SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — The second year of the grants awarded by the New Hanover County Endowment have been announced.
Created by the sale of New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health, the $1.2 billion endowment doled out almost six times more than the $9 million it gave out in its inaugural year. More than 200 applications were submitted to the endowment for the 2023 year. However, a third compared to the 110 agencies that benefited last year were awarded money in 2023.
Around 19 are multi-year strategic grants and 14 are responsive grants, meaning one-year only and nonrenewable.
“Our goal is transformation, and these grants are our first steps toward achieving it,” board member Bill Cameron said in a press release. “These multi-year partnerships start the journey toward solutions. We will be adding to the $53 million as we get into 2024 and 2025.”
The most money was given to local education institutions, including UNCW and CFCC to help with recruiting, training and resending professionals in the health care field in Wilmington. According to the endowment: “Program on Health Workforce Research and Policy at the Cecil G. Sheps Center suggest that by 2033, North Carolina could face shortages of around 12,500 registered nurses and 5,000 licensed practical nurses.”
Below are the grant awards for the multi-year partnerships:
University of North Carolina at Wilmington: $10,253,500
Cape Fear Community College Foundation: $10,153,633
New Hanover County Schools: $1,680,000
Greater Wilmington Chamber Foundation: $250,000
The organizations have collaborated on a cross-partner solution to bolster healthcare education and support wrap-around services to recruitment and retention. The grant includes funds for simulated learning programs and standardized exam assistance and an investment in a high school program for students interested in opportunities in the healthcare field.
Communities In Schools (CIS) of Cape Fear: $3,226,41, to support Freedom School summer literacy program in next three years.
YWCA of the Lower Cape Fear: $2,804,811, to provide affordable childcare and wraparound services.
SmartStart of New Hanover County: $658,596.60, to support to family programs, Circle of Parents peer support group and Kaleidoscope Play and Learn, to help parents and caregivers with early learning and development.
Spark Academy: $3,305,000, to retain skilled staff and help with office expenses, occupancy costs to maintain a safe and conducive learning environment, and capital expenditures for building repair, equipment maintenance, and capital reserve — plus to subsidize financial aid for families in need.
Union Missionary Baptist Church (UMBC): $450,000, to support an afterschool program, Monday through Friday, and provide transportation from several area schools — open until 10 p.m.
MedNorth Health Center: $2,000,000, to expand the health center from 16,557 square feet to approximately 46,269 square feet and increase access to care with more providers/staff and services.
Cape Fear Clinic: $1,200,000, to support healthcare services to clients/patients/members of The Healing Place, Good Shepherd Center, LINC, and A Safe Place. Treatment will occur at the other agencies’ locations as well as enroll all eligible individuals as medical home patients at CFC, enabling them to receive care at our campus and get all required medications through its full-service pharmacy.
NourishNC: $450,000, to support a free mobile grocery truck called the Mobile MoM that serves food insecure children in their neighborhoods, pediatric offices, schools, and at other nonprofits.
Cape Fear Community College Foundation: $5,500,000, to broaden impact on high school students by discovering and connecting with individuals interested in advanced manufacturing and other industry sectors.
YMCA of Southeastern North Carolina: $4,000,000, for a full-service facility to serve more preschool and elementary-aged students through childcare, swimming, and sports, and to offer additional exercise opportunities for youth and adults.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern North Carolina: $1,653,200, for continued growth and providing quality out-of-school programming in a safe, supportive environment with positive adult mentors. A secondary focus is on Youth of the Year and workforce development programs aimed at developing college and workforce readiness skills.
DREAMS Center for Arts Education: $795,774, to provide high-quality programming and to expand outreach, serving an even greater number of our community’s most high-needs youth.
El Cuerpo/Christ Community Church: $200,000, for a long-term approach to expand and replicate the current tutoring model to serve additional schools. Over the next two years, the program will grow to include K-8th grade students, as well as continue to mentor future educators by providing guided teaching opportunities.
Community Justice Center: District Attorney’s office, $3,439,066, and Jo Ann Carter Harrelson Center Inc, $1,578,830, to create a Community Justice Center (CJC) at the Harrelson Center, to end the generational cycle of violence through early intervention, education, and prevention. A multidisciplinary team of approximately two dozen professionals will include prosecutors, law enforcement, and direct service providers who will work to solve, prove, and prevent crime will support victims
Below are the awards for the responsive, one-year, non-renewable grants:
American Red Cross: $38,000, to purchase a new community emergency vehicle to replace an older one in Wilmington — used to transport staff, volunteers, and equipment to and from mobile blood drives, bring collected blood to processing centers, test blood and deliver safe blood to patients in need.
Blue Ribbon Commission Prevention of Youth Violence dba Voyage: $112,200, to expand programming focused on improving behavioral and educational outcomes, closing the achievement gap, providing wrap-around services, and implementing innovative techniques to support public K-8 education.
Cape Fear Literacy Council: $46,000, to hire a consultant to facilitate organizational design and change management. It will also support the pilot of a professional development workshop series.
Elderhaus: $75,000, to continue operating as the only Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) in New Hanover County. This program features a comprehensive service delivery system and integrated Medicare and Medicaid financing.
Lower Cape Fear Hospice, Inc. D/b/a Lower Cape Fear LifeCare: $50,000, to perform numerous maintenance and improvement projects at their Wilmington Inpatient Care Center to preserve and maintain LCFLC’s high standards of quality patient care, visitor safety, and comfort and solace for families.
St Jude’s Metropolitan Community Church: $40,000, to allow St. Jude’s to provide for the needs of those experiencing hunger, food insecurity, and lack of permanent housing through the Community Food Pantry, Lunches for the Homeless, and Breakfast and Showers programs.
University of North Carolina at Wilmington: $87,000, to allow MI CASA Mentoring Program to expand the diversity of tour locations throughout the state to focus on HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions. It will also provide laptops to program mentees to close technology gaps, secure spots in the Young Writers Camp, and organize a Transition Orientation Day and provide guidance for the first 30 days of higher education for MI CASA graduates attending college/university in the Fall 2024.
YWCA of the Lower Cape Fear Inc: $200,000, to continue operating as one of three year-round aquatics centers available to the public in New Hanover County. The grant will allow the YWCA to replace the equipment needed to convert their outdoor pool into an indoor facility.
Northside Food Cooperative: $249,715, for the Northside Food Cooperative to continue community engagement. The grant will fund the expansion of Frankie’s Outdoor Market and Northside Community Dinners while also building staff capacity through wage support.
Kids Making It, Inc.: $103,420, to allow Kids Making It to increase capacity and program reach. The grant will fund a new 15-passenger van, additional programming staff, security cameras and software, carport for additional external programming space, privacy fence, and new mailbox.
Eden Village of Wilmington: $55,000, for Eden Village to procure and operate a generator for residents with limited income to provide greater economic stability. The generator provides greater food security for the residents.
Child Development Center Inc: $65,500, for Child Development Center to support scholarships/tuition assistance for families for the summer program that runs 8 weeks and operates 5 days a week. This program provides a much-needed safe space for young learners of different abilities to continue their care in an inclusive setting designed to meet their needs.
Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc.: $100,000, to allow Legal Aid’s Wilmington office to fund Second Chance Wilmington, a criminal record expungement program and to expand to into driver’s license restoration and supporting services navigation.
Seeds of Healing Inc: $140,267, to expand the capacity of peer educators to engage clients with self-care, expanding program space for in-person services, and enabling proficient data collection, analysis, and dissemination of programmatic outcomes that measure impact and program milestones. This is an innovative and culturally sensitive program that meets individuals where they are to address HIV and they are the only program in New Hanover County doing this with a peer support network.
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