Crossnore launches $41 million campaign to enhance locations, including Hendersonville

Staff reports
·4 min read

Crossnore Communities for Children is embarking on the public phase of a $41 million comprehensive campaign to expand and enhance where children served by the organization live, learn and heal.

According to a news release sent on Nov. 2, the campaign is called The Promise of Home. It's Crossnore’s first campaign as a multi-campus organization and will provide support for its main location in Winston-Salem and also Hendersonville, Avery County and soon, the ability to provide services to the Metrolina Region (the Charlotte area).

Charles O. Izard of Charlotte and Katheryn Northington of Winston-Salem are serving as co-chairs of The Promise of Home campaign, the release said. Izard is treasurer and Northington is secretary of Crossnore’s board of trustees. To date, Crossnore has raised approximately $35 million toward its $41 million goal and is anticipating to complete The Promise of Home campaign by fall 2024.

The Promise of Home campaign has three main components:

  • Fundamental Building ($12.75 million): for renovation, new construction, and re-purposing of buildings and other physical properties of Crossnore in Winston-Salem, Hendersonville and Avery County.

  • Power to Programs ($8.75 million): toward expansion and bolstering of Crossnore’s programs and services. In doing so, Crossnore will have enhanced ability to protect and heal more children and connect more creatively with community organizations, businesses, churches, and schools.

  • Everyday Essentials ($19.5 million): for sustaining and strengthening Crossnore’s everyday systems and operations through investments in donor engagement, scholarships, technology, safety, transportation and diversity.

“We launched The Promise of Home campaign to fully deliver on Crossnore’s historic mission and to continue serving the needs of some of North Carolina’s most vulnerable children and families,” Crossnore Chief Executive Officer Brett Loftis said in the release. “Funds generated by the campaign will go toward investing in three overarching priorities: where we serve children, how we transform lives, and the administrative gears that keep us moving. While we are pleased with the trajectory of the campaign, the remainder that must be raised is crucial.

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“This is a campaign squarely focused on the future of North Carolina’s children. Crossnore serves children from across North Carolina—not just children in the communities where we have campuses. As a point of reference, we’ve had referrals from more than 70 North Carolina counties during the last year alone.”

Loftis said Crossnore’s existing locations in Winston-Salem, Hendersonville and Avery County will soon be joined by the ability to provide services to children and families in the Charlotte area.

“We’ve already hired our first staff member in the Metrolina Region and are working to lay the foundation for our expansion to serve the region. The success of the Promise of Home campaign will help us fulfill our goal of providing much-needed services to the Metrolina Region,” Loftis said.

In addition, the campaign will provide support for Crossnore’s new charter school in Winston-Salem. The Charter School Review Board and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction approved Crossnore’s application for a charter school on Oct. 17. The target date to open the school in a renovated existing building on its Winston-Salem campus is August 2025 for kindergarten through fourth grade.

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Middle school building renovations will likely begin the following year, with plans to achieve full capacity in kindergarten through eighth grade by August 2028.

“For more than 100 years, Crossnore Communities for Children has provided a sanctuary of hope and healing for children as we help rebuild their faith in home. Today, we are focused on ensuring all Crossnore properties and programs are safe, accessible, and of the highest quality,” campaign co-chair Katheryn Northington said in the release. “For North Carolina’s children, going out into the world is only fun and exciting when the promise of returning home is solid and secure.

“Trauma changes everything for a child because children just want to laugh with friends and feel safe in the world—and that is exactly what we at Crossnore want for them, too. No organization is better positioned than Crossnore to undertake complex and urgent work for North Carolina’s children. As a longtime and trusted friend to our state, Crossnore is asking for the public’s participation in our Promise of Home campaign so we can continue to rebuild the essential idea of home for children in great need.”

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: $41 million campaign will enhance Crossnore's sites, including Hendersonville