Families Together is Honored to be a 2024 Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Honoree
Families Together is honored to be announced as one of two Triangle 2024 Neighborhood Builder Honorees at Bank of America Charitable Foundation’s annual community breakfast. With some Families Together staff and board members present, Executive Director, Jennifer Paul, accepted this award and said a few words about what this honor means to families we serve and the leadership development of the mission! The Neighborhood Builders award provides "a unique combination of leadership development (for the E.D. and an emerging leader).” Families Together’s emerging leader is Erin Hill Carter, Stabilization and Family Services Manager. Erin accomplishes her work on the Housing and Family Services team through a trauma-informed lens competent lens. She has an enormous positive impact on the families we serve.
We are excited for our community partner, A Place at the Table, for their recognition and award as a Neighborhood Builder honoree, too.
To find out a bit more about Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders program and this year’s award to Families Together, read the press release from Bank of America below.
November 19, 2024
Bank of America Announces A Place at the Table and Families Together as its Triangle 2024 Neighborhood Builder Honorees
Each Receives a Multiyear Grant & Comprehensive Leadership Training to Expand Critical Services Locally
RALEIGH, NC – Celebrating its 20th year, Bank of America’s signature Neighborhood Builders® program continues to be one of the nation’s largest philanthropic investments into nonprofit leadership development, while providing unique multiyear flexible grant funding annually to two high-impact nonprofits in nearly 100 communities nationwide. In the Triangle Bank of America has named A Place at the Table and Families Together as its 2024 Neighborhood Builders for their work to address food and community insecurity and to support the region’s unhoused population.
Specifically, both Triangle area nonprofits are each awarded a $200,000 grant over two years, comprehensive leadership training for each organization’s executive director and an emerging leader, and access to a national network of nonprofit peers. Since the program’s inception in the Triangle in 2016, 15 nonprofits have been selected as Neighborhood Builders, with the bank investing more than $2.8 million in philanthropic capital into these nonprofits.
Nationwide since 2004, Bank of America has invested over $300 million into nearly 1,800 nonprofits and helped more than 3,000 nonprofit leaders strengthen their leadership skills through the Neighborhood Builders program.
“Our primary objectives for providing flexible funding and leadership training for both A Place at the Table and Families Together are to recognize them for creating important change and help position them for sustainable, long-term success,” said Kari Stoltz, president, Bank of America Triangle. “We are grateful for the profound impact this year’s Neighborhood Builders make on so many individuals and families in our Triangle region!”
A Place at the Table, Raleigh’s first pay-what-you-can cafe does not just fight food insecurity, they fight community insecurity. By eliminating any stigma associated with traditional food assistance programs and creating a sense of dignity, diners from all walks of life enjoy a full menu, choosing their meals and donating what they can afford. Diners are encouraged to dine together in a warm and welcoming cafe setting, and they actively involve patrons in the operations, providing valuable skills, as well as competitive wages, benefits, and a supportive work environment. This new grant funding will support their current operations, as well as their future mobile food truck, The Travelin' Table, that will bring fresh, healthy meals directly to the larger community. The leadership training will also assist A Place at the Table with succession planning and development for their Director of Partnerships and Community Engagement.
“The impact of this recognition and funding for our organization is incredible, and we are honored and grateful,” said Maggie Kane, Executive Director, A Place at the Table. “We are also so thrilled for the leadership training! This will support our team and therefore all the incredible people we have the opportunity to know each day in the cafe. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
As one of the largest nonprofits in Wake County solely dedicated to ending family homelessness, Families Together supports families with children as they transition to stable, sustainable housing. The nonprofit’s strategic approach promotes family cohesion, choice, and agency through their housing first model of direct services whereby families receive housing services without pre-conditions. By first providing housing assistance, families are offered a primary steppingstone to secure greater economic mobility, increased financial and educational outcomes, and improved health and wellbeing. The new grant funding will help Families Together grow their organizational capacity and help more families move from homelessness to home, and the leadership development will help them anticipate and prepare for possible change scenarios and manage them effectively.
“Receiving the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Award is a profound honor for Families Together and presents a tremendous opportunity to grow our impact on a larger scale in response to increasing family homelessness in Wake County,” said Jennifer Paul, Executive Director of Families Together. “The investment in our mission will help us build innovative strategic partnerships and provide even more families with access to the resources they need to transition from homelessness to dignified, affordable housing. We are grateful to Bank of America for investing in the resilience of our community and the security of a stable home for families with children."
Neighborhood Builders is part of the bank’s longstanding efforts to build thriving communities by addressing issues fundamental to economic opportunity. The invitation-only program is highly competitive, with awardees selected by a committee comprised of community leaders and past awardees. Since 2004, Bank of America has invested over $300 million in grants to nearly 1,800 nonprofits and helped more than 3,500 nonprofit leaders strengthen their leadership skills in nearly 100 communities across the U.S. through Neighborhood Builders and Champions.
Bank of America
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