Sumter Habitat for Humanity is honored to be one of twelve nonprofit organizations from the Midlands to receive funding from Central Carolina Community Foundation through their Connected Community Grant. A letter of intent (LOI), the first and initial round of this grant, was submitted in December.

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In the LOI, we asked for funding for our next Habitat Home build. Upon being invited to the second round of the application process, we were asked if there was any other project that would serve a broader range of people (aside from one family at a time) for which we may need funding. After a lot of back and forth and reworking the second, more in-depth part of the grant, we submitted our final ask for round two in February. In late March, we received word that our grant request was one of the finalists. For the third and final application round, we were asked to prepare a presentation to prevent to the Central Carolina Community Foundation Board of Trustees and Staff.

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On April 8, the Central Carolina Community Foundation notified our Marketing & Resource Development Director, Kate McElveen-Price, to let us know we had received the grant in full. Not long after, on April 28, Central Carolina Community Foundation publicly awarded its Connected Communities grants to twelve nonprofit organizations throughout the Midlands, totaling more than $366,000. The awarded organizations will use this funding to launch projects to improve quality of life by building a "more livable, equitable and just community to live, work, play and raise a family," the foundation said. Central Carolina Community Foundation is the Midlands' leader in collaborative philanthropy; it is a nonprofit organization that distributes grants and scholarships and links resources of donors, nonprofits, and area leaders to communities in need.

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Though the foundation has several ingenuities, its Connected Communities grant was given to particular projects. The foundation said that connected Communities grants are funded by the foundation's Community Impact Endowment fund and several Field of Concentration funds with gifts from donors to help the foundation reply to the ever-changing needs and opportunities in the Midlands. The foundation said that for eight years, Connected Communities has provided more than $2 million to support local community projects.

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According to the foundation, the ideas presented sought to increase residents' access to safe places to live and work; healthcare facilities and services; quality job opportunities; affordable housing; safe, proximal, high-quality recreational areas; and quality arts and cultural events.

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Sumter Habitat for Humanity decided to revise the proposal, asking for the funding from the grant to be allocated towards developing a strategic plan in which the organization plans to realign current procedures and practices to create and implement a home repair program. A home repair program is an additional arm of the organization and our advocacy toward safe and sustainable housing.

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Sumter Habitat is looking forward to this organizational revamp and the opportunity to assist more families in the Sumter community through a home repair program. Sumter Habitat plans to partner with other organizations already doing home repairs in the Sumter Community.

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We are incredibly grateful for this grant and all that Central Carolina Community Foundation does for nonprofit organizations across the Midlands. With this money and the implementation of a home repair program, we will be able to continue to be driven in our vision of a Sumter where everyone has a decent place to live.