County works on special grant

Directors of non-profit agencies, county officials and concerned citizens recently gathered at Rockingham Community College to discuss what to do with a $2 million grant. Representatives of the Golden LEAF Foundation made a stop in Rockingham County to present information on the Community Assistance Initiative.

This program was established to target communities with need and provide support for projects to make the lives of their citizens better. Projects to help stimulate economic activity and to aid community progress are among those that will be considered. The foundation also wants projects which are proven to be sustainable.

Proposals will be created by the community when they come to an agreement on how the money should be spent. The process will include identifying issues and establishing a list of priorities to address.

Dan Gerlach, president of the foundation, explained the process and how to make a competitive proposal at the first meeting.

“We take areas that have been affected by tobacco and the declines in manufacturing, and we help to restore them,” he said. “The money will be going to places that are well-organized to build a base to transform their county economically. We are totally dedicated to investing this $2 million here, and we know there’s plenty of projects throughout the county.”

Six meetings are expected to take place over a six-month period to develop proposals and present them to the foundation board. The funds must be charitable and cannot be for private benefit. Funds are also not typically given for the purchase of land, buildings, to reimburse for previous expenditures or to make grants to capital campaigns or endowments.

The Community Assistance Initiative program is led by Patricia Cabe, who is also the vice president of programs for the foundation. She said since 2007, the organization has been working its way through Tier 1-designated counties to see what resources they need.

“It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s also been fun seeing how these projects can help,” she said. “The objective is really to see proposals that will stimulate the local economy and address the county’s priorities. I’m sure there’s probably $50 million worth of projects, but the community has to come together on what to do.”

County Commissioner Harold Bass was in attendance at the first meeting and asked Cabe to elaborate on what projects would be favorable to the board. She said many projects were sought by other counties, including funding to help workforce development through community colleges, infrastructure needs and funds to develop and sustain after-school programs.

Questions were also raised as to the amount of projects the $2 million would cover. Cabe said there was no limit to the number of projects that could be funded, but the funds would best cover three to four projects.

“If the group were to come to us and say they wanted to fund 30 projects, how much would that money help?” she said. “It would do very little.”

Cabe said meetings would move through the process steadily, so it’s important for interested parties to be at each meeting. The next session is tentatively scheduled for July 15 at 6 p.m. in the RCC auditorium.

For more information on the Golden LEAF Community Assistance Initiative, contact Patricia Cabe at (252) 442-7474 or pcabe@goldenleaf.org.