During the 2008 financial crisis and funding cuts, CK co-founders Teresa Michener and Jennifer Brown were approached by many community members to leverage one of their skill sets: running amazing fundraisers for community causes. Teresa and Jennifer quickly realized that each individual group didn’t have enough people to run a successful fundraiser at the scale required, but if they all worked together then they could have an amazing impact. As a result, Community Knights, Inc. was established as a nonprofit to foster collaboration and innovation within communities on the Virginia Peninsula. Their ultimate mission at that time was to bring many groups of people together to raise money, and then give that money back to the community. The GIFT Program was shuttered in 2023 due to changes in the economy after COVID and recognizing a new opportunity to serve the community. To read more about the great work accomplished through GIFT, please visit the GIFT history page or view the GIFT Blog.

Over 10 years, CK awarded $1.7 million in grants to build a stronger Virginia Peninsula through the GIFT program.

Through personal experiences and those of people close to them, Teresa and Jennifer witnessed scary things in life. Imagine all of the supports a student with disabilities receives in the K-12 education system; then guess what happens to those supports the moment they graduate. There are no programs as rigorous as the education system for adults with disabilities to connect with their local community, and the mental health crises that people with disabilities face as they transition out of the K-12 system and into adulthood are real and terrifying.

With limitations existing on the number of hours that some people with disabilities can work, volunteer opportunities provide a wonderful opportunity for connection and meaningful work. Often, a person with disabilities just needs training framed in a different way or at a different pace to succeed. Never backing down from a challenge, Teresa and Jennifer piloted a program called COACH to fill this void – sending a trained volunteer to co-volunteer with someone with disabilities to teach them how to perform the volunteer tasks. As the individual becomes confident with the tasks, connects with others at the volunteer site, and learns to self-advocate, they are now on a path towards greater independence and connectivity within the community.

A staff member from Virginia’s Departments of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) witnessed the successes of individuals who volunteered through CK’s COACH program, and approached Teresa and Jennifer about becoming a Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) vendor. The skills that were being taught to adults could now be taught to high school students with disabilities as they prepared for their transition from the K-12 system into adulthood. As a result, the READY program was born, and CK READY participants have access to job shadowing, workplace experiences, skill-building opportunities and internships before graduating high school.

As our programs are born out of needs felt in the community, we always focus on the READY participants and ensure their experience is what they need. By investing in these amazing young people early, CK is able to support connected, contributing citizens in our local communities.

We know that as CK continues to invest in the people of the Virginia Peninsula community, we will continue to collaborate for the best possible outcomes for all involved. We have witnessed the life-changing benefits of the work we accomplish, and continue to grow in the breadth and depth of our partnerships in the community. We continue to build a truly inclusive community on the Virginia Peninsula.

CK achieves our mission with community collaboration. Our work puts the participant in the driver’s seat for pursuing their career goals by providing support through a collaborative approach Starting with partnerships with local school systems and the Virginia Department of Aging & Rehabilitative Services (DARS) and with the support of the students’ families, the resources to create a truly inclusive community come from its invested members.  Learn more about how to support CK’s READY participants here:

• Explore Volunteering
• Join the Hero League
• Play Bingo
• Inquire about Becoming a Work Site
• Read READY Participant Stories