate change impacts at the local level.
- Invest in the design, research and education of alternative water and energy systems in low income and rural environments.
- Invest in the design, research and education of issues related to stormwater runoff, rainwater harvesting systems, and low impact development in urbanizing and built environments.
- Bring together communities, businesses and academia to address local and global water, energy, and climate change issues in a collaborative fashion.
- Organize symposia, workshops and seminars to transfer information relevant to the Center mission.
- Establish an educational resource for public assess and education.
- Offer fellowships and internships to college students to support and
increase participation in projects and research mission.
Grant Work:
The Cabell Brand Center received a WQIF grant to install rainwater harvesting systems in Virginia. Read an update on this project.
Downloads:
Rainwater in the News:
Watch the following video from Charlottesville Tomorrow concerning rainwater harvesting
Educational:
Background information about rainwater harvesting:
While rainwater harvesting is a technique from years ago, improved materials and techniques for harvesting and storing the water and the growing water quality concerns are shedding new light on this sustainable practice. Rainwater is a free source of water that even when untreated can be utilized for many non-potable uses in and around a home or business.
Rainwater has not undergone the energy requiring process of cleaning and disinfection at the local treatment plant. Not only is this source of water cost effective for the owner, but it also reduces the burden on overloaded local water treatment plants. Collected rainwater can also be treated on-site to attain potable water quality, as per guidelines of the health department.
Rainwater harvesting utilizes systems as small as rain barrels connected to homeowners' downspouts for landscape irrigation to as large as expansive tanks for refilling swimming pools, fire abatement, laundry washing, flushing toilets and even consumption. A seemingly simple task of collecting rainwater and reusing it in the home or business and on the landscape can prevent considerable amounts of sediment and pollutants from entering local waterways as rooftop runoff is negated.
Above Ground Tank Below Ground TankRainwater Harvesting to Abate Non-point Source Pollution:
The field of harvesting rainwater to combat non-point source pollution is a relatively untapped one. Typically, harvesting rooftop rainwater is seen as a way to provide water supplies for a home or business meanwhile, while the environmental impacts are often overlooked.
Non-point source pollution that results from stormwater runoff contains pesticides and fertilizers applied to the landscaped area, contaminants collected on the rooftop, oils from roads and driveways and eroded sediment. Upon the installation of rainwater harvesting systems at the downspouts of buildings, the water is contained and prevented from running over landscapes and impervious surfaces. Likewise, collected street runoff prevents car oil, sediment and other toxins from entering local water sources and are stored in tanks to be utilized for irrigation or fire abatement.
Rainwater Project:
The Cabell Brand Center is working on a project to educate the Virginia population on how to combat non-point source pollution through rainwater harvesting. The Center received funding from the Virginia Environmental Endowment to focus on rainwater harvesting techniques in Virginia as means to protect the state's sensitive ecosystem.
As always, the Cabell Brand Center is interested in supplying water to the 15,000 Virginias without indoor plumbing. Rainwater Harvesting offers a unique and sustainable way to supply these households with running water. Onsite treatment and distribution eliminates the need for drilling an expensive well or connecting to unavailable city water pipes.
Other states like Texas, New Mexico and Arizona all have developed rainwater harvesting guidelines for their states. We at the Cabell Brand Center will strive to offer citizens information concerning modern rainwater harvesting design with the most technologically advanced systems. Recent advancements in the rainwater harvesting industry allow for systems to be maintenance free and truly sustainable.
The goals of the project entail:
- Producing a Virginia State Rainwater Harvesting Manual
- Educating the public on the newest rainwater harvesting techniques
- Creating a website dedicated to Virginia rainwater harvesting education
Community Development and Poverty Projects
The Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability began in 1997 with support from Nancy and Tom Shepherd '52. Students combine interdisciplinary and disciplined-based coursework on poverty with direct service in their areas of special interest (for example, business, education, health, law or community organizing) in order to supplement their major areas of study. Some students receive a minor or concentration in the study of poverty and human capability. For many, their coursework culminates in a capstone seminar and research project that connects their concerns about poverty to their future careers, such as papers on financial credit for vulnerable families or micro-lending in developing nations.
Students are able to receive direct service experience through a variety of activities:
- Pre-orientation service trips for entering students led by upper-level undergraduates;
- Eight-week summer internships for law and undergraduate students;
- Intense community engagement through a Bonner Leader Program;
- A Campus Kitchen that retrieves unused food in order to join persons at multiple agencies for meals or snack time;
- A Nabor's Service League that organizes student service in the local community and at other locations during University holidays;
- Direct service and focused community-based research linked with courses;
- A post-graduate Elrod Fellowship Program for continuing education after graduation.
Many of these activities enable student involvement in the Rockbridge area community and with alumni in their communities across the nation. Graduates of the Shepherd Program are sensitive to the serious problem of domestic and international poverty and informed about how their future conduct as professionals and engaged citizens will make a difference for impoverished communities and persons.
We eagerly anticipate combining with 10 additional schools in a national Shepherd Consortium beginning in 2010. Washington and Lee University has joined with Berea College, Georgetown University, Middlebury College, Morehouse College, Morgan State University, Spelman College, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Richmond and Vanderbilt University for this new initiative in higher education. We also are collaborating with the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock and with four additional undergraduate institutions (Baylor University, Furman University, John Carroll University and Rice University) in mutual efforts to introduce poverty studies into undergraduate and professional education.
The Shepherd Consortium is a proposal for a demonstration grant in higher education to support a eleven-school, five-year project for the study of poverty and human capability, the first of its kind in undergraduate education. The following schools are members of the consortium:
The Housing and Community Development Component (HCD) of TAP offers fourteen programs which are comprised of rehabilitation programs, service programs and property management. HCD programs are governed by the various funding sources and the TAP Board of Directors. The component is housed at the Crystal Tower Building at 145 Campbell Avenue in Roanoke and is available to offer services to the public Monday through Friday 8:30a.m. -5:00p.m. There are two satellite offices in Covington and Lexington that serve as serve delivery points as well.
Families in Transition programs include the Women’s Resource Center, domestic violence services; the Transitional Living Center, housing and supportive services for the homeless; TAP Virginia CARES, re-entry services for ex-offenders; and Fatherhood & Families, employment and fatherhood development services for non-custodial fathers ages 30 and under.
Head Start is the most successful, longest-running, national school readiness program in the United States. It provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. Since 1965, TAP Head Start has served more than 21,000 children, birth to 5, in the Roanoke Valley, Alleghany Highlands, and Rockbridge Area. Its mission is to support income-eligible families in becoming self-sufficient, to provide prenatal support and education to pregnant women, and to prepare enrolled children, birth to 5, for school by providing quality comprehensive early childhood education, health and family services.
This Valley works is comprised of educational and vocational programs in a twofold effort to make sure the residents of our area are prepared to find not just a job but a career.
Supervised Visitation & Safe Exchange Program provides services that promote the opportunity for both adult and child victims of domestic violence to have safe and secure supervised visitations and exchanges.
TAP Financial Services is a programmatic component of TAP focusing on financial products and educational services that lead to financial empowerment and self-sufficiency, including:
Mission: To improve the quality of life through energy reduction and usage which equals financial savings through use of the weatherization and housing rehab programs.
The Energy Conversation and Housing Rehab Component (ECHR) of TAP offers programs which are comprised of weatherization, emergency home repair, limited rehab and indoor plumbing and rehab.
Peace and Conflict Resolution Projects
United States Institute of Peace Education and Training Center/Domestic - The mission of the Education and Training Center, Domestic Programs is to create and deliver courses and supporting teaching materials, to improve the practice of conflict management, and to help professionalize the field. Target audiences include civilian and military practitioners, faculty from other institutions, and graduate, undergraduate and high school students.
USIP is currently developing a number of courses through which professionals from government, the military, NGOs, and IOs, as well as pre-professionals in the academic world can come together and receive training on core conflict management skills, as well as best practices in conflict prevention, peacemaking, and state-building.
THE GEORGE C. MARSHALL FOUNDATION conducts educational and outreach programs to perpetuate the legacy of George C. Marshall.
Programs of contemporary service to our nation and the international community on the military, statesmanship, and citizenship help the Foundation accomplish its mission. These programs are supported by our research library and museum functions. More information is available from the links listed below.
K-12 Teaching Programs and Resources
The George C. Marshall Foundation wants to assist K-12 educators who teach about the Marshall era by providing them with pertinent information and resources.
The George C. Marshall: A Hero for All Times is a 56-page coloring book including text and quotations about George C. Marshall. All the drawings are rendered from actual historic events during Marshall's lifetime. A detailed chronology and introduction are included to depict a biographical summary of Marshall and his many accomplishments.
The Foundation's Museum Shop has a number of teaching aids dealing with World War II, D-Day, and the Cold War as well as books on Marshall and other leaders of the 20th Century. School group tours are encouraged and can be coordinated through the Lexington, Virginia Visitor Center.
CBCenter Projects
