Embrace Waynesboro is dedicated to fostering a vibrant community through comprehensive support and inclusive initiatives. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life for all residents by providing essential services, promoting local engagement, and nurturing a sense of belonging. We strive to be a beacon of hope and a catalyst for positive change in Waynesboro.

The Community Gardens at Embrace are where friends, neighbors, and families can gather to grow and harvest fresh, healthy produce and share in the bounty of God’s goodness.

In its first growing season, the beds yielded hundreds of pounds of food for the the Main Street UMC Food Pantry and our free Community Table. Farm-to-table canned goods were given to neighbors and used in the Embrace Community Kitchen.

This peer-facilitated tutoring program pairs honor students from local middle- and high schools with their classmates for free test prep, homework help, and project completion assistance. All school supplies and project materials are provided free of charge, as is tutoring. 

Because we know that confidence is critical for success, we operate a salon and student laundry service. Registered SSC students may bring their laundry when they come for tutoring; laundry will be done on-site by a student laundry team. Once a month, SSC students may take advantage of free salon services offered by licensed cosmetologists. 

In the coming months, we will also open a student food closet.

Pre-registration is required through the student’s teacher or guidance department.

At Embrace, we believe a strong and healthy community is only possible when everyone has a place at the table. On Wednesdays, some of those tables are covered with plarn as differently abled adults from some of our local residential program descend on Embrace for the community’s most creative recycling project.

Plarn, or plastic yarn, is made from plastic grocery bags and crafted into sleeping mats for our brothers and sisters who struggle with homelessness.

Because of it’s water-resistant quality, the mats help our neighbors stay dry while providing a soft, insulated surface on which to sleep. These mats are easily rolled up and light-weight for portability.

Our Plarn Pros also fashion their yard into tote bags which will be sold in our fair trade market to help offset programming costs.

With the corona virus threatening the health of our community, our volunteers went door to door looking for neighbors in need and recruiting helpers. As a result, we are forming a network of neighbors who are helping each other with everything from laundry and taking out the trash to grocery pick up.

In the months to come, we hope to expand this program so that each person in our community is watched over by people of compassion who are willing to help when help is needed. This will include watching over our students as they walk to and from school to ensure they are safe.

In order to maximize the impact of the resources entrusted to us, we offer the use of our space to other not-for-profits or civic groups in need of a place to gather or provide services. As part of this program, we host weekly WIC Clinics so that local residents do not have to travel to our sister city, Staunton, in order to complete their required training and check-ins. 

Through partnerships with Virginia Cooperative Extension, Promotores de Salud, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and James Madison University, we host culinary workshops where neighbors learn to stretch their food budget as they prepare meals together and develop new cooking skills. 

We believe that a healthy community requires healthy neighbors, and to that end we host addiction recovery groups, health education clinics, support groups, and more. 

If your group wants to join us in building a stronger community and needs a place to do your good work, let’s talk.