
NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The Endowment announced Tuesday it awarded $12 million in grants to 14 organizations across New Hanover County, with the bulk, at more than $8 million, awarded to address community safety.
The funding will go toward improving access to trauma-informed services, crisis care, and support services while also providing mentorship, re-entry, life skills development and workforce training programs.
“These investments reflect a deliberate, data-informed strategy to strengthen New Hanover County,” President and CEO Sophie Dagenais said in a press release. “The slate announced today reflects our plans, shared at our recent public meeting and board listening session, to occasionally convene and work with grantees as a group, to complement individual grant awards. Using this approach, we hope to deepen our impact and help organizations learn from one another, strengthen collaboration, and demonstrate how systems of support are interconnected.”
Below is the full list of grantees:
A Safe Place – $313,806 to support long-term, safe, transitional housing and support for victims of human trafficking in New Hanover County.
Boys and Girls Club of Southeastern North Carolina – $419,348 for the launch of a safety-focused, trauma-informed care model along with targeted outreach to underserved youth for participation in youth-development programs.
DREAMS Center for Arts Education – $412,000 over three years to support facility upgrades and resources, and help build diversified and sustainable funding pathways, for youth development through arts education.
Education Without Walls – $160,000 over two years to provide intensive case management and life skills development for at-risk youth.
Family Promise of the Lower Cape Fear – $260,226 over two years to support transitional housing for unhoused families with children under 18, along with operating expenses for development and property maintenance.
Foster Pantry, Inc. – $200,000 over two years to support services, resources, and programs for children in foster care, youth aging out of foster care, and kinship caregivers.
Five14 Revolution – $822,600 over three years to support operating expenses to increase staff capacity relative to client load and sustain their work in the community for victims of human trafficking.
Keep Your Hands Off Me, Inc. – $300,000 over two years to support direct services for victims of intergenerational abuse, with an emphasis on sexual abuse.
Legal Aid of North Carolina – $462,814 for one year to support civil legal services for families in need, including protective orders, housing assistance, and expungement.
Leading Into New Communities, Inc. – $2,069,736 over two years to support reentry services, including transitional housing, mental health counseling, employment assistance, and healthcare connections.
United Way of Cape Fear – $2,801,248 over two years to support a network of nonprofit and public partners serving residents in neighborhoods where social determinants of crime are above the county average.
Advise NC via University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Precollege Mentoring Program – $675,000 for over three years to provide post-secondary near-peer advising support in three high schools—John T. Hoggard, Eugene Ashley, and Career Readiness Academy at Mosley PLC—through one-on-one student advising, parent and family engagement, FAFSA assistance, college application assistance, creation of a Next Step Plan, and planning and facilitating student engagement opportunities.
United Way of Cape Fear – Up to $25,000 for one year to explore the StriveTogether implementation model and sponsor a group from New Hanover County to attend a national conference.
Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity – $950,000 for one year to support the acquisition of a 30-acre site for the development and construction of 150-200 new and affordable homes in New Hanover County.
Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear – $2,507,000 for one year to launch and establish a Social Care Network to strengthen local service delivery systems, create a community care hub, expand access to essential support, and improve coordination among healthcare and community-based organizations.
At Port City Daily, we aim to keep locals informed on top-of-mind news facing the tri-county region. To support our work and help us reach more people in 2026, please, consider helping one of two ways: Subscribe here or make a one-time contribution here.
We appreciate your ongoing support.

