We are working every day to see how to effectively support nonprofits addressing this crisis, collaborating with our partners to fund them locally in Forsyth County and across North Carolina. Together we are navigating this crisis, pooling resources to ensure that communities that too often lack quality medical care and support get the help they need.
We know that far more state and federal resources continue to be needed—but we also know our health care systems and local nonprofits need flexible funding now and can’t afford to wait.
Supporting Immediate, Urgent Needs
To support those on the front lines, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust released immediate, flexible funding by granting $500,000 to the COVID-19 Response Fund for Forsyth County and $1 million to the North Carolina Healthcare Association Foundation for statewide coronavirus efforts. Read more about our COVID-19 funding response. This funding is focused on meeting the basic needs of residents who are suddenly disconnected from economic opportunity and ensuring our safety net health care system has the resources to serve our most vulnerable residents at a time when the health care system is at risk of being overwhelmed by the crisis.
We also worked with current grantees to ensure the funding they receive from the Trust is flexible and can be shifted quickly to meet urgent needs on the ground.
We’re continuing to work with our grantees and partners to understand what is needed in our most economically vulnerable communities so that we can support their efforts in the coming months.
Supporting Recovery and Rebuilding
As we begin to think about mid-term and long-term needs related to COVID-19, we recognize that the Trust’s long term goals to increase access to care, achieve equitable health outcomes, and build a more inclusive economy are more important than ever.
Health Improvement in North Carolina
COVID-19 has highlighted inequities that the Trust was already working to address through grantmaking. When we look at the higher infection rates of people of color, it reminds us that while we need to provide active support during this pandemic, we also need to think as a community about the systems change that needs to occur to achieve true health equity. Statewide this means continuing to invest in our Equitable Access to Care body of work to close the insurance gap, expand Medicaid, and ensure people can access insurance enrollment options through the Affordable Care Act.
Through our Equitable Health Outcomes work, it means addressing the social determinants of health and ensuring community-based organizations are connected to the health care delivery system so that communities have a say in creating a healthier North Carolina.
Statewide and at a local level, we must continue to directly invest in communities of color and rural areas of the state that have been under resourced for too long. Through our Healthy Places NC work, we will continue to focus on building the capacity of rural neighborhoods with low incomes, leaders of color, and grassroots groups that are closely connected to those being most impacted by the crisis so they can participate in rebuilding efforts.
Local Impact in Forsyth County
In Forsyth County, this work means deepening our understanding of what it will take to build a more inclusive economy and investing in community-led efforts to increase economic mobility. It means listening to and learning from residents about what they need to thrive and developing lasting solutions to the root causes of poverty. Economic disparities were severe in Forsyth County before the crisis, and COVID-19 has shone a bright light on deeply entrenched inequities. It also means continuing to support equitable access to quality health care, early education, and economic opportunity for young families through our Great Expectations work so all children are set for success in school and life by the time they finish kindergarten and are prepared to be our community’s next generation of leaders.
Working together, we can begin to make the kinds of systemic changes our state needs to succeed well beyond COVID-19.
And we know how important it is to maintain physical distance in these times, while staying connected. In an effort to help, here are some resources you might find useful. We will continue to update this page as additional resources become available.
We thank you for the good work you do.
Resources
State information and resources
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Response in North Carolina (NC DHHS). You’ll find the latest information from our state government about assistance, regulations, webinars, and more, including:
Resources for families
NC Remote Learning. Access lessons and activities by age and grade, plus tips for talking with kids about the virus.
Wide Open Schools. Schools are closed. Minds are open. Find more resources here from top educational providers, presented by Common Sense Media.
Tips for Parents (en Español). ¿Cómo hablar con los niños sobre el #COVID19 ? Encuentra aquí una guía útil y en español, para que como padre, o en otro rol, puedas hablar del coronavirus con los más pequeños.
Nonprofit assistance
Nonprofit assistance and CARES Act. Find help applying for relief funds here, with tips from the Independent Sector, an organization serving nonprofits.
COVID-19 Fill the Gap Response Fund (North Carolina Healthcare Foundation). This statewide NC fund will deploy resources to organizations working on the frontlines of the crisis to address emerging, acute, and long-term needs. Learn more here.