Western NC Recovery Grants Program
DEQ established the Western NC Recovery Grants Program to direct federal and state funding into rural communities impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
We provide direct, free-of-charge grant writing support to rural towns, counties and regions to increase federal and state funding for projects within Western North Carolina, offering a comprehensive approach to long-term financial planning through grant strategies that leverage state funds.
Here’s how we work:
- The Western NC Recovery team has hired grants staff to work directly with town, county or council of government staff on grant applications, offering customized support to each agency.
- If you already have a grant application selected or underway, we can provide support with either technical assistance (drafting portions of a grant application, reviewing and making recommendations, etc.) or full grant writing support.
- If you don't yet know which opportunity is right for you, then our support begins by learning more about your project and helping your organization select the programs that are most suited for the work. Then, we work with a designated member of your staff to develop a compelling grant narrative and source all the information that is required for each federal or state grant opportunity.
If you're interested in partnering with us on a grant proposal, please reach out to Ashley Traynum-Carson, our Grants Director, at ashley.carson@deq.nc.gov.
Eligibility
While we do our best to support everyone we can, there are some guidelines for who we work with:
- We focus primarily on local governments in rural communities in the federal government's 39 Major Disaster-Declared counties across Western North Carolina. If you are a nonprofit in an active partnership with a local government, we can also support you with funding research and grant support.
- If you do not have a 501c3 or government legal status, we cannot support you with grant research unless you have an active fiscal sponsor that you have worked with for at least two years.
- If your government is under active Local Government Commission management, you will be ineligible for most federal and state funded programs until the active period of management has ended.
- If you are seeking construction funding and don't yet have site control or ownership, it is unlikely that you are eligible for any state construction or infrastructure funding.
- During the federal government shutdown, we are focusing on state funding applications.
If you have questions about whether your agency or project is a good fit for our work, please reach out to Ashley Traynum-Carson, our Grants Director, at ashley.carson@deq.nc.gov with your questions.