Announcing nearly $3.3 million in grants from CDP’s Truist Foundation Western North Carolina Recovery and Resiliency Fund

In January, CDP and Truist Foundation announced a partnership to provide more than $20 million in disaster recovery grants to nonprofit organizations advancing the rebuilding of critical housing and small business recovery in Western North Carolina as the region recovers from the impacts of Hurricane Helene. This investment in recovery is part of Truist and Truist Foundation’s $725 million Truist Cares for Western North Carolina initiative.

CDP’s grantmaking from the Truist Foundation Western North Carolina Recovery and Resiliency Fund will address medium- and long-term needs to help strengthen the region’s housing and small businesses. It will be guided by our assessment of damages, systemic marginalization, community capacity and unmet needs to support the area’s equitable recovery.

CDP is proud to announce the first round of grants from the fund:

• Mountain BizWorks received $1 million to support the long-term recovery and sustainability of small businesses in Western North Carolina. It will provide $750,000 in direct recovery grants and will strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by offering continued technical assistance. It will help small businesses navigate the recovery process, ensuring they have the capital, resources and backing needed to rebuild and thrive. Focusing on immediate recovery and long-term resilience, this program aims to foster economic growth and stability across the region’s most impacted communities.
• Invest Appalachia was awarded $1 million to support community investment activities, including providing flexible capital to support nonprofit and affordable housing developers in their work to recover and build new housing. It will also provide loan guarantees and loan loss reserves to increase access to patient loan capital for small businesses, technical assistance, predevelopment funding, and investment for community-based energy resilience improvements that include renewable energy. CDP’s grant funds will not be offered as loans but will be used alongside loans and other financial products to drive large-scale impact across the affordable housing, small business and community resilience sectors.
• Mountain Housing Opportunities received $1 million to focus on housing recovery efforts, especially for Hurricane Helene-impacted low-income individuals and households that own or rent homes in Buncombe County, North Carolina, and surrounding areas. Grant funding will assist Mountain Housing Opportunities with providing emergency repairs, tenant recovery navigation services, staff wellness initiatives, infrastructure repairs, and access to other available housing recovery programs and funding.
• SeekHealing was awarded $275,000 to support community-led emotional and practical support, mental health and social wellness training, and recovery navigation. The grant will allow SeekHealing to activate “community superheroes” to facilitate social health programs in Asheville and Waynesville, North Carolina, coordinate mutual aid matchmaking efforts, and provide accessible and regular mental health first aid to survivors in their communities, particularly those who cannot access traditional clinical mental health services.

CDP is also pleased to welcome Christine Laporte as program manager for the Truist Foundation Western North Carolina Recovery and Resiliency Fund. Christine hails from Asheville and brings a wealth of knowledge about philanthropic systems and regional grantmaking to the role. Her expertise will guide future rounds of grantmaking through ongoing conversations to understand evolving needs around housing, small business recovery and resiliency in Western North Carolina.