Halifax Community College (HCC) Small Business Center (SBC) received a Creating New Economies Fund (CNEF) grant of $10,700 from The Conservation Fund’s Resourceful Communities program.
This grant will enable the HCC SBC to complete additional repairs on the Greenhouse Hub and further develop their entrepreneurial ecosystem.
These repairs and upgrades will better serve their local agriculture and professional craft arts entrepreneurs by providing a robust support and networking system in which to launch and grow their businesses.
“We are so pleased to be the recipients of this funding and it could not have come at a better time,” said Kelly Barber, the HCC SBC director. “Our greenhouse is not only filled with new plants, but is also filled with grower enthusiasm as they see how working together as a team to support each other benefits them all individually. This grant funding will enable us to continue to offer our Twilight Market to the community and its positive impacts will be felt throughout our community.”
Resourceful Communities awarded 54 grants so far this year, totaling more than $570,000 to support innovative “triple bottom line” projects.
Triple bottom line projects integrate community economic development, environmental stewardship and social justice.
The program is funded with generous support from CSX Corporation, The Duke Endowment, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, Oak Foundation, Patagonia, and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
Dedicated to building local capacity, small grants up to $15,000 support a range of projects that include community-led climate resilience planning; outdoor education; re-imagined food ministries and mobile food markets; housing repairs for under-served neighbors and youth development programs.
Many of the grants will support critical community needs related to the COVID-19 crisis. Open to the program’s 500+ network of community organizations, faith-based groups and rural towns, the small grants result in an average return of $12 for every $1 invested.
Established in 1991, Resourceful Communities supports a network of grassroots organizations, faith-based groups and resource partners with an effective combination of capacity building, direct investment, and facilitated networking to connect stakeholders with otherwise hard-to-reach resources.
Resourceful Communities is part of The Conservation Fund (TCF), a national nonprofit established in 1985 to protect working lands and promote economic development. TCF has protected nearly 8 million acres nationwide, including almost 250,000 acres here in North Carolina.