The Martinsville-Henry County YMCA kicked off its Transforming Community Capital Campaign Oct. 1 at Hamlet Vineyards, aiming to raise funds for a new 60,000-square-foot Lester Family YMCA.

Henry County officials and community leaders gathered this morning to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new housing initiative in the Villa Heights neighborhood, aimed at providing affordable housing and revitalizing the area.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. We have a better idea how helpful a local nonprofit has been for businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Harvest Foundation announced Wednesday 100 small businesses in Martinsville and Henry County had been helped as of Wednesday through its donation to the Virginia 30 Day Fund. We still have way more to go, said Harvest Foundation Program Officer India Brown. As 10 News has reported, last month the Harvest Foundation donated $1,000,000 to the fund, which provides forgivable loans to struggling businesses. 100 small businesses in less than a month.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Some small businesses in Southwest Virginia now have a lot more money to help them as the coronavirus pandemic continues. The Harvest Foundation in Martinsville is donating $1 million to the Virginia 30 Day Fund. The fund was started by Charlottesville resident Pete Snyder and his wife six weeks ago to help small businesses across the state. “Small businesses are really the heart and soul of our community,” said Harvest Foundation Program Officer India Brown. As of Wednesday, the Virginia 30 Day Fund had helped over 350 businesses across the state.

Trying to keep educated and stay up-to-date," Nowlin said as she prepared for the coronavirus testing site at Martinsville Speedway to open. "I probably did imagine that something crazy would happen eventually in my time as being a nurse, but this close to home I’m not so sure.”Before the testing site opened on Wednesday, she had one last chance to prepare. Valarie Nowlin gives a coronavirus test demonstration to members of the media Wednesday morning. "I have the man above watching over us, so I think we are going to be fine.”The testing site came together in a matter of weeks. Sovah Health and local first responders are working with the VDH and the Harvest Foundation to run the site.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – The opening of the COVID-19 testing site at the Martinsville Speedway is delayed because they don’t have test kits. The speedway will be a drive-thru test site in just a few days, where people can be tested without leaving their cars. The Harvest Foundation stepped up, encouraging community partners to come up with a way to make it happen. In addition to funding the site, the Harvest Foundation is leading the charge to find people to watch little ones. “A task force of non-profits and local government leaders were convened to discuss and brainstorm the ways the community can best address that need," Harvest Foundation impact officer Sheryl Agee said.

HENRY COUNTY, Va. - Some local law enforcement officers will soon have a new tool to help them save lives. The Harvest Foundation has awarded the Piedmont Criminal Justice Training Academy a $10,000 grant for a MILO training simulator. Officers will interact with the simulator just as they would in a real-life situation. The academy has not had a simulator for about four years since the previous broke down. "This is the closest that we can recreate the stress that they may actually encounter, and will actually encounter, out on the street," Henry County Sheriff and academy board member Lane Perry said.