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The Board of Trustees approved a $10 million grant designed to help Duke University School of Law continue to attract a diverse student body and enable more students and recent graduates to pursue their interest in public service.

The grant will support new financial aid opportunities and help remove economic barriers for students to study law and launch their careers, particularly in public interest roles where internships are often unpaid and entry-level salaries are typically lower than in the private sector.

Officials say increasing financial aid will allow Duke Law students to reduce their loan debt, expanding their ability to take advantage of a full range of meaningful career opportunities.

The COVID-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on health care providers, with many reporting high rates of anxiety, stress and burnout among staff. Novant Health, with support from a three-year, $560,000 Endowment grant, is developing a comprehensive mental health program for its workforce.

Novant has a three-pronged plan. It will provide access to a customized virtual mental health app that can link users to behavioral health care managers day or night. It will use an established mental health curriculum to train team members to educate colleagues and promote early intervention. And it will hire a full-time advanced practice provider with trauma-related expertise to offer focused care for providers and nurses.

By the end of the grant, Novant hopes to see marked improvement in “burnout” and “well-being” scores for staff.

A five-year, $3.3 million grant to the N.C. Rural Center seeks to build the capacity of rural United Methodist congregations to tackle community economic development projects through the Faith in Rural Communities initiative. Faith in Rural Communities helps rural congregations use their assets to help improve the health and prosperity of their communities.

The new grant funding will broaden that effort by offering coaching for rural churches and grants to support new or expanded missional engagement programs. It will also help rural United Methodist churches bring together neighboring faith communities and local leaders for a 12-month coaching and training program. The initiative will offer those local coalitions grants of up to $50,000 to implement their projects.

Through a new strategic plan, Children’s Home Society (CHS) of North Carolina is focused on keeping children safely at home with their families whenever possible and supporting children in foster care to reach permanency.

A $1.6 million grant from the Endowment will support the organization’s foster care program, intensive family preservation services and racial equity training. CHS has demonstrated strong early intervention results, with more than 98 percent of children in its intensive family preservation program remaining in their homes.

By adding Child First, an evidence-based, two-generation mental health home visiting program, and Homebuilders, an evidence-based family preservation model, the agency seeks to further strengthen its array of services.

The Children’s Home Society also continues to recruit foster homes and train and support foster parents using Together Facing the Challenge, an evidence-informed foster parent skill-building model. One randomized control trial found youth enrolled in the program were more likely to demonstrate significant improvement in symptoms, behaviors and strengths than peers in the control group.

Through the project, CHS will improve well-being for more than 100,000 N.C. children.

After a decade of steadfast service, Minor Shaw announced in late 2022 that she was retiring as Chair of the Board of Trustees. Charlie Lucas was elected to succeed her; he thanked her for having been an “extraordinary Chair.”

Among the many highlights of her tenure was leading the Endowment through the COVID-19 pandemic and through construction of its first standalone headquarters. Shaw, a member of the Board since 1999, called it a “huge honor” to have served in leadership. She continues serving as a Trustee.

The Endowment’s staff saw a number of changes in 2022. Senior Administrative Specialist Trena McClure, who gave 20 years of service in the Rural Church program area, was the sole retiree.

Individuals pictured from top left to right

Six new employees were hired. They included:

Latanya Blunt, Generalist, Human Resources

Christina DiSalvo, Program Officer, Child & Family Well-Being

Cheyenne Dominguez, Facilities Assistant, Administration

Nicole Kelly, Senior Administrative Specialist, Higher Education

Jacqueline Lademann, Senior Administrative Specialist, IT

Shaheen Towles, Associate Director, Communications

Promotions included:

Stacy Warren, from Program Officer to Associate Director, Health Care

Kristi Walters, from Associate Director to Director, Higher Education

Retirement:

Trena McClure, Senior Administrative Specialist, Rural Church

Planning ramped up in 2022 in anticipation of the Endowment’s year-long centennial observance in 2024. Trustees approved a new theme for the centennial: “Committed to the Carolinas.” The theme and accompanying centennial logo call attention to the Endowment’s past, present and future focus on improving life in North Carolina and South Carolina. Trustees also backed plans for a series of community celebrations in cities across the Carolinas and at the four Endowment-supported educational institutions.

Also in the works are plans for a special website, media outreach and storytelling project designed to highlight our grantees and partners. Stay tuned!