The Duke Endowment distributed nearly $113 million in 2011 to support organizations across the Carolinas, including $100,000 to Rowan Regional Medical Center Foundation to expand a free clinic serving the low-income, uninsured in Rowan County.
New grants approved in 2011 include:
• $438,000 to Carolinas HealthCare Foundation to help implement a childhood obesity prevention plan in Mecklenburg County.
• $109,000 to SAFEchild for a program that helps mothers in Wake County who have been exposed to domestic violence.
• $600,000 to the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium to increase the number of minority students entering the health field in South Carolina.
• $375,000 to Southmountain Children and Family Services in Burke County to expand trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for victims of child abuse in western North Carolina.
• $20,000 to support Carpenters for Christ, a program that provides housing for low-income families.
• $850,000 to the UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health to integrate primary care into programs for people with severe mental illness.
• $35,000 to Friendship United Methodist Church in Albemarle to support Bridge to Recovery, an addiction recovery program.
In 2011, Endowment Trustees also approved a multi-year $35 million grant to Johnson C. Smith University to support science programs, scholarships and capital improvements on campus; an $11.25 million multi-year grant to Health Sciences South Carolina to advance leading-edge programs; and a $2 million grant to Furman University to enrich the university’s fine arts program.
In all, new grants and new multi-year grants approved in 2011 totaled $130 million.
Based in Charlotte, and established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, The Duke Endowment is one of the largest private foundations in the country. Its geographic focus is restricted to North Carolina and South Carolina, and projects funded by its grants make a difference in children’s services, health care, rural churches and higher education.
In higher education, the Endowment awards grants to four institutions: Davidson College, Johnson C. Smith University and Duke University in North Carolina and Furman University in South Carolina. Funds support general university operations, capital projects and special programs that expand educational opportunities.
With its health care grants, the Endowment works through hospitals and health care providers to expand prevention and health equity, to improve the quality and safety of services and to increase access to care.
Through its child care grants, the Endowment aims to help at-risk children reach developmental milestones and prepare for adulthood.
By supporting rural United Methodist churches and their leaders in North Carolina, the Endowment helps expand church outreach across the region.
Since its inception, the Endowment has awarded more than $2.9 billion in grants. For a complete list, visit the Endowment’s website at www.dukeendowment.org.