NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The New Hanover Community Endowment has stepped in to assess the New Hanover County Community Justice Center, providing more money on top of its initial investment — though not through its typical grant process.
The Endowment confirmed it recently provided additional funding to the Community Justice Center to work with the creators of its national model, the Alliance for Hope International. Though it wouldn’t provide how much, Port City Daily has learned it’s roughly $60,000.
The CJC received two grants totaling $5 million Endowment grant in 2023 for the initiative, modeled after the national Family Justice Center model bringing nonprofits, law enforcement and justice system employees under the same roof. The goal is to promote efficient collaboration and access to intimate partner violence resources, and in the CJC’s case, mediate youth violence as well. The money expires at the end of the year.
READ MORE: Community Justice Center: Data elusive, partners cite success as Endowment deadline looms
Former District Attorney Ben David, now the CJC’s CEO and chief legal counsel, has secured funding from New Hanover County to support ongoing operations; its $300,000 contribution will cover the CJC’s rent at the Harrelson Center.
Endowment President and CEO Sophie Dagenais told Port City Daily the purpose of the contract was three-fold: to assist The Endowment in evaluating the progress and impact of its grant to the CJC, to better understand the CJC’s adaptation of the Family Justice Center model, and to help inform any future or related funding recommendations.
“The assessment also provides valuable support and technical assistance to the CJC itself as it enters the third year of our grant by identifying opportunities for course corrections and continuous improvement,” Dagenais wrote. “In this respect, the work benefits both our grantee and The Endowment’s own stewardship responsibilities.”
Ultimately, the Alliance for Hope International will provide an assessment to The Endowment on the state of the center.
Degenais added the assessment is not intended to be punitive, but rather to assist the CJC in measuring its own success. Providing hard data on its operations and impact is something the CJC has struggled to do, despite opening to the public in the fall of 2024.
Port City Daily asked if the Community Justice Center — not just a physical space but also a nonprofit organization — applied for a grant for this additional funding. The Endowment said it did not, as bringing in The Alliance for Hope International was its own initiative.
The Endowment controls more than $1 billion in public funds from the sale of New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health in 2021. The process for giving away this money is through grants; nonprofits or local government agencies can apply with their initiatives and The Endowment can also invite certain proposals and collaborate with the grantees on shaping their initiative.
Dagenais explained the funding was made through a vendor contract funded through The Endowment’s operating budget, not its grant budget.
Providing nonprofits funds outside of grants is allowed under The Endowment’s bylaws, which state fund distributions “shall take the form of grants and other financial support for projects and initiatives of non-profit, governmental or community organizations that are specifically focused on, and shall use such funds exclusively in furtherance of, the explicit purposes of the corporation.”
The Endowment told Port City Daily it has not provided any other funding amount to the CJC outside the original grant. Port City Daily also asked The Endowment how often it is spending money outside of its grant processes and for other occurrences.
Dagenais said The Endowment may engage outside expertise “from time to time,” especially for multi-year investments. Another example is The Endowment’s vendor contract with Innovative Funding Partners, which The Endowment announced at its listening session on June 3. The company assists Endowment grantees in grant writing and management.
Port City Daily also asked why The Endowment did not announce the contract with the Alliance for Hope International.
The Endowment sends out press releases, and in larger grant announcements, sets up press conferences for new awards. Additionally, Dagenais and board chair Shannon Winslow have also stressed The Endowment’s transparency to the public, including in the organization’s June 3 listening session.
“We could not be more transparent,” Dagenais said while answering an audience question.
In response to Port City Daily, Dagenais said The Endowment does not routinely announce vendor contracts that support our internal operations and grant stewardship activities, but the Alliance for Hope International’s involvement with the CJC was well known. For example, she said, the Alliance convened a two-day event where 100 community members were brought in to help envision the future of the CJC and its role in serving the community.
Ben David talks status of Community Justice Center
In conversation with Port City Daily on June 2, David noted it was always the intention for Alliance for Hope International to conduct sessions with the CJC. He said this setup was articulated in the grant application.
“That was in order to have fidelity towards the national level, and it’s something we always wanted to do,” David said.
The original submittal obtained by Port City Daily does not state representatives from Alliance for Hope International would come in for training and guidance, though the FJC model is what the CJC is replicating.
Staff from the CJC did travel to the San Diego Family Justice Center, the first center to launch, but this was at the beginning of the grant nearly three years ago.
Per The Endowment, the Alliance’s “comprehensive assessment” is to include partner surveys, an on-site visit, a kickoff meeting for all CJC supporters, targeted focus groups, and a comprehensive operational and sustainability review.
In discussion with Port City Daily, David shared that the Alliance held “breakout sessions” with CJC participants the prior week. Port City Daily asked him how it went and if there was anything the CJC would implement as a result.
“It was affirming to hear that a lot of what we’ve been doing for the last two years is exactly the path we need to be on,” David said.
The Community Justice Center has yet to collate the data surrounding its operations into hard numbers, such as in how many people are utilizing the CJC per week and their case outcomes. The CJC has since hired a data specialist, Lauren Beatty, to tackle this effort.
As of October 2025, the CJC was processing around 20 domestic violence protective orders per week, though David’s goal for the CJC was for it to absorb the 50 or so filed through the clerk of court every week. Victims were also envisioned to be able to receive SANE exams and forensic exams at the CJC; as of October, that hadn’t come together yet.
Anecdotal reports from the CJC’s nonprofit partners are overall positive, per reporting from Port City Daily in October.
District Attorney Jason Smith said the additional eight positions his office has gained has been a boon, noting he could dedicate district attorneys to youth violence and intimate partner violence cases. There is also a reserve Wednesday in court for these cases to be adjudicated.
However, the CJC has yet to fully launch its youth violence component, which is what sets it apart in name and function from other family justice centers. The goal is to bring in youth offenders, often involved in gangs, and their families to connect them to conflict mediation, take guns out of their hands and, instead, arm them with resources to target the root cause of violence — poverty, mental health struggles, lack of opportunities.
When asked about the youth half of the CJC, David said the CJC is expanding resources and asking different partners to come in, but directed further questions to the DA.
The Endowment does require its grantees to follow reporting requirements designed to capture the “progress, financial documentation, and outcomes” of the CJC, though, in October, both The Endowment and David declined to provide details.
In conversation with PCD, David said several UNCW interns have been working on strategic plans over the last year; they were revealed in conjunction with the Alliance’s May visit.
One takeaway from the Alliance’s involvement came from the importance of listening to people with lived-in experiences, while another was to develop written policies that “survive individuals” — essentially creating the infrastructure needed to stabilize and continue the CJC’s success outside of any founding members or current staff. That includes David.
“I always gave myself the sunset provision of December 31,” David said, referring to his last day at the CJC. “That’s when the original grant term ends, and I knew that to get to the next level of what we were trying to create it needs to be a shared responsibility among many people, and it can’t be just perceived to be one person.”
To take over his duties, the CJC is looking to hire an executive director and operations director. David said the position openings are set to be posted on June 10, the day after the CJC’s board meeting.
Both positions will be decided on by two different hiring committees made up of CJC board members and representatives from law enforcement, the DA’s office and the nonprofits. David will not be on the committee.
In broad strokes, David said, the operations director will handle the day-to-day work in conjunction with the recently hired navigator, Alizay Benson, who helps connect people who walk into the CJC with the right resources within the CJC and in the greater Harrelson Center. Both also work alongside Suann Bechtel, who helps people within the CJC navigate the court system.
The executive director is going to oversee the strategic vision and mission, working directly with the board, aligning all the partner agencies together and making sure that the funding is sustainable.
“We have the people, we have the place,” David said. “These last few months have been about the process and making sure that we have the right process moving forward.”
As for The Endowment’s assessment, The Endowment said it expects to receive the report in the coming weeks; it said it will review findings with the CJC before determining next steps.
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