Duke Energy Foundation grant helps Brick Capital with housing mission
Dec. 3—A local organization received a grant Friday that will aid its mission of helping to provide affordable housing in Sanford and Lee County
Brick Capital Community Development Corporation received a $25,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation in an afternoon ceremony.
The grant was part of $1 million in grants from the foundation to support organizations focused on social justice and racial equality in North Carolina. Brick Capital is one of 40 organizations to receive grants. Since 2020, the Duke Energy Foundation has committed more than $8.6 million to social justice and racial equity organizations with $7.5 million dedicated to support nonprofits across the state.
With local officials and Brick Capital board members in attendance, Brick Capital Executive Director Kerry Bashaw spoke about the funds.
"We had applied for this grant and it's specific toward social justice and racial equity," he said. "That is a mission of ours that is very important. We specifically try to do what we can when it comes to closing the racial wealth gap in our country."
Bashaw spoke about why grants such as these are so important to those who receive them.
"Through historical policies such as red-lining, people of households of color couldn't get access to mortgages or loans to buy their homes," he said. "We know real estate is one of the ways that you are able to build wealth in this country. Historically, people of color have not had access to those opportunities. That is our mission here at Brick Capital, to make sure those opportunities continue for people of color in this country. We appreciate the people at the Duke Energy Foundation for recognizing our work and what we're trying to do here."
This year's grant recipients are organizations focused on:
—Increasing civic engagement
—Reducing disparate outcomes
—Supporting policy, training and criminal justice reform
—Environmental justice
—Providing legal assistance, including pathways to citizenship across the state
"Not only does Duke Energy provide an essential service, we live and work in the communities we serve," said Stephen De May, Duke Energy's North Carolina president. "We're committed to playing a significant role in lifting up those communities, leveraging our Foundation to help nonprofits across the state advance equity and justice solutions that help our customers."
Indira Everett, East Region Government and Community Affairs director for Duke Energy spoke about the history of the grants.
"We started these grants back in 2020 after the unfortunate situation with George Floyd and his murder," she said. "Our company awarded $1 million at our corporate level for all of our service territory. Our state president wanted to continue that and award in North Carolina $1 million for three years. This is the third year. I believe this is the second time this organization has received a grant, so certainly, we deemed it appropriate to do it again. We thank you for what you do for this community. We live, work and play right here in Lee County."
After the group took photos together, Bashaw showed them plans for housing development in Sanford.
Everett told the group that Duke Energy will continue to engage with local organizations and leaders to help create long-term solutions to the social justice issues the communities face and that the company is also strengthening its internal diversity and inclusion programs to foster greater awareness, respect and inclusion.
