What’s New

CFWNC has announced Recession Response grants totaling $110,000 supporting OnTrack Financial Education & Counseling and MANNA FoodBank. The grants directly address critical needs in Western North Carolina and will help families stay in their homes and keep food on the table.

The mortgage crisis at the root of the economy's trouble continues to plague homeowners whose home values have plunged and who may have been victims of predatory lending practices. OnTrack has a 99.2% success rate in helping those in mortgage default avoid foreclosure. The organization will receive $60,000 to add staff positions including a Mortgage Default & Delinquency Intake Specialist, a Housing/Financial Counselor and a seasonal Tax Preparation Specialist.

These funds will provide counseling services to an additional 1,200 people dealing with a housing crisis including impending foreclosure sales. The Tax Preparation Specialist will assist an additional 150 families saving an average of $200 per return in fees and increasing the income of eligible families by an average of $1,200 in Earned Income Tax Credits. OnTrack has identified professional staff for these positions and can increase service capacity immediately.

Decreased donations from the food industry, coupled with 30-40% increase in need have created a "perfect storm" of hardship for those served by MANNA FoodBank.   The Recession Response Fund grant of $50,000 will enable their  Food  Sourcing  Coordinator to devote time and resources to new food solicitations, desperately needed by its network of 331 partnering agencies that are facing extraordinary challenges.  This network of charitable and faith-based organizations is crucial to MANNA's ability to get food to those in need across our region.  MANNA will also use a portion of the grant funds to offset costs in order to provide more than 100,000 pounds of food for elderly, children and families during the next two months.

"In these difficult and uncertain times, we are grateful for this effort by The Community Foundation," said Kitty Schaller , MANNA FoodBank's executive director.  "Supporting the food sourcing staff will have a marked impact on our ability to gather and to provide food.  The benefit of consistent contact with farmers, food processors, supermarkets and other food banks will be invaluable.  As a result, MANNA will feed more people struggling with hunger, and we will prevent food from going to waste."

"These first Recession Response grants were made strategically to leverage the funds to have broad impact in addressing urgent needs," Bob Wagner , CFWNC vice president of programs, said. "Both MANNA and OnTrack have excellent track records in the community and can move quickly to deliver essential services." Additional grants will be made from the Recession Response Fund and will support key nonprofits addressing housing, hunger, medical services, heating subsidies and economic stimulus. Details of the program will be announced in mid-February.