2025 Annual Grants

At T. Wingate Andrews High School our highest priority is to educate, equip, and empower all stakeholders to reach their highest potential.

Grant Awarded: GCS SparkLab Expansion Project

SparkLabs ignites student learning through interest-driven exploration of high-tech fields. The interactive lab blends digital and hands-on learning experiences that students choose and complete at their own pace.

Engages the community to provide a sustainable supply of food to local food pantries, food banks, and nonprofits serving meals to the community or to clients. Our goal is that no child or family is hungry.

Grant Awarded:  FOOD INSECURITY - Food Recovery on the Run: Quick, Wholesome Community-Building Meals for Families
Children and families in Guilford County experience high rates of food insecurity, while at the same time Guilford County Schools (GCS) discards wholesome food daily that could help these families.  If this food is properly recovered and stored, A Simple Gesture can get this food to children to take home.

Connects children and their families with resources needed to thrive. BackPack Beginnings (BPB) envisions a community of healthy children.

Grant Awarded: Community Distributions of Basic Resources for High Point Children and Families
Each week during the school year, BPB distributes food to 17 HP schools, providing weekend nourishment for 418 children. These weekly bags include shelf-stable food items designed to bridge the weekend nutrition gap for students who rely heavily on free or reduced school meals. This consistent access to food helps reduce absenteeism, improves focus in the classroom, and supports the overall well-being of students. This grant allows BPB to continue service to High Point residents through 2026.

Creates and supports one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

Grant Request:  Keeping the Power of Mentoring for youth in High Point
Provides mentoring services to 13 children in High Point through 2026 with the help of state funding as well. It covers the costs for one year of support.  They match a Little (mentee/child) and a Big (mentor/adult) at a cost of $1,300 per child/match for one year at Johnson Street Global Studies, Kirkman Park, and Parkview Elementary School.

By continuing services to young people referred to us through the schools, mentors help their Little Brother or Sisters increase confidence, competence and caring in their day-to-day lives.

Enables young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Operating five clubs in High Point and one in Asheboro, serving 1,847 kids year-round at zero cost to families.

Grant Request:  Power Up Power Hour
As the Clubs membership grows, there is an increased need for additional technology resources and maintenance of existing technology that is needed for the Power Hour academic time in the club. The Property & Safety Director coordinates the inventory and maintenance of all technology resources at all 6 clubs, identifying a need for additional Chromebooks and technology resources, maintenance, and replacement of existing technology resources to meet the growing number of members per age group and classroom.

To provide children with quality legal advocacy focusing on Domestic Violence issues, High Conflict Custody cases, and the rights of children in public education.

Grant Request:  Provide a voice for children in Greater High Point
Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina (CLC) provides a voice for vulnerable children in court proceedings. CLC will use grant funds to support their Custody Advocacy Program (CAP). CAP staff and volunteers serve as champions for children and legal advocates. Our attorneys advocate for children’s best interests and serve as the eyes and ears of the Court.

Surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.

Grant Request:  Strengthening Student Support Through Program Leadership
This grant will help fund the new Program Director position, allowing them to expand and coordinate services across all Thomasville City Schools. Their primary goals include increasing student engagement, improving school attendance, and providing consistent support to families facing barriers to student success. This investment will lead to more effective coordination of case management and school-based services, increased student participation in academic and social-emotional support programs, improved communication with families and community partners, and enhanced tracking of student progress and program outcomes.

Make Guilford County homes warmer, drier and safer by providing repairs and ownership opportunities to low-income homeowners.

Grant Request: Provide critical home repairs
Provide critical home repairs to low-income High Point families preserving home ownership and making their homes warmer, drier, and safer.  The homeowners served by this program are not physically or financially able to repair their homes on their own. Grant funds will be used for construction materials/supplies, construction labor, and subcontractor fees for these critical home repairs in High Point.

Promotes and protects dignity, health, and opportunity by ensuring every North Carolina family has access to basic hygiene products by distributing free diapers, period products, and adult incontinence supplies through trusted local partners.

Grant Awarded:  Expanding Hygiene Access in Greater High Point
Funding will support Diaper Bank of North Carolina (DBNC)’s distribution model, which provides diapers, adult incontinence products, period supplies, and hygiene items to families and individuals through a network of trusted local partners. In 2024, DBNC distributed 85,654 baby diapers, 48,870 adult incontinence items, 5,798 period products, and 21,140 wipes in Guilford County alone. An additional 11,916 diapers and 4,800 adult products were distributed in nearby regions, reflecting strong demand and deep regional need.

Complements family caregiving by providing adult day services that enhance the social, physical, and emotional well-being of adults with disabilities and age-related challenges.

Grant Request: Relocation of Adult Day Services Program to Better Serve the Community
Grant funding will support the relocation of their Adult Day Care and Adult Day Health programs, specifically supporting the cost of the lease and utility costs for the first year of operations at the new facility. They are facing an unexpected relocation from its current facility after Emmanuel Lutheran Church, the long-standing in-kind partner of 39 years, requested that the premises be vacated as soon as possible. This relocation necessitates a critical need for funding to ensure uninterrupted program delivery for the elderly and vulnerable disabled adult population.

Loves, encourages, and supports families that foster and have children in foster care.

Grant Request: Capacity Building Capital Campaign to Build a Forever Home for Family Room
Each year, over 5,000 babies, kids, and teens enter foster care in NC, at no fault of their own, usually with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Family Room provides immediate support, including beds, mattresses, dressers, bedding, clothes, shoes, diapers, food, toys, and more, at no cost to the foster parents. The grant will assist in the purchase of land that will serve as the permanent facility that will impact on the children of our community for generations to come.

Coordinates and improves the effectiveness of entities in greater High Point focused on alleviating hunger by creating and executing city-wide and neighborhood-focused initiatives to develop more just and sustainable supplemental food systems.

Grant Request: Reducing Food Access Barriers
Funds from this grant will be used to support the professional translation and printing of their Community Resource Guides into Spanish, as well as the biannual outreach and updating process required to keep the guides accurate and relevant. These guides are a vital tool for improving access to healthy food and essential services for Hispanic and Latino neighbors in High Point. While translation technologies like ChatGPT have been suggested, these automated tools often mis-translate local street names and service providers, creating confusion and reducing the effectiveness of the resource.

The guide includes information on food pantries, community meals, healthcare options for uninsured and under-insured individuals, senior services and homelessness support.

Growing the Distance operates child enrichment programs that empower and equip children with the necessary tools, resources, knowledge and character to be trailblazing pillars of their community and succeed in college, in their careers and beyond.

Grant Request: Kindergarten Readiness Initiative
The grant will fund operating support for their "Bright Beginnings", a new Kindergarten Preparatory Program, a half-day initiative for children aged 3 & 4. This program is committed to providing a nurturing environment that stimulates early education through a variety of learning styles and imaginative play. By focusing on kinesthetic learning, embracing individuality, and promoting early math, literacy, and language skills, the program aims to build a brighter future for the children in the community.

Helping Hands provides for the needs and well-being of people in the local community through food assistance, emergency financial assistance and general education and instructional opportunities.

 Grant Request: Food Insecurity - Expanding Community Outreach
Funds will help expand food options and operating hours of their food pantry, and to assist Helping Hands in obtaining a walk-in cooler/freezer at the new location.  They have run out of space and do not have enough refrigerated capacity at their current location due to the growth they have experienced and the amount of food it requires to operate the food pantry.

In 2021, they provided food to 8,576 families, compared to 27,482 families in 2024.  There has also been tremendous growth in the amount of food they receive from outside sources, and they do not have the space to store all of it, specially produce.

Enriches lives and amplifies the arts through a broad range of activities, entertainment, and education.

Grant Request: "Rooted: The Neighborhood Artist Residency"-Cultivating Community Through Creative Place-Making"
“Rooted” is a transformative, community-based artist-in-residence program designed to elevate underrepresented neighborhoods in High Point through public art and storytelling. Each year, HPAC will partner with a local neighborhood association to embed a visual artist within a historically underserved or low-income neighborhood. This grant will help fund the installations.

HPCAV is solely dedicated to working with law enforcement (HP Police Department and other LE Agencies) with the goal of reducing violent crime in High Point.

Grant Request: Focus on Elementary Age Children AND Address Domestic Violence
This grant will help HPCAV continue and expand its efforts in reducing violence through training and by providing essential services to our violent notified offenders, while also targeting younger offenders and their families. The funds requested will be utilized to assist violent offenders with rent, housing, gas, power bills, and food assistance.

Provide free water safety and swim lessons to all 2nd grade students throughout Guilford County Schools during the school day for their safety, health and education on the many benefits of learning to swim.

Grant Request:  Second Grade Learn to Swim Program
These funds will help fund program expenses including instructors and deck coordinator wages, mileage reimbursement for instructors traveling to any of our other partner facilities including those in High Point. T-shirts, drawstring bags and certificates of completion which are given to each 2nd grade participant, other facility rental fees and lifeguard fees at YMCA locations, misc. expenses including printed materials, life jackets and other pool supplies and equipment used in the program.

Serves low-income, homeless, and unemployed individuals in High Point through a range of services aimed at providing food, clothing, employment information, and housing resources.

Grant Request:  Community Day Center
Funds will be used to support the first-year operations of the Day Center, a vital resource providing essential support, stability, and access to services for individuals experiencing homelessness. With support from the City, our center will offer a safe and welcoming environment where individuals can take showers, find respite, connect with peer support specialists, receive haircuts, participate in job-ready workshops, access job search and placement services, and engage in activities that promote personal growth and well-being.

Nourishes children and families with fresh, nutritious food so they can grow, learn, and thrive. Their vision is a community where no one goes hungry.

Grant Request: Produce Partner Program: Pantry Partners
The goal of the Program is to strengthen the capacity of the greater High Point food pantries while specifically targeting two key food pantries by providing them with consistent, weekly deliveries of fresh produce, enabling them to better serve their clients. The funds granted will be used to cover the cost of produce pick up, storage, packaging and distributing in the designated High Point central locations.

Reading Connections transforms the community by improving literacy and promoting educational equity for people of all ages, empowering them to navigate changes in an increasingly complex world.

Grant Request: Deepening Roots in High Point
Reading Connections is seeking funding to expand its services in High Point in response to the growing demand for adult literacy, ESOL, family literacy and workforce development. Many adults in High Point lack the reading, writing, digital and English language skills needed to secure stable employment and support their families. These skill gaps limit access to opportunity and keep residents from thriving in high-demand industries such as manufacturing, healthcare and the skilled trades, fields essential to High Point’s economic future.

With the community and local partners, Second Harvest will increase food security and create pathways that build a stronger Northwest North Carolina.

Grant Request:  Reaching More Kids: Community Meals in High Point
Funding will be used to both sustain and expand the number of healthy meals Second Harvest is able to prepare and deliver after-school enrichment programs in High Point. They also will be able to provide additional food to those kids who require more sustenance and send home food/meals for children in the families who don't participate in the afterschool programs, recognizing that hunger affects the entire family.

Develop resources and partnerships that make a measurable difference in people’s lives.

Grant Request:  UWGHP BackPack Program
High Point continues to face alarming rates of food insecurity, especially among children. Many kids rely on school meals during the week but have little or no access to food on weekends, holidays, and breaks. The UWGHP BackPack Program targets this critical gap by providing weekend food bags to 2,000 at-risk youth annually across the Greater High Point area, including students from Title I schools, afterschool programs, and housing communities. This grant will help support the effort to keep the program running till the end of the school year.

Leadership Development Implementation Act (LDIA) introduces scholars to critical aspects of leadership, develops programming that fosters leadership development, and creates opportunities for scholars to demonstrate leadership skills in the school and community.

Grant Request: Leadership Development Implementation Act (LDIA)
Develop and sustain a leadership development program to enhance the academic and social environment at Welborn Academy.  Specifically, funds will be allocated to the development of the Men of Distinction Program (mentoring program for young men), the Ladies of Value and Excellence Program (LOVE: mentoring program for young ladies), and the school wide implementation of the individual Welborn Way Leadership Program.

Serve and works with residents and stakeholders to make this city a safer & better place to live by meeting short-term crisis needs & providing opportunities for long-term change and growth, enabling individuals to overcome barriers & poverty they face.

Grant Request: Winter Shelter, Housing Women
These funds for the will help supply the space for WEM’s 2025-26 women's Winter Shelter, providing an additional 20 beds for women struggling with homelessness during the winter months.  New staff needs to be hired and trained to successfully operate the winter shelter each year and the increased utilities costs of hosting the shelter in WEM's community center.

YMCA of HP puts Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. The YMCA is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment to all consistent with the mission.

Grant Request: Y Readers Summer Learning Loss Prevention Program
Grant funding will help with the expansion of the Y Readers Program. The goal is to improve literacy skills and to support students’ reading at grade level by third grade with pre/post assessments in coordination with the local school.