Golden Leaf Grant Impact
Funding Sources
Non-profit organizations benefit their local communities. They provide needed services that may not be available without their existence. For them to operate effectively, they must have consistent funding. Because these organizations don’t profit off their vital services, they seek outside sources of funding that will help them sustain their mission and the delivery of services.
Grants Are Essential
One of the more common methods used by non-profits to continue serving their communities is securing grants. Grants effectively fuel non-profit missions. While grants impact the organizations they disperse to, they more significantly affect change in the communities that the non-profit aims to support. As non-profit organizations apply for and execute grants, they must identify and communicate how the grant support will benefit their communities.
WestBridge Vocational’s Past Grant Partners
WestBridge Vocational has been the beneficiary of grant awards from valued partners, including Great Smokies Health Foundation, Cannon Foundation, Evergreen Foundation, Golden LEAF Foundation, Sisters of Mercy of North Carolina Foundation, Rotary Club of Sylva, Jackson County, and Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. Each grant is unique, and all positively impact our mission, and the communities served.
How the Golden Leaf Grant Will Help
In April of this year, WestBridge was awarded a grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation. The $628,000 grant intends to implement machinery, equipment, and added floor space that will increase our manufacturing workload and create 25 jobs. The increase in Work and employee count will also increase our sustainability and profitability and allow us to expand our services. We will launch a new Bridge to Work program designed to provide job-training skills and job opportunities for disadvantaged individuals. Bridge to Work will serve 16 individuals annually to instill the soft skills needed to secure and maintain competitive employment.
The Future Impact
The Golden LEAF grant is an example of how a grant ripples through a non-profit. Not only will this grant create 25 new jobs and retain current ones, but it will also provide sustainability in operations, support our mission, and provide opportunities for individuals with barriers to employment to thrive in jobs in our local businesses and communities served – Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties, and the Qualla Boundary.
