$2 million grant awarded to support bridge repair

Grants totaling $3,341,100 were awarded last week from The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC)’s Emergency and Disaster Response Fund to support continuing relief and recovery services in Western North Carolina. With this round, more than $12.8 million has been awarded to nonprofit organizations across 18 counties, including the Qualla Boundary.

A $2,000,000 grant was awarded to Lutheran Disaster Response Carolinas, a ministry of the North Carolina Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) to partner with Mennonite Disaster Service in rebuilding private bridges destroyed by the hurricane. The project will prioritize the hardest hit areas in Avery, Mitchell, Yancey, Madison, Rutherford, and Buncombe counties and bridges that impact multiple families or critically vulnerable persons. An estimated 5,000 private bridges were damaged by the storm.

“Lutheran Disaster Response and Mennonite Disaster Service have the track record and expertise to respond to this need and are set to break ground on the first bridge in January,” said CFWNC President Elizabeth Brazas. “They are in communication with local leadership and have support to process permits needed to avoid delays.”

A key component of this project is to retain and employ the Mennonite Disaster Service standard of bridge building. Their engineering expertise and steel beam and wood plank system will ensure that these bridges can withstand more weather events.

“We are enormously grateful for the generous grant from CFWNC in support of our Bridging Together partnership with Mennonite Disaster Service, stated the Rev. Ray Sipe and the Rev. Ruth Ann Sipe, coordinators of Lutheran Disaster Response Carolinas. “A gift of this size will allow us to help many families get home safely.”

Additional important recovery works continues. This grant cycle also includes:

$250,000 to Centro Unido Latino-Americano to provide continued direct assistance to individuals and families affected by the hurricane and to support them in stabilizing their housing in McDowell, Buncombe, Burke, and Mitchell counties.

$280,000 to Buncombe Partnership for Children to support re-opening costs at eight childcare facilities that are currently inoperable due to facility damage caused by the storm.

$142,600 to Blue Ridge Partnership for Children to assist with costs that will help seven childcare facilities in Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey counties reopen.

$59,800 to Western North Carolina Regional Educational Foundation to create a temporary position assisting WNC School systems in assessing and prioritizing needs arising during recovery and researching and coordinating groups to help meet those needs.

Complete lists of grants can be reviewed at cfwnc.org.

If you wish to support aid to those affected by the storm, you can donate to the Emergency and Disaster Response Fund at www.cfwnc.org. Administrative fees are waived so that every dollar goes directly to assistance.

CFWNC makes grants in 18 Western North Carolina counties including the Qualla Boundary. Bringing people together to address regional issues or crises is a key role of community foundations.