First Bank Power of Good Grants

Homeward Bound of Western North Carolina is the only daytime emergency shelter available to those experiencing homelessness in Asheville. The Power of Good grant will support its work at the AHOPE Day Center where the region’s most vulnerable individuals can be identified and prioritized to receive housing services.

Children & Family Resource Center’s SMART START program provides new parents with resources that encourage the happy and healthy development of their children. The grant will help the nonprofit distribute more formula and diapers, provide scholarships for single parents pursuing higher education, and offer family mental health navigator services.

The Sandy Mush Community Center (SMCC) works to increase educational and health opportunities and preserve the historic Sandy Mush School and grounds. SMCC has a monthly food pantry featuring meat, milk, eggs, seasonal produce, and more. The grant will help SMCC purchase additional nutritious foods to distribute through its food pantry.

Arms Around ASD provides vital services and a safe space for those on the ASD spectrum so they can develop the executive functions they need to thrive in life. The grant will help the nonprofit offer financial wellness courses, fun activities like gardening and dance, and medical care services like acupuncture, dental screenings, and more.

Community Housing Solutions provides home repairs to residents in the greatest need so they can have a safe and accessible place to live. The grant funds will support its Aging Gracefully partnership with Cone Health, which provides mobility accessibility repairs and access to occupational therapists so elderly residents can stay in their homes longer.

The House of Hope goes above and beyond to provide more than just a safe, temporary shelter to people facing homelessness. With the grant, they will continue to provide financial education, job training, certificate programs, and job opportunities so the individuals they’re helping can thrive.

Carlie Rogers is a second-grade teacher at Lucy T. Davis who is passionate about instilling a love of reading amongst her class. Through the Power of Good grant, Ms. Rogers is building a comfy space for her students to read, and First Bank donated nearly 200 books to get her library started.

Third-grade teacher Kathryn Poston is using a Power of Good grant to bring VEX Robotics’ educational kits to Lucy T. Davis Elementary School. Her new Robotic Revolution program will teach students computational skills so they can learn STEM fundamentals through the engineering and coding of their own robots.

The Project HOPE Foundation provides a lifespan of services and programs for people with autism and their families. With the grant, the nonprofit is purchasing iPads for its therapists to create individualized plans for clients and to assist with communication amongst nonverbal patients.

Greer Community Ministries provides senior dining services so elderly citizens can come together to enjoy a warm meal and socialize with friends. Grant funds will help them install motorized doors on their dining hall bathrooms so patrons can use the facilities independently and with dignity.

The Power of Good grant will support Lighthouse Ministries’ Working Mothers program that helps to establish stable home environments to prevent child abuse and neglect. During the eight-week program, mothers will attend financial classes and have monthly check-ins with mentors to help them stay on top of their goals.

Chatham County Arts Council’s Artists-in-Schools initiative helps professional teaching artists provide interactive, engaging workshops for students. With support from the grant, the nonprofit can help more students discover outlets for expressing their emotions and form new pathways for learning.

NeighborHealth Center is a nonprofit working to meet the health care needs of underserved people in the Raleigh area. It will use the grant to give a book to each child at their annual checkup, support the Backpacks for Kids initiative, and provide parents with dental wellness education.

The grant for Home Health and Hospice Care Inc. will support its Wings Camp where children experiencing grief can go to heal and seek support. It will also help to fund the Crystal Coast Hospice House where patients and their families’ physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are tended to.

Innovation Early College High School wants its students to feel comfortable, focus on learning, and be successful in job and college interviews. With the grant, the school is stocking a closet with clean clothes, personal hygiene products, and professional attire so students have the supplies they need to feel confident in the classroom and beyond.

Hope of Glory Ministries is getting help furnishing and supplying its new facility where its Community Co-op Program operates. The program provides a place for families in need to shop for free groceries, attend educational classes, and receive mentorship so they can become financially stable.

Funds from the grant will support Northside Food Cooperative’s Outdoor Market, a community-owned store that makes affordable and healthy groceries available to families. It will also support the Fresh Bucks program that provides dollar-for-dollar matches for EBT funds spent at the market to help low-income families stretch their budgets further.

The Power of Good grant will help support Home Solutions of Davidson County’s services, which include home repairs and accessibility modifications, foreclosure prevention counseling, and homebuyer education workshop so low-income families can have a safe place to live.

The Montgomery County Schools Book Bus travels around the county to provide pre-kindergarten through 10th-grade students free books. Grant funds will help stock the bus with additional books so kids have more options and can develop a love of reading.

The Craven Apiary Foundation empowers women to pursue the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM). It will use the grant to set high school seniors up for success, including assistance with college essays and resume reviews, college and job interview prep, and STEAM scholarships.

Star Elementary School educates pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students. With funds from the Power of Good grant, the school will build a new playground that can be used by its students and the entire Star community.