CATEGORY
Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
15 grantees | $300,000 per year for two years
Funding organizations providing support to adults of all ages seeking employment-focused education or skills-based training to access stable employment.
CLICK ON INDIVIDUAL LOGOS TO LEARN ABOUT THE GRANTEES
Church World Service - Durham
Communities In Schools of Wake County
Community Empowerment Fund
Early Years
El Centro Hispano NC
GiGi's Playhouse Raleigh
Hayti Reborn - Justice Movement
Hope Renovations
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle
LIFE Skills Foundation
Refugee Community Partnership
StepUp Ministry
Triangle Native American Society
Urban Ministries of Durham
World Relief Durham
Church World Service - Durham
Service Area: Durham
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: cwsrdu.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
CWS Durham welcomes refugees, immigrants, and asylum-seekers from around the globe into lives of freedom, hope, and opportunity through direct services, advocacy, leadership development, and relationship-building. Our vision is a world where everyone has food, voice and a safe place to call home. CWS is guided by our core values:
Transparency – We build trust through open communication and accountability.
Integrity – We uphold honesty and responsibility in all our actions.
Inclusion – We foster a diverse, equitable, and welcoming environment.
Respect – We honor the unique backgrounds and experiences of those we serve.
Collaboration – We work alongside community partners to strengthen opportunities.
Innovation – We embrace creativity to develop effective solutions for economic mobility.
Welcome – We create a supportive space where newcomers can thrive.
These values drive our commitment to building sustainable, resilient communities where every individual has the opportunity to succeed.
Communities In Schools of Wake County
Service Area: Wake County
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: ciswake.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
Our Mission: To surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.
To best support the students, families, schools, community partners, and our staff members involved in this work, CIS Wake centers all decisions, actions, & services on these core values:
Community Empowerment Fund
Service Area: Durham, and Orange County
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: communityempowermentfund.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
The mission of the Community Empowerment Fund is to cultivate opportunities, assets, and communities that sustain transitions out of homelessness and poverty. Our approach combines person-centered support with financial services that pursue equity in order to reduce the racial wealth gap. VISION: Ending the racial wealth gap, empowering community VALUES:
Early Years
Service Area: Statewide
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: earlyyearsnc.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
At Early Years, we are dedicated to ensuring that all children have equitable access to affordable, high-quality early care and education, laying the foundation for successful life outcomes. Through research, services, and advocacy, we work to strengthen the early childhood system by supporting families, communities, and the workforce. We champion the rights of young children and their families, promote collaboration and partnership, and advocate for a respected and well-compensated early learning workforce. By fostering innovative solutions for the child care industry, we strive to create a future where every child thrives and every educator is valued.
El Centro Hispano NC
Service Area: Durham, Orange, and Wake County
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: elcentronc.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story: Mission:
El Centro Hispano’s mission is to strengthen the community, build bridges, and advocate for equity and inclusion. Vision:
Our vision is the Hispanic/Latino/Latinx community strengthening and advancing people in North Carolina and beyond.
Values:
Flexibility, Vocation to Serve, Teamwork, Respect, Leadership, Equity.
GiGi's Playhouse Raleigh
Service Area: Statewide
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: gigisplayhouse.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story: Mission: We make a lifetime commitment to changing lives and providing hope through the consistent delivery of FREE educational, therapeutic, and career development programs for individuals with Down syndrome, their families, and the community, using a replicable playhouse model. Vision: To see the world where individuals with Down syndrome are accepted and embraced in their families, schools, and communities.
Core Values:
Hayti Reborn - Justice Movement
Service Area: Durham, Orange, and Wake County
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: hrjm.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
Our Mission: To develop and coordinate a total Durham partnership of existing programs, resources, and organizations, ensuring seamless access to comprehensive services for community success.
Our Vision: Establish a one-stop-shop for Black, brown, justice-involved, and socioeconomically disadvantaged residents from marginalized communities to improve inequalities in social, economic, and criminal justice systems.
Our Values:
Hope Renovations
Service Area: Chatham, Durham, Orange, Wake, and beyond
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: hoperenovations.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
Mission: Hope Renovations builds futures and transforms lives with a dual mission: preparing underemployed women and gender-expansive individuals for construction careers and helping older adults age in place with dignity. Vision: We envision a world of gender equity in the construction industry, where all people can access the opportunity to renovate their lives.
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle
Service Area: Chatham, Durham, Orange, Wake, and beyond
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: foodshuttle.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle's mission is to FEED our Neighbors, TEACH self-sufficiency, and GROW healthy food by cultivating innovative approaches to end hunger. We work with over 200 partners across our seven-county area to achieve our shared vision of a hunger-free community. Founded on a model of food recovery (rather than large warehouse inventory), we rescue food then send it out into the community within 48 hours, often on the same day. Our greatest distinction is a 35-year history of providing a comprehensive approach to hunger relief. We began with Food Recovery & Distribution (1989), Grocery Bags for Seniors (1994), BackPack Buddies (1995), and Culinary Training (1998). From 2004-2014, this expanded to Nutrition Education, a 14-acre Farm, two Learning Gardens, Agriculture Education, and School Choice Pantries. Most recently, we added Gardens for Everyone (2020), the Spinning Plate Food Truck (2021), Farmers' Produce Initiative (2022), and an Agriculture Apprenticeship Program (2025).
LIFE Skills Foundation
Service Area: Durham, Orange, and Wake County
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
Mission: To empower transitional age youth to live stable, self-directed lives by providing them with housing and wraparound support services.
Vision: Every youth has the fundamental right to a life of happiness, full of possibility and free from oppression.
Guiding Principles:
Refugee Community Partnership
Service Area: Chatham, Durham, Orange, and beyond
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: refugeecommunitypartnership.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
RCP uses community-led design to disrupt threats to the health and safety of refugee and migrant communities, creating systems that connect people to the resources they need while mobilizing institutions to eliminate barriers to access. Centering transformative relationships, we work at the intersection of social mobility, health equity, and language justice.
We envision a world where migration is seen as courageous and is met with the supportive community, safety and healing necessary to rebuild home, and where well-being, belonging, and community participation is not defined by citizenship status, native language, or racial identity.
We value
Relationships First: Prioritize the connections between people
Anti-Racism: Examine and disrupt white dominance
Community-led Solutions: Those most impacted are the architects and implementers
Continuous Learning: Listen, self-reflect, and practice adaptation
Courageous Experimentation: Be guided by creativity and collective accountability
StepUp Ministry
Service Area: Wake County
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: stepupministry.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
StepUp Ministry's mission is to provide pathways for people to overcome barriers and transform their lives.
We envision a safe and thriving community where people have stability, equal opportunities, and purpose.
Our values:
Triangle Native American Society
Service Area: Chatham, Durham, Orange and Wake County
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: trianglenative.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
Mission: The Triangle Native American Society (TNAS) is a visionary entity empowering American Indian people residing in the Triangle community to become resilient leaders advocating for educational advancement, economic sufficiency, self-determination and cultural inclusiveness and awareness by capitalizing and building upon the strengths of the community and the infrastructure that promotes and encourages the blending of diverse groups.
TNAS serves as the official state-recognized governing body for the Triangle's Native American population (~10,000). TNAS aims to promote and protect the identity of Native Americans living in Wake, Johnston, Durham, Orange, and Chatham counties by providing educational, social, and cultural programs. TNAS serves community by addressing Native American needs, providing referral services, cultivating cultural awareness and public engagement, supporting Native education, and promoting unity and strength through advocacy for local Native Americans.
Urban Ministries of Durham
Service Area: Durham
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: umdurham.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
Urban Ministries of Durham connects with the community to end homelessness and fight poverty by offering food, shelter, and a future to neighbors in need. CORE VALUES:
World Relief Durham
Service Area: Durham, Orange and Wake County
Category: Sustainable Communities: Economic Resilience
Website: worldreliefdurham.org
Amount Awarded: $20,000
Our Story:
Mission: At World Relief, our mission is to boldly engage the world’s greatest crises in partnership with the church.
Vision: We envision thriving, welcoming communities where families flourish, and people experience restorative relationships with God, their neighbors, themselves, and all of creation.
Values: The example of Jesus in serving those in poverty and injustice; the local church’s role in bringing peace, justice and love; the centrality of individuals (staff, volunteers, clients, program participants, donors and partners) as actors in bringing peace, love, and justice; excellence/continuous improvement; partnership by seeking, facilitating and promoting collaboration among all stakeholders including local governments, the worldwide church, mission agencies, other NGOs and the business community; empowerment; prayer.
Respect – We believe in the inherent dignity and value of all people. We work to recognize and value each person’s strengths and abilities. We care for people across the diversity of race, gender, religious beliefs and non-belief, and sexual and political orientation.
Accountability – Each person owns their successes and setbacks. We expect each other to live up to the commitments we have made and the goals we have set. We remind everyone in the community of each person’s connection to all their neighbors and the duty to make our community more equitable.
Collaboration – We listen closely, work in partnership, and support the ways that those in need help one other. We work in concert with other organizations to end homelessness and extreme poverty. We all benefit when we use resources efficiently and work as a team.
We believe lives are transformed through God’s love and grace.
We are guided by the needs of our participants.
We are careful stewards of all relationships and resources in our care.
We seek and value diversity, inclusiveness, equality, accountability, and collaboration.
We joyfully celebrate efforts and success.
We will work with transitional age youth to help them identify and nurture their unique abilities.
We will provide consistent support to transitional age youth as they experience both success and challenges.
We will ensure housing and other basic needs are met so that transitional age youth can focus on higher level goals.
We will ensure our staff are competent and flexible in the way that we provide services in order to meet the individual needs of each program participant.
We will monitor and measure what we do in order to ensure we are providing the best possible services to program participants.
We will work with the community to improve opportunities for transitional age youth.
Housing Justice & Equity – Advocating policies to prevent displacement and provide homeownership.
Restorative Stability – Ensuring stable housing for safety and economic independence.
Community-Driven Solutions – Centering grassroots leadership in housing strategies.
Collaborative Action – Partnering with existing organizations for wrap-around services
Economic Empowerment – Connecting residents to jobs, financial literacy, and homeownership resources.
Systemic Change & Advocacy – Challenging policies that sustain housing discrimination and economic exclusion.
Enthusiasm by bringing positive, high energy
Best of All which means looking to improve in all we do
Get it Done by making things happen and blasting through barriers
Believe in ourselves, our mission, and that we can achieve all we set out to achieve
Locally Concerned and Enterprise Minded by bringing our Best of All to our local playhouse and being mindful of the broader GiGi’s network.
By helping individuals with Down syndrome reach their highest potential, we aim to change outdated perceptions and send a global vision of acceptance for all.
People-Centered Relationships: mutual respect, trust, non-judgmental, welcoming
Active Reflection and Co-Learning: create organizational space to critically reflect on and improve our work
Participatory Ownership: collaborative decision-making; centering lived experience
Financial Independence: financial security and economic equity for all
Community in Power: contextualize within systems of power; committed to racial and social justice and community-level change
Welcoming Connectors: cultivating an open network of values-aligned partners
Quality and Accountability: interconnected, transparent, mutual accountability
Integrity– We openly share how our work is done and hold ourselves accountable to our commitments.
Empathy– We intentionally build relationships to learn about people’s stories, validate their experiences, and deepen our understanding of situations different from our own.
Equity– We identify and work towards removing individual and systemic barriers so everyone has the same opportunity to achieve.
Authenticity– We create space for the people we work with and for them to be their truthful, complete selves without judgment.
Collaboration– We bring people together to plan and take action in our work, understanding that we make lasting change in partnership with one another.