The Duke Endowment Funds provides supplemental relief for families across North Carolina

It’s been more than six months since the North Carolina Community Action Association received The Duke Endowment funding, to supplement programs providing COVID support. The funds help community action agencies to fill the gaps from other funding sources. Each agency is allocated between $16,000 and $38,000 depending on its size and service area.

The funding has few restrictions, which allows it to cover a variety of needs, including the purchase of technology to allow clients to attend remote school, rent and utility assistance, the purchase of baby supplies, food assistance, past due bills, and more. COVID has hit low-income families particularly hard, with many facing eviction and homelessness or disconnected utilities by the time they reach out for help.

"I'm getting unemployment right now, but it just isn't enough to cover all of the bills. Thank you!!! I greatly appreciate ALL of the help you have given me."

Clients apply for the assistance through their local community action agency. CAAs can provide assistance of up to $2,000 in Duke Endowment funds, depending on the need. For families in greater need, the agency can leverage Duke Endowment funds with funding from other sources.

“I have been diagnosed with cancer. The treatment has left me unable to work due to high risk of contracting COVID at the school I work. I am currently waiting to receive any unemployment. This assistance will keep me from losing my car. I need it badly for transportation to medical treatment, and to go back to work one day.”

The Duke Endowment is one of the nation’s largest 501(c)3 private foundations. Since 1924, The Duke Endowment has worked to help people and strengthen communities in North Carolina and South Carolina by nurturing children, promoting health, educating minds and enriching spirits.

To date, NCCAA and its member agencies have invested more than $430,000 in Duke Endowment funds to serve nearly 500 North Carolina families. Most requests were for rent and utility assistance.

"I am thankful to WAMY and Alysia for helping me through this hard time. Thank you for helping me cover my rent that I was behind on and almost being evicted from my apartment. I am happy that I can now go back to worry about school and other important things in my life rather than worrying about having a place to stay. WAMY was great in listening to my problems and worked to make sure my needs were taken care of whenever I needed assistance thanks to Mrs. Alysia."

Learn more about The Duke Endowment at https://www.dukeendowment.org/

Read some of our previous success stories:

The Parks

YVEDDI client Jeremie Parks and his family are grateful recipients of the agency’s support. Jeremie’s now school-aged daughter Veronica was born with complete respiratory failure and spent her first three months in Brenner’s Children’s Hospital. During the COVID quarantine period, the Parks family decided that remote learning was the only safe option for their daughter. Jeremie resigned from his job to be available to assist his daughter. Read more

The Avilas

The Avila family had to quarantine due to the pandemic, resulting in missed work and lost wages. Rental payments fell behind during this time. Duke Endowment funds, coupled with CSBG funding, provided rental payment support, preventing eviction for this family of six. Read more