Additional support for housing stability and small business relief included
Asheville, N.C. – Last week, the Dogwood Health Trust Board of Directors approved another $20+ million in grants in response to the devastation of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina (WNC). This round of funding follows an initial investment of more than $30 million announced Oct. 4, bringing Dogwood’s total Helene funding to more than $50 million to date.
This second round of funding builds upon Dogwood’s commitment to prioritize support for local organizations providing direct relief to people and communities impacted; supports additional partners providing FEMA navigation and legal referrals; and expands relief support for housing stability and small businesses throughout the region.
“We’ve heard from our partners that initial relief dollars are getting into the community quickly, instilling hope and making a difference,” says Dr. Susan Mims, CEO of Dogwood Health Trust. “We also hear about additional needs daily. This second wave of funding responds to those asks as Dogwood continues to lean into supporting relief, recovery and rebuilding for long-term resilience in Western North Carolina.”
Direct Relief and FEMA Navigation
Continuing to prioritize immediate needs, Dogwood is investing just over $2 million total in local organizations providing direct relief, including: Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation, Nantahala Health Foundation, Pisgah Health Foundation, Community Foundation of Henderson County, Polk County Community Foundation, YMCA of Avery County, YMCA of Western North Carolina, United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County, and United Way of North Carolina, which also includes five affiliated United Ways in the region.
An additional $400,000 total will go to Mountain Projects and CareReach to provide FEMA-related services for impacted communities in far western and eastern counties within the
Dogwood 18-county footprint.
Another $1.5 million will go to WNC Communities to support the continued relief needs of small farmers, both directly and to help them navigate small business loan applications. WNC Communities was a grantee in the first round of Dogwood’s relief funding, and farmers’ needs were so great that these dollars will bring necessary additional relief.
Housing Stability
Approximately $4 million total will be granted to partners focused on resident services and homelessness, including Homeward Bound for wraparound services for the unhoused; Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM) for veteran housing; and group of five nonprofit housing providers for tenant relief for their clients, who are disproportionately older and homebound adults and people living with disabilities. Providers include Givens Communities, Housing Assistance Corporation, Mountain Housing Opportunities, Northwest Housing Enterprises, and WNC Housing Partnership.
Small Business Relief & the WNC Small Business Initiative
Recognizing the economic fallout caused by Helene, most of the funding in this round responds to the urgent financial needs of small businesses and supports the organizations coordinating relief for small businesses.
Dogwood will invest a $10 million lead grant to create the Western North Carolina Small Business Initiative (WNCSBI), which will be led by Appalachian Community Capital (ACC). The initiative will offer immediate relief grants up to $25,000 to very small businesses in Dogwood’s 18 counties that experienced physical damage from the storm and have less than $1 million in annual revenue.
ACC’s mission is to increase small business lending by providing new sources of capital to its member institutions, many of which are Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI), across the 13 state Appalachian region.
The WNC region boasted more than 45,000 active small businesses before Helene. Recent analysis conducted by ACC shows that there are nearly 22,000 very small businesses located in the river valley Census tracts in disaster-designated counties in Dogwood’s footprint. Conservatively estimating that 10% of these businesses might be considered vulnerable and directly impacted by the hurricane, this indicates that as many as 2,200 small businesses could be assumed to qualify for support from the initiative.
“Small businesses are the heart of WNC’s economy, and we want to shore up as many as possible,” says Mims. “This initiative prioritizes helping small businesses in the hardest hit areas who may not qualify for other grant programs.”
ACC has contracted with Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF) to administer the initiative and coordinate with local, WNC-serving CDFIs, chambers of commerce, councils of government, and other partners to market the grant opportunity to local small businesses. CRF has a proven track record of managing small business grant pools in times of disaster and solid practices for protecting against fraud and abuse and ensuring fairness in the application process. ACC will also fundraise additional capital from funders and investors nationally to grow the initiative.
ACC will share criteria and open the application on its website on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, with grant awards being made within two weeks to qualifying small businesses. Links to the application will also be available through partners like CDFIs and chambers of commerce once it is live.
In addition to support for the WNCSBI, $1 million will also go to Mountain BizWorks for operational and staffing support for their existing small business programs that support recovery.
Dogwood will continue to make funding announcements in the future recovery and rebuilding efforts. Information and guidance about how to apply for relief support from partner organizations can be found on Dogwood’s Hurricane Helene Response and Resources webpage or dogwoodhealthtrust.org/hurricane-helene.
About Dogwood Health Trust
Dogwood Health Trust is a private foundation based in Asheville, North Carolina with the sole purpose of dramatically improving the health and wellbeing of all people and communities in the Qualla Boundary and the 18 counties of Western North Carolina. Dogwood Health Trust focuses on innovative and equitable ways to address the many factors that contribute to overall health and wellbeing, with a focus on housing, education, economic opportunity, and health and wellness. Dogwood Health Trust works to create a Western North Carolina where every generation can live, learn, earn and thrive, with dignity and opportunity for all, no exceptions. To learn more, please visit www.dht.org.
