New Hanover Community Endowment awards 16 new grants

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The New Hanover Community Endowment has announced it will award 16 new grants worth more than $20 million.

Supporting Learning for All Ages:

• New Hanover County Schools – $2.7 million: To pilot a targeted staffing initiative to close achievement gaps, support positive behavior, increase student engagement, improve graduation rates, and create positive learning environments.
• Cape Fear Literacy Council – $370,000: To expand free one-on-one tutoring and small-group instruction in Adult Literacy, English as a Second Language, and Digital Literacy.
• Child Development Center – $200,000: In support of students with disabilities and their needs, by bridging gaps between state funding and the true cost of education and therapeutic
  services.
• Young Scientist Academy – $289,292: To expand in-school and after-school STEM programs.
• YWCA of Lower Cape Fear – $564,800: To support kinship care by assisting grandparents serving as foster caregivers, enhance aquatics programs for children and under-resourced groups, and expand childcare capacity through strategic capital improvements.

Strengthening Health and Supportive Services:

• Community Care of Lower Cape Fear – $1.5 million: For the development of a Social Care Network with local Human Service Organizations building on the success of the Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP).
• LifeCare Memory Partners – $5.1 million: To expand dementia care services and strengthen support for families, including resources, education, and programs that enhance quality of life for individuals living with memory loss and their caregivers.
• Welcome Home Angel – $1,143,304: Tn support of individuals with special health needs and to launch the ABLE program, incorporating the CAPABLE model to help participants safely and independently age in place.
• Elderhaus – $987,350: To strengthen programs and operations for older adults through operating and capital investment that promote social engagement and well-being.
• Family Promise of the Lower Cape Fear – $50,000: To support emergency sheltering and homelessness and foster care prevention.

Promoting Community Safety for Vulnerable Residents:

• Domestic Violence Shelter and Services – $1.4 million: To sustain and expand prevention and intervention services for survivors of intimate partner violence.
• Legal Aid of North Carolina – $1.1 million: To consolidate and strengthen services by colocating staff at the Harrelson Center and continuing the Second Chance Program to reduce recidivism and improve employment outcomes.
• Carousel Child Advocacy Center – $1.9 million: To support operations and promote program sustainability in New Hanover County.
• Voyage (Blue Ribbon Commission on the Prevention of Youth Violence) – $560,000: To support violence prevention programs and services targeting youth including, enrichment and employment initiatives and case management.

Expanding Affordable Housing and Healthy Food Access:

• New H.O.P.E. CDC – $2.2 million: To purchase and renovate an 11-unit, 22-bed apartment complex for conversion to workforce housing.
• Catholic Charities, Cape Fear Office – $248,000: To expand mobile food pantry services and provide targeted support for individual facing transportation and accessibility barriers to food access.

The endowment said these grants reflect the breadth and ambition of their work, addressing critical needs across all ages, strengthening families and communities.

With these grants, the New Hanover Community Endowment’s 2025 total climbs to 158 awards an more than $45 million to support local residents.