About VQL

Virginia Quality Life, Inc. (VQL) was founded in 1996 when it assumed the 501.C.3 corporation of the Campbell Memorial Presbyterian Church foundation. A new board of directors was elected and began operation with the purpose of raising funds to build buildings on a campus for health, education and recreation.

Many families enjoy a good quality of life on the Lower Northern Neck. Many other families, unfortunately, do not. Unemployment is high, the public school system has real problems, and the worry is that drugs and crime will spread as they have in Richmond and elsewhere.

Virginia Quality Life was developed to help ameliorate these problems and improve the quality of life for all residents on the Lower Northern Neck. VQL is a joint cooperative effort whereby the Rappahannock General Hospital, the River Counties chapter of the American Red Cross, the Northern Neck YMCA and the Northern Neck Free Health Clinic could obtain the new facilities they needed without expensive duplication and enjoy the benefits of an indoor swimming pool.

In August of 1998 General Colin Powell visited the campus site in Kilmarnock to inspire and kick of the project. He labeled the ambitious project as “A field of Dreams.” At that time VQL presented nothing but a field, a parking lot and dreams. The goal was to raise $5.2 million dollars to build the project. Over the next 11 years VQL raised approximately $12 million dollars to build a hospital rehabilitation and sports medicine clinic; a state of the are 8,500 square foot free health clinic with 5 dental stations; a 36,000 square foot YMCA building with exercise rooms, racquet ball courts, basketball courts, computer room, recreation room, weight and exercise room, steam rooms and saunas, and finally, women, men and family separate locker rooms; plus significant office space for the Red Cross. An additional bonus was in 2007 the completing the rehabilitation of a former fitness center into a state of the art Wiley Child Development Center.

VQL leases land for the Free Health Clinic, YMCA and rehab and sports medicine facilities, yet it owns the land that houses the child development center. Under separate entrances the building includes a full sized four land swimming pool.

The building and fund raising projects were essentially completed in 2007, however VQL must manage the leases to for the Free Health Clinic and YMCA buildings. In addition, it must maintain the Child development center, swimming pool and grounds.