Thank you for your interest in our virtual community meetings where we shared updates on regional investments, provided an overview of the progress made toward developing goals in each of our four Strategic Priority areas and heard community input.
Dogwood accepts pre-applications for funding on a rolling basis. This pre-application, which you can begin here (or download the Word version here), offers a place to share ideas and plans and initiate the process of working with the Dogwood Health Trust Impact Team. Once this pre-application is received through our online portal, an Impact Team member will follow-up within a few days.
We supply both single- and multi-year grants, depending on the scope of the work.
We anticipate doing more requests for proposals in 2022 that can help us gather partners around certain goals for deeper or broader impact. As always, our goal will be to keep the RFP process as smooth and easy as possible. However, we also know that there will be opportunities beyond our RFP process that will complement and support our goals, so we will keep the rolling grants application process open.
As a private foundation, we are limited in some aspects of our funding and have shared these limitations on our Funding page. Some of these limitations include not making direct payments to individuals, for-profit companies, and/or work outside of our 18-county service area.
Absolutely! We recognize that many organizations operate programs that address one or more of our four strategic priorities and can help create solutions across all these areas and more.
Dogwood is proud to have made grants of all sizes while also encouraging some of our smaller partners to dream bigger and think about ways to grow their reach and impact. Sometimes we can be the spark that gets a new idea or initiative going. On the other hand, we are limited by the IRS as to how much of any single organization’s budget we can contribute. With all this in mind, we often encourage smaller organizations to explore opportunities for partnership with other nonprofits or government agencies to help elevate their work for broader or deeper impact. We always welcome this conversation and can help organizations looking for these connections.
Dogwood does intend to support capacity building that will help improve our nonprofit sector’s ability to tackle specific issues, and we are currently defining our approach for this. We have a belief that we cannot achieve our goals if our partners in the region are not strong, so supporting the organizational infrastructure of our partners is important. We want to make capacity building funding as flexible as possible to meet the different needs of different communities. Things we might fund could include data and research, facilitation and convening, community meetings, and/or leadership development. We will have more to share about that as we finalize our goals and move into in 2022, and we will be utilizing partners to do a lot of that work as well.
Yes! Collaboration and community ownership are absolutely necessary if our region is going to dramatically improve health and wellness. Therefore, we would be very interested in learning more about community-driven collaboratives that are aligned with our strategic priorities.
We are always open to ideas and having a conversation. That is how we learn and how we make new connections. For new organizations, we would want to know about the need the organization seeks to address, whether similar organizations already exist, and where there may be opportunities to leverage – rather than duplicate – existing efforts. Support for a new organization might come from direct assistance from Dogwood, also may be offered through a capacity building organization that is a Dogwood partner.
In our budgeting process, we look at the opportunities rather than having predetermined amounts to deploy for each of the areas. We also know that our priority areas are tightly intertwined, so rather than focus solely on dividing grant dollars between each area or another, we also look for cross-sector solutions that will dramatically improve the health and wellbeing of all Western North Carolinians.
To start, we use data such as the Community Health Assessments that are available for every community. We also are commissioning our own data collection and studies to inform our work. But the primary way we learn about the needs and opportunities within communities is through our conversations with our partners on the ground, and through the community members who serve alongside our board members on our Programs & Grants Committee. We look for opportunities to invest in organizations that have a reach into multiple counties and can activate other partners on the ground. We also look at some of those smaller, but deeply knowledgeable and innovative partners who are driving true change in their communities and becoming beacons for others.
Dogwood recognizes that moving the needle in the areas of Housing, Education, Economic Opportunity and Health & Wellness will mean intentionally including those who are often left out of the conversations to work together toward equitable outcomes. We do this by working to identify community partners who are deeply engaged with those impacted by the needs they seek to address. As a private foundation, Dogwood does not have a public grant approval process, but we do include community members who serve alongside our board on our Programs & Grants Committee.
Requesting support from the Leverage Fund only requires a conversation to discuss the funding you’re seeking and the best grant writer match for you. Dogwood’s support typically includes the fees of the professional grant writer and other costs that may be associated with creating a competitive grant application; however, we remain open to listening to the specific needs of our partners and how we may be able to help. Please send us an email at [email protected] to get started. You can also learn more about the Leverage Fund here.
Per IRS regulations, new private foundations like Dogwood Health Trust have five years to ramp up to the 5% payout requirement. However, we are making every effort to accelerate that timeline. By the end of this year, we will have invested more $65 million in our communities, and we expect to exceed that next year. Right now, we are estimating somewhere around $75 million in grants for 2022, but we won’t have a final number until our board meets and approves our 2022 grantmaking budget later this year.
Dogwood has, and will continue to, work with the Legacy Foundations as funding partners, sharing support for projects in the region. For example, over the past year we’ve worked with Gateway Wellness Foundation in the east region on the creation of two different affordable housing projects. And we’ve worked with Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation in the west region to support a new primary care health clinic. In this way, we and the Legacy Foundations are able to leverage one another’s work to increase overall impact.
Dogwood has many partners and local community foundations are certainly among them. On more than one occasion, Dogwood partnered with the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina to quickly get emergency funds into the region for COVID-19 support, equitable vaccine distribution and natural disaster response. Dogwood also has partnered with local United Way organizations and other foundations to help meet local immediate needs.
We are in the process of establishing the metrics for each of our Strategic Priority goals, so that we will know whether we are “moving the needle.” Some of those metrics exist for our region, and some may not. We will be engaging data experts to help us think through this piece, and where there are gaps or where the data doesn’t exist, we are likely to commission regional studies, which we will share with the region. Ultimately, our goal is to be completely transparent with regard to our grantmaking goals and metrics for success, and we will absolutely share these once they are identified.
While the people of WNC have long realized the limits we face in broadband access, the pandemic highlighted the need to enhance connectivity, and we see how this is essential to make progress in all of Dogwood’s strategic priority areas. IRS regulations limit the ways in which we can support broadband expansion, but we are very interested in partnering on projects related to improving broadband access to support education and healthcare, bridging rural divides and addressing racial equity issues specifically. Please reach out to our team at [email protected] – we’d love to hear ideas for potential projects!
Dogwood has a strong commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion across every one of the four strategic priority areas. And we’ve granted more than $5 million since last fall for specific racial equity projects. Some of those have included data collection to inform reparations work, and we have proposals currently in our system that would do even more.
When we say “create a WNC where every generation can live, learn, earn and thrive – no exceptions,” we mean just that: no exceptions. That includes finding ways to address the needs of persons with disabilities in housing, education, economic opportunity and health & wellness – and in places where those strategic priorities might intersect. Over the past year, we have invested in housing and health and wellness projects specifically targeted at populations with physical and mental disabilities.
The issues around affordable housing – whether rental or owned – are especially acute for our region’s seniors. In fact, a housing study that Dogwood commissioned showed a need for approximately 7,000 rental units and 2,000 single family homes for our older neighbors. That is why Dogwood set as one of its four goals in the Housing strategic priority to create new units of affordable senior housing across our region, with the support they need to successfully age in place.
As one of our four main Housing goals, we are certainly concentrating on individuals who need housing that includes supportive resources. We will continue to develop the right partnerships to make sure that we have enough of this specific type of affordable rental housing that will support some of our most vulnerable populations including persons with disabilities and our seniors.
Dogwood’s approach to housing is on a continuum because there is no one-size-fits-all approach. There is strong evidence that Housing First and permanent supportive housing are effective means for ending homelessness. Studies have shown that supportive housing decreases interaction with police and the justice system, increases access to health and behavioral health services through proper channels, improves people’s quality of life, and costs the community about one-third less than people living on the streets and in shelters. To that end, Dogwood is currently funding programs that use the Housing First model. Our partners in this work are creating truly transformational outcomes and are creating a great benefit for our community.
We realize that home ownership – or even rental housing – can become challenging if people can’t maintain their homes or maintain the income levels they need to keep a home. It can also be difficult to maintain a safe and stable home if the neighborhood around you has fallen into disrepair. By working collaboratively with our partners, Dogwood can help provide supportive services to address other needs for individuals who may be struggling. These services might include physical or mental health supports, financial counseling, home repairs, or others depending on need.
Dogwood can support the development of affordable housing in several ways. Our preference is to provide grants to nonprofit housing developers, or to make short-term investments in the form of bridge loans or loan guarantees to help close funding gaps for affordable housing development. We can become longer-term equity partners in developments if no other avenues are available.
Dogwood has supported a number of organizations that perform home repairs and renovations on existing individual structures. We plan to continue this work in partnership with local organizations that work with individual homeowners.
Dogwood’s Commitment to Equity underscores everything that we do. As one of our first grantmaking endeavors, we allocated $5 million specifically to support racial equity work. We began by providing $2.8 million in Racial Equity Community Building Grants to 130 organizations. Our goal is to infuse capital while recognizing and supporting the great work of organizations whose primary purpose is serving Black, indigenous and communities of color, and whose leadership is representative of the communities they serve. Our children need to see a clear connection between what they’re learning as compared to what they are experiencing in the world around them. We have been proud to support efforts to provide a more relevant and resonant education experience for children of color in partnership with several organizations led by and serving communities of color, and will continue to do even more within our Education Strategic Priority area.
Hatteras Venture Partners manages the Pisgah Fund, which will seek out and make investments in start-up or existing high growth companies that can deliver innovative products or services to improve health in the region, and that will produce well-paying jobs for Western North Carolina residents. The Fund intends to initially focus efforts on engaging life science companies in WNC with high growth opportunities at various stages of development, including, but not limited to, founding, seed and growth capital. Dogwood’s investment in the Pisgah Fund is just one of many holdings in our investment portfolio and is separate from our grantmaking funds – but it is a way for us to support economic opportunity in our region beyond our grantmaking work. Companies interested in learning more about The Pisgah Fund are encouraged to visit pisgahfund.com or contact Lauren Flickinger, lead fund manager, at [email protected].
We recognize that all four of our strategic priorities are deeply intertwined, and that families and communities will often need improved access to more than one area at a time. Transportation is key to the overall “livability” and connections that are critical to health and wellness. We anticipate that many of the cross-sector projects we fund will have a transportation component, as identified by our grantee partners and the communities served.
Yes! Achieving our goals will take many, many partners, and we are already working with many of the organizations described in this question.
We recognize the need for a whole-person approach to wealth building. A stable job, stable housing, a meaningful education and access to affordable health care are all important to helping build wealth and end the cycle of poverty. It’s also critical that we meet people wherever they are along their life’s journey. So, we are looking at not only education and skills training programs that can help individuals build savings, but also entrepreneurship opportunities that help build small businesses. We are looking at home ownership and affordable housing to help families accumulate wealth – particularly those who may have been left out of wealth-building opportunities in the past. And we are working to avoid losses of wealth due to catastrophic medical expenses by increasing access to affordable health care. In all of these areas and more, opening doors to the right kind of economic opportunity will help ensure a healthier, more fulfilling life.
This certainly is an area of concern and focus for us. Dogwood is currently in conversations with partners to learn how we can best support entrepreneurs – particularly entrepreneurs of color – especially in rural, low-income areas. Our focus is on identifying the barriers and then specifically addressing each of those barriers. Providing minority entrepreneurs with access to skilled practitioners and other supports may be a part of this approach.
While we are bound to fund the 18 counties we serve in Western North Carolina, we recognize that there could be opportunities to draw resources into our reach from communities that border our counties. We will also seek to increase opportunities for WNC residents so that neighboring states and counties are less likely to extract talent from our region.
Our work to address substance use prevention and treatment is a vital part of our health and wellness priority. We made a commitment to invest $5 million per year for five years toward reducing the needless deaths and tremendous burden from the epidemic. We met that goal in 2020 and are on track to do so again in 2021. We want to increase access to behavioral health and substance use prevention and treatment services as this issue was identified as a top community priority for all 18 counties in WNC in past health assessments. During the pandemic we’ve seen increases in behavioral health issues and substance use as a result. We will continue to work with many partners to provide and expand evidence-based prevention and treatment programs throughout our region.
While Dogwood is unlikely to fund clinical services that have other sources of billable revenue, we do want to increase access to behavioral health and substance use prevention and treatment services as part of our Health & Wellness portfolio. We also incorporate mental health needs into other areas of our funding, such as increased resiliency in our education work, and supportive services in housing to help those with debilitating hurdles like domestic violence or mental illness.
Dogwood recognizes the significant challenges our young people in western North Carolina are facing, and in each of our four strategic priority areas, we have a focus on high-risk individuals. Within our Health & Wellness priority area, our goals include working with partners to address and prevent trauma, especially for children and those who experience interpersonal violence. This work has already begun and will accelerate in the coming years as we develop more partnerships and increase our grantmaking. We look to our partners to help inform our work, and will follow their lead to engage in collaborative efforts and fund proven practices that will address the specific issues they identify as critical to achieving our shared goals.
In all we do, Dogwood will include partners who have deep knowledge around human services systems change and advocacy. We know that there are many organizations and leaders across our region who understand the needs of their communities better than anyone else so we will partner with organizations that provide these types of services for children and families in order to realize a respectful process and healthy outcomes. Our board is committed to funding programs to lower Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and toxic stress exposure to young children. We encourage pediatric, primary care, mental health and other health and wellness providers to integrate the ACE assessment into their clinical practice. Integrating this assessment and being able to report its results will assist in trauma-responsive data gathering and help us prioritize communities most in need of additional resources.
We realize that for our current and future healthcare workforce, we have a significant shortage, especially in rural areas. We also know that cultivating future healthcare providers from the rural areas will increase the chances that those individuals will come back home to serve their communities. Dogwood has supported programs that are giving high schoolers exposure to healthcare careers so students can begin to get experience through community colleges.
We have provided support to organizations that include community gardens in African-American neighborhoods, and we will also look for ways to connect individual gardens and organizations to larger projects that improve “homegrown” sustainable and accessible food systems not only in African-American neighborhoods but across the region.
As part of our Health & Wellness goals, we want to help create healthy communities that promote resiliency for individuals and families. A part of that will include increasing opportunities for active living and building overall social and community engagement. We’ve begun by investing in a pedestrian walkway around an affordable housing development and in an organization that encourages Black, Hispanic/Latino, Native American and other people of color to become interested in and take care and ownership of America’s public lands.
Our COVID-19 work was centered mostly around keeping our region as prepared and protected as possible. We sourced needed COVID-19 testing for the region and eventually supported the creation of a testing lab, CommunityLab WNC, dedicated to providing that service here. We also sourced and distributed 3 million dollars’ worth of Personal Protective Equipment, helped school districts purchase rural hotspots for at-home teaching and learning, supported basic needs like food and shelter, and helped small businesses stay afloat with faster access to PPP loans. In 2021, as vaccines became available, we pivoted to focus on supporting collaborations to effectively and efficiently deploy vaccine resources – especially the region-wide Vaccine Acceleration Consortium.
We realize that there is no substitute for a well-informed public. During COVID-19, we boosted the broad dissemination of targeted messaging about masking, maintaining distance, and hand washing, along with vaccine safety and availability to help increase the number of people choosing to get vaccinated. And we’ve supported innovative and brave people, like community health workers, faith institutions, and others who are willing to work deeply in communities to help educate individuals and provide connections to our life-saving vaccines. In addition to convening a regional network of medical and public health professionals and supporting their work, we have put considerable effort and resources into supporting organizations addressing the many consequences of the pandemic – things like food security, access to health care, housing assistance, and programs to close the education gap.
We believe that all of the efforts shared above will help us be ready to anticipate and address new crises as they arise.
Dogwood created this new nonprofit to assume the role of Network Lead for the Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP), the innovative new program that will help transform the health outcomes for Medicaid recipients in WNC. To stay up to date on what Impact Health will be doing in our region, please visit ImpactHealth.org and be sure to sign up for their newsletter. This is a completely separate organization from Dogwood Health with a separate funding stream and goals. Dogwood remains committed to serving those who may not be served by the Healthy Opportunities Pilot. Dogwood will continue to support organizations working to expand access to healthcare in North Carolina. We do this through grants to organizations like Pisgah Legal who are helping to increase ACA enrollment, and by joining organizations like Care4Carolina to elevate the discussion around closing the insurance coverage gap.
For more information,
please contact us or email
[email protected]
Address:
890 Hendersonville Rd
Asheville, NC 28803
Mailing:
890 Hendersonville Rd
Asheville, NC 28803
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