City of Wilmington issued the following announcement on Nov. 17.
Wilmington City Council unanimously awarded $700,000 to local nonprofits that provide critical services in the community and arts-based programming at its regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 16. The city partnered with the United Way of the Cape Fear Area and Arts Council of Wilmington/New Hanover County to oversee the application process and to distribute the grants.
This additional community investment comes on the heels of a $3.5 million investment in affordable housing, $2 million investment in small businesses, $400,000 in workforce training, $200,000 to combat food insecurity among others and is part of a larger effort to put $9 million of ARPA funding into economic and community assistance.
A volunteer committee comprised of community members, including City Councilmembers Clifford Barnett and Kevin Spears, set the eligibility requirements, determined scoring criteria, and evaluated applications based on services the nonprofits provide, pandemic-related financial hardships, and if the nonprofit serves one or more underserved populations such as disconnected youth, low-income households, persons with disabilities, veterans, and others. Mayor Pro-Tem Margaret Haynes, community organizer Hollis Briggs, and Arts Council Secretary Elizabeth Carbone evaluated the arts-related applications.
“We asked community leaders to be the decision makers on where these dollars will go,” Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said. “City staff and council members played an important role, but the perspective of community leaders really shaped how we put these funds to work in the community and helped us put them to work quickly and equitably.”
“Our investment in these organizations builds upon the city’s longstanding strategic funding partnerships with nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations. This new funding will amplify their valuable cultural, economic, and positive health impacts as we all work together to recover from the pandemic,” said Mayor Saffo.
In total, 35 organizations will receive up to $50,000. Those recipients are:
- Big Dawg Productions
- Brigade Boys & Girls Club
- Brooklyn Arts Music Academy
- Cameron Art Museum
- Canines for Service
- Cape fear Chorale
- Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity
- Cape Fear HealthNet
- Cape Fear Literacy Council
- Child Development Center
- Community Boys & Girls Club
- Community Counseling Center
- Cucalorus Film Foundation
- Diaper Bank of North Carolina Lower Cape Fear Branch
- Domestic Violence Shelter and Services, Inc.
- Dreams of Wilmington
- Family Promise of the Lower Cape Fear
- Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC
- Forward Motion Dance Company
- Good Shepherd Center
- Leading Into New Communities
- Opera Wilmington
- So What Now, Inc.
- Soaring as Eagles
- Thalian Association
- The Carousel Center
- Theatre for All
- Turning the Wheel
- Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry
- Wilmington Art Association
- Wilmington Ballet
- Wilmington Symphony Orchestra
- Wilmington’s Residential Adolescent Achievement Place
- Working Narratives
- YWCA Lower Cape Fear
All awards are given in accordance with U.S. Treasury ARP guidance and NC General Statute authorization. The City of Wilmington received an approximately $26 million allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law March 11, 2021. The money will be disbursed to the city through two installments of approximately $13 million in the next two years. The funds must be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024. The city received the first installment of $13 million earlier this year.
Original source can be found here.
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