The Endowment awards $500k for 2026 Fall Community Grants

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The Endowment announced it is awarding $500,000 to 39 grants through its 2026 Fall Community Grants cycle.

The grants support nonprofit and community-serving organizations across New Hanover County working to expand opportunities, strengthen services and improve residents’ well-being.

Grant Awards:

• 2Share Inc: $15,000
  • To purchase approximately 75 to 100 beds for children, adults, and seniors at no-cost to low-income NHC
    households in need.
• Accessible Coastal Carolina Events, Sports & Services, Inc.: $13,724
  • To support the ACCESS Fit program, providing twice a week fitness exercise to adults and older adults,
    including virtual programs for homebound participants.
• Alliance for Cape Fear Trees: $15,000
  • To build the infrastructure needed to plant, distribute, and care for trees throughout NHC through the purchase of an enclosed trailer to transport trees, mulch, and tools, field equipment, an iPad for data collection, and personnel.
• Arid Serenity Association Inc: $15,000
  • To improve the safety, reliability, comfort, and energy efficiency of a substance-abuse recovery meeting facility through infrastructure improvements and building repairs.
• Autism Society of North Carolina Inc. (ASNC): $10,000
  • To purchase new playground equipment for an after-school and summer camp program for children with autism in NHC.
• Bread for Life Senior Pantry (BFL): $15,000
  • To purchase food and supplies to be distributed to participants and support operational expenses to operate the food pantry, such as rent, electricity, insurance, and office supplies.
• Brooklyn Arts Music Academy (BAMA): $15,000
  • To support Music Camp instructor fees and provide approximately 18 full and partial scholarships for low income children, expanding access to summer music education through individual instruction, ensemble participation, masterclasses, and performances.
• Camp Schreiber Foundation: $9,400
  • To support organizational vehicle operating costs for 15 young men in NHC high schools to reach tutoring, summer jobs, structured out-of-school time, college visits, and volunteer runs.
• Cape Fear Literacy Council (CFLC): $15,000
  • To support a strategic planning facilitator to focus on programmatic integrity, sustainability, succession planning, and physical space to continue to improve services and work toward long-term sustainability.
• Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh Inc: $15,000
  • To support the Clean Start Mobile Laundry Project, providing free mobile laundry services and social work support to unsheltered residents of NHC and disaster impacted communities.
• City of Wilmington – Police Department (CoW PD): $15,000
  • To support the Police Activities League (PAL) program to connect police officers with youth in NHC by engaging them in positive sports and activities to improve their quality of life, present developmental opportunities, and offer the prospect of a brighter future.
• Climb USA Inc: $9,500
  • To support the CLIMB Launchpad through outreach, education, and collaboration to address the need to elevate the wealth status of under resourced youth and families in the Sea Breeze and Myrtle Grove communities through investment education and capital markets engagement.
• Coastal Therapeutic Riding Program: $15,000
  • To expand access to equine-assisted activities and therapies for adults in NHC, with a focus on veterans and adults with disabilities through approximately 135 subsidized therapeutic riding sessions.
• Corporation for Inquiry: $14,730
  • To support Science of Reading education, expansion of decodable books, and teacher stipends to strengthen early literacy outcomes for K-2 students in NHC, while building teachers’ and families’ capacity to support evidence-based reading instruction.
• Diaper Bank of North Carolina (DBNC): $5,000
  • To support the Adult Incontinence Access Initiative to sustain adult incontinence product distribution through existing NHC partner network.
• Dreams of Wilmington Inc: $15,000
  • To provide daily afterschool programming at three sites for early middle schoolers through high schoolers, addressing Impact Zone’s core goals: reducing youth involvement in violence, mitigating adverse childhood experiences, and strengthening the education-to-workforce pipeline.
• Family Support Network of Southeastern North Carolina Inc. (FSN SENC): $15,000
  • To strengthen its Foster Care Wrap Around Support Program for foster and kinship caregivers in NHC through monthly caregiver support groups offering peer connection, a community meal, childcare, and evidence-informed education.
• Feast Down East Inc (FDE): $12,000
  • To support the Farmers Fighting Hunger program by covering a portion of food costs, providing fresh, local food to NHC partner agencies while investing in the local agricultural economy.
• Film Partnership of NC (FPNC): $15,000
  • To fund the paid workforce placements for CFCC Film & Video Production students from NHC through hands-on mentorship experiences and credited work opportunities.
• Financial Protection Law Center: $15,000
  • To provide free access to justice and assistance for individuals with low incomes and low wealth in NHC by expanding existing outreach and services through staff attorney support to conduct outreach throughout the County, attend partner events, and meet with eligible residents to help obtain property tax relief.
• Five 14 Revolution Inc: $10,000
  • To implement Empower DB, a cloud-based client management system that will replace the outdated software and allow to better track services, client progress, and outcomes to benefit survivors of human trafficking and exploitation in NHC.
• Going Beyond the Pink (GBTP): $14,500
  • To fund facility fees, curriculum and material development, assessments, marketing, and a facilitator stipend through the BLOOM Breast Cancer Support group for approximately 15 to 20 breast cancer patients and survivors per month.
• Hope Abounds. Inc.: $15,000
  • To expand its patient advocacy, medical navigation, and education services for children and adults undergoing cancer treatment, their caregivers, and families residing in NHC by providing individualized needs assessments, resource navigation, financial-assistance referrals, practical support, educational resources, and ongoing advocacy throughout treatment.
• IndependentWorks: $9,400
  • To sustain and expand the Community Without Walls program, a social and educational program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities by funding a customer relations management software and programmatic expenses.
• Jo Ann Carter Harrelson Center Inc: $11,000
  • To support the Dollars & Sense (D&S) financial literacy workshops to address an urgent and significant need in NHC for accessible financial literacy programming for families that are seeking financial assistance for their housing crisis.
• Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum (CAM): $15,000
  • To support the Art, Mind, & Body, a free weekend of programming, bringing healthcare organizations, community providers, and arts-based wellness programs together in a welcoming, non-clinical setting to approximately 700 NHC residents.
• NAMI – Wilmington: $7,500
  • To support increased access to Peer Connections Support Groups and Family Support Groups for NHC residents through free, welcoming, stigma-free spaces where adults with mental health conditions can connect with others, learn about mental health, and find resources and encouragement.
• Outreach of Cape Fear: $12,000
  • To provide free or substantially reduced access to soccer year-round to NHC youth by offsetting the cost of fall, spring, and summer soccer league, soccer balls, equipment, protective gear, and uniforms.
• Paul E Gregory Foundation for Charity Inc: $8,246
  • To purchase professional-grade construction tools to expand and enhance its Be What’s Next Construction Career Exploration Lab (CCEL), a mobile workforce development classroom where NHC students between 5 and 18 can learn about the construction industry through hands-on experiences.
• Purpose Church International Inc: $15,000
  • To support a 6-month program serving approximately 25-30 NHC adults age 55+ through monthly gatherings and a Senior Prom Social to create consistent opportunities for social connection, wellness, digital literacy, and access to community resources.
• Sleep in Heavenly Peace Inc (SHP): $10,000
  • To provide a minimum of 32 NHC youth-in-need with a bed to enhance sleep quality, improve academic performance, and increase family stability.
• United Way of the Cape Fear Area (UWCFA): $15,000
  • To provide flexible emergency assistance to vulnerable households during extreme winter weather events, preventing utility shutoffs, supporting emergency sheltering, and ensuring access to safe warming resources, prioritizing older adults, individuals with disabilities, families with young children, and households experiencing financial hardship.
• VENTURE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: $5,000
  • To support the Venture Kids Club, a free weekly after-school program serving approximately 20-25 elementary-aged children in the Market North community through consistent enrichment programming, meet practical needs that can affect the child’s success and confidence, and strengthen relationships with participating families.
• Vigilant Hope Inc: $15,000
  • To launch a mobile community center to serve low-to-moderate income Southside adults and children, homeowners and renters, youth seeking opportunities, and other local organizations by hosting Family Fun Nights and Homeowner Supports.
• Wilmington Chapter of Medical Assistants: $8,000
  • To expand educational activities, professional development, networking, outreach, and member engagement through attendance of 80 current and prospective medical assistance from NHC at the 2027 NCSMA Conference.
• Wilmington Chapter of the Links, Incorporated: $15,000
  • To support the Wilmington Chapter of the Links mentoring program through an educational and cultural experience to Chicago to connect 20 girls and 5 adults at Snipes Academy of Arts and Design to real-world people, places, art, and opportunities.
• Wilmington Children’s Museum Inc.: $15,000
  • To support the Children’s Courtyard project to transform a portion of the museum’s existing outdoor space into an accessible, comfortable, and functional outdoor classroom for children and their caregivers in NHC.
• Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) of Southeastern North Carolina Inc.: $15,000
  • To support the YMCA Senior Connections Pilot using existing YMCA transportation capacity to reduce social isolation, improve access to healthy food and essential services, and support healthy aging among older adults in NHC.
• Young Scientist Academy (YSA): $15,000
  • To support the Connecting Community and Careers initiative through linking NHC students with local STEM employers, building technical workplace skills for careers in healthcare, advanced manufacturing, marine science, and clean energy.

Grant funds must be used by July 30, 2027, with final impact reports due by August 30, 2027.