Vice President and President C.H.A.T. (Church Hill Activities and Tutoring)
All they did was open their doors. Percy and Angie Strickland moved to Church Hill three years ago to, in Percy's words, "have a profound impact on where we lived."
They invited the neighborhood kids into their lives — to hang out, play games, and later, to do homework. As word spread, five kids grew to 15, and more volunteers began coming around to spend time with these newcomers who cared.
Despite their schedules — Percy is in his third year at Union Theological Seminary and Angie is in her third year at VCU's Medical College of Virginia — the couple created C.H.A.T. — Church Hill Activities and Tutoring — an after-school program that has included tutoring, trips to Paramount's Kings Dominion and helping out the families in the community by taking people into their home and buying groceries.
Like any good thing, C.H.A.T. is growing. Soon there will be eight or nine houses participating. People are getting involved, as Percy says, "not by pouring money in — just by moving in, being a neighbor, investing in kids."
