ZSR Awards $1.7 Million to 34 Community Projects in Rural NC
The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (ZSR) Board of Trustees has awarded 34 grants totaling almost $1.7 million to local organizations that are meeting rural communities’ needs across North Carolina.
The grants, awarded at the board’s May meeting, span counties from Cherokee in the west to Chowan in the northeast.
The programs address a wide range of community needs and issues, such as youth services, arts programming, housing, substance use disorders, rural economic development and food insecurity.
The following examples show how the organizations funded are serving their communities in diverse ways:
- Anson County Homes of Hope (Anson County) will renovate and upgrade homes in Wadesboro to help provide temporary housing for families experiencing homelessness. No family shelter exists in the area, and Homes of Hope is offering critical support to help families get back on their feet.
- Cultivator (Hertford County), a cultural and resource hub for community members in Ahoskie, provides free opportunities for young people to participate in theater and explore other creative and artistic endeavors.
- The Bakersville Beautification Association (Mitchell County) is assisting downtown property owners, whose buildings were battered during Hurricane Helene, with improved façades, awnings, landscaping and accessibility features.
- Southeastern Life Center (Robeson County) is helping people facing economic hardship achieve long-term self-sufficiency. Their integrated model helps community members access transportation, food, housing, education, workforce training and more.
- Richmond County Rescue Mission (Richmond County) will launch a Community Health Worker program to support people with health system navigation, benefits enrollment assistance and care coordination during transitional periods such as detox discharge, reentry or hospitalization.
These are just five examples of how nonprofits will use new funding to continue or expand their critical work.
The grants are made through ZSR’s Community Progress Fund. Ranging from $20,000-30,000 a year for one or two years, grants provide short-term funding to meet direct needs, test new ideas or expand promising efforts in NC’s rural counties.
Here is the full list of funded organizations:
- Anson County Homes of Hope (Anson County)
- Asheboro Latinxs Services (Randolph County)
- Bakersville Beautification Association (Mitchell County)
- Burke County Literacy Council (Burke County)
- Caswell Council for Arts and History (Caswell County)
- Cherokee Clay Food Alliance (Cherokee County)
- Children’s Advocacy Center of Caldwell County (Caldwell County)
- Cultivator (Hertford County)
- Deaf and Blind Pathways Foundation (Burke County)
- Edenton Home Boys Social Civic Club (Chowan County)
- Edmonds Tennis and Education Foundation (Vance County)
- El Refugio (Lee County)
- Eustress (Bertie County)
- Habitat for Humanity of Caldwell County (Caldwell County)
- Holler Harm Reduction (Madison County)
- Homes of Hope (Stanly County)
- Hope to Destiny for Youth (Lenoir County)
- Lost Province Center for the Cultural Arts (Ashe County)
- Melissa Murphy Ministries International (Jones County)
- NC One Hundred Strong (Rockingham County)
- Neuse Regional Libraries (Lenoir County)
- Perry’s School Alumni (Franklin County)
- Pride of Bertie (Bertie County)
- Ransom Activity Center (Columbus County)
- Restoration House WNC (Swain County)
- Richmond County Rescue Mission (Richmond County)
- Safe Spot Child Advocacy Center of Wilkes (Wilkes County)
- Seeds of Hope Wilson (Wilson County)
- Seventh Generation Society (Robeson County)
- Southeastern Life Center (Robeson County)
- Surry County Friends of Youth (Surry County)
- Unidxs Western North Carolina (Jackson County)
- Watauga Housing Council (Watauga County)
- YMCA of Avery County (Avery County)
English 
Español