Shepherd’s Gate Grant Application
2017
GoobD SHEPHERD CATHOLIC CHURCH
Woven by Faith 1965 - 2015 Unidos por la Fe
8710 Mount Vernon Hwy Alexandria, VA 22309 703-780-4055 email: office@gs-cc.org
PROGRAM APPLICATION
ORGANIZATION/AGENCY INFORMATION
Sponsoring Organization(s): Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP)
Address: P.O. Box 12222, Richmond, VA 23241
Name of Contact Person: Michael E. Stone
Position: Executive Director
Phone: (434) 960-7779 Email: office@vadp.org
PROJ ECT/PROGRAM INFORMATION
It is highly recommended that each organization elect a project/program to fund rather than
apply for a grant to be applied to their general operating expenses.
Project/Program Title: General Operating Support
Total budget for the project/program: $142,986 (2017 calendar year)
Total funds requested from the Shepherd’s Gate Grant Program: $3,000
REFERENCES
List individuals or organizations that are not part of your organization but are familiar with
your organization’ s work:
1)Name: Jeff Caruso Phone: (804) 225-8565
Position/Organization: Executive Director, Virginia Catholic Conference
2) Name: Fr. Gerry Creedon Phone: (703) 670-8161
Position/Organization: Pastor, Holy Family Catholic Church in Dale City
OTHER
How did your organization learn of the Shepherd’s Gate Grant program?
I met Susan Grunder, Director of Social Ministry at Good Shepherd, at a meeting last
year in Arlington sponsored by VADP and the Virginia Catholic Conference. I asked her
about parish funding, and she told me about the Shepherd’ s Gate grant program.
Has this grant proposal and the project/program been approved by the organization’s
Executive Director, President, or Board of Trustees?
NoO Yes
If yes, Approved by: Michael Stone, VADP Executive Director Date: April 25, 2017
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION
Please provide a write up with the following information and categories listed below. Limit
answers to 4 typed pages using 12 pt font, Times New Roman
1. Overview: Describe the principal goal and objectives of this project/program
Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (VADP) is a statewide citizens’
organization dedicated to educating the public about alternatives to the death penalty.
Its mission is to “end the death penalty in Virginia through education, organizing,
and advocacy.”
VADP and its key partner organizations - the Virginia Catholic Conference and
ACLU of Virginia - have the goal of introducing 1-2 death penalty reform proposals
each year in the General Assembly that were recommended by an American Bar
Association panel in 2013. These legislative proposals will have Republican sponsors.
Without Republican support, there is no chance for such measures to be adopted by
the legislature. Democratic lawmakers are already overwhelming opposed to capital
punishment. But Republicans control the legislative agenda.
While adoption of these reforms would be significant steps forward, the true goal is to
educate legislators about flaws within Virginia’s death penalty system and to sow
doubt about the legitimacy of capital punishment. Our long range goal is to recruit
enough Republican support to have a serious debate about death penalty abolition in
the Virginia General Assembly by 2020.
In the 2016 and 2017 sessions of the Virginia General Assembly, VADP and its
partner organizations supported a death penalty reform bill that would ban the
execution of those with a severe mental illness. The patron of this measure is Del.
Jay Leftwich, a Tea Party Republican from Chesapeake. His work and advocacy by
VADP and its partners were very effective.
The bill failed to pass by a single vote in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee,
the most pro-death penalty body in the legislature. We are optimistic that our
advocacy will result in greater support for the bill in the 2018 legislative session.
VADP and its partners have identified a core group of Republican legislators who
consistently voted against every death penalty bill in recent years. An even larger
group of Republican Delegates and Senators have struggled with their consciences to
vote in favor of these bills. They only supported the electric chair bill or execution
drug secrecy proposals after intense pressure from colleagues and the Governor.
Virtually all major newspapers in the Commonwealth opposed secret execution drugs,.
Three newspapers -- the Virginian Pilot, Daily Press, and Staunton News Leader -
have even called for death penalty abolition!
Problems/needs: Describe the problems and/or needs that this project/program attempts
to address, specifying the benefits the community would derive from the project/program.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the states to reintroduce capital punishment in
1976, Virginia has executed 112 people - third most in the nation behind only Texas
and Oklahoma. Those sentenced to death are overwhelming the poor, people of
color, and those with mental illness.
Only 35% of the 133 political jurisdictions in the Commonwealth have had someone
executed. Three jurisdictions (Prince William, Chesterfield & Virginia Beach) have
23% of Virginia’s executions. Seven jurisdictions (Prince William, Chesterfield,
Virginia Beach, Fairfax, Hampton, Pittsylvania, & Portsmouth) account for 41% of
the state’s executions.
As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once wrote, “These death sentences are
cruel and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and
unusual. ... the petitioners are among a capriciously selected random handful upon
whom the sentence of death has in fact been imposed.”
The death penalty is a failed government program that is prohibitively expensive,
random & discriminatory in application, and ineffective in deterring violent crime.
In addition, the mandatory appeals in capital cases tum killers into media celebrities
and ensure that family members of murder victims endure years of glaring media
attention while appeals wind their way through state and federal court systems.
In The Gospel of Life (1995), Saint John Paul II wrote, “[Punishment] ought not go to
the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other
words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however,
as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such
cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.”
Since that time the Vatican as well as the U.S. Bishops have called for an end to
executions. On May 6, 2015 the Virginia Bishops wrote, “By ending the use of the
death penalty we would take one important step - among significant others we must
take - to abandon the culture of death and embrace the culture of life.”
Activities: Describe the activities that will achieve the project/program’s goals and
objectives. (Include timeline, if practical.)
In addition to its legislative advocacy work, VADP convenes gatherings of VADP
supporters in northern Virginia, Charlottesville, Richmond, Norfolk, and Roanoke.
These regional meetings take place twice a year - in the spring and fall.
VADP helped get signatories on a sign-letter to Govemor McAuliffe from 25 Virginia
conservatives, urging him to grant clemency to Ivan Teleguz who had been
scheduled for execution in April 2017. This sign-on letter received widespread
media coverage and was quoted approvingly in a Richmond Times-Dispatch lead
editorial that joined the widespread public support for this clemency request.
Thanks to a new grant from the Sisters of Bon Secours, VADP is in the process of
hiring a second staff person - a Field Director to do full time education work in the
districts of seven key Republican state legislators. Our objective is to identify key
local conservative leaders to advocate for adoption of death penalty reform bills.
We are also collecting signatures of prominent conservative leaders in Virginia to a
statement challenging capital punishment. Six have signed to this point, including
Mark Earley - a former Republican A ttommey General who oversaw 36 executions in
Virginia - and former Republican Congressman Tom Bliley.
VADP supporters are working to increase membership by hosting “friend-raising”
events across the Commonwealth. So far such events have been held in Herndon,
Richmond, Roanoke, Norfolk, and Washington, DC. Plans are underway for other
events in Charlottesville and in northem Virginia. These gatherings educate new
people about problems with the death penalty in Virginia as well as recruit new
supporters for VADP’s mission.
St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Roanoke and St. James Episcopal Church in
Richmond hosted death penalty education events in November 2016 and March
2017. We hope to schedule other such church events later in the year.
Benefits: Identify those who will benefit from this project. (Please identify economic
status and number of persons.)
The most direct beneficiaries of VADP’s work are the six inmates on death row and
those accused of capital murder as well as their attomeys. Those accused of capital
murder are overwhelming the poor, people of color, and those with mental illness.
For example, a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan is being charged with capital murder
for killing his wife and a police officer in Prince William County. It is clear that this
man suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, but is still subject to the death penalty.
If we are successful in ending capital punishment, employees in our courts, criminal
justice system, and prisons would be relieved of the burden to try, sentence, and
carry out executions. Many of these individuals suffer psychological trauma from
their involvement in death sentences.
Finally, the taxpayers of Virginia would benefit from ending the death penalty which
is far more expensive than the altemmative sentence of life in prison without parole.
While no comprehensive cost analysis has been done in Virginia, it is estimated that
ending capital punishment would save Virginia several million dollars each year.
Participants: Identify those who will be involved in this project/program. (Include staff,
other organizations, volunteers, and beneficiaries.)
VADP has one staff person - Michael Stone, Executive Director - who worked in
social ministry for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond for 25 years. He worked as a
field organizer for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty for 4 years.
We hope to hire a Field Director in the coming weeks.
VADP also has an excellent board of directors who are actively engaged in
governance and fundraising. See attachment C for the full board list.
The two major organizational partners with VADP are the Virginia Catholic
Conference and ACLU of Virginia. A third partner - NAMI Virginia - is working
with VADP on legislation to ban the execution of people with serious mental illness.
VADP has clusters of key leaders in various parts of the state - Richmond,
Charlottesville, Tidewater, Roanoke, and northem Virginia. These local leaders
work with VADP to schedule regional meetings twice each year and help with
education programs, membership recruitment, and fundraising.
A former VADP board member was Virginia’s chief executioner and killed 62 people
with the electric chair and lethal injection. He speaks publicly against the death
penalty across Virginia and is often interviewed by media about his experiences.
Several family members of murder victims are VA DP volunteers who speak about
their experiences at educational events. One man who was sentenced to death in
Pennsylvania and later exonerated by DNA evidence resides in Virginia and speaks
often to the public about his experience of being wrongfully convicted and living on
death row for 16 years.
Budget Overview:
Total budget for the project/program: $142,986
Total funds requested from the Shepherd's Gate Grant Program: $3,000
Additional funding sources:
Funding Source Amount Budgeted Secured (Y/N)?
Individual donations $ 55,000 45% raised thus far
Church contributions 15,000 14% raised thus far
Special events 2,500 Event in the fall
Foundation grants 65,000 46% raised thus far
Other information that has not been covered in this application nor listed in Section II.
Application Components and Required Information of the instructions may be
submitted, but please limit such comments to three pages (pictures included). Program
brochure or flyer is recommended.
See attachments.
