Robeson County Church and Community Center gets $50,000 grant to provide medical services to residents

Oct. 26—LUMBERTON — The Robeson County Church and Community Center has announced that it has received a $50,000 grant from the Camber Foundation to expand healthcare access throughout the county.

According to a news release, the center is developing this initiative in partnership with the University of North Carolina's McKenzie-Elliott School of Nursing to bring more medical services directly to residents.

The Robeson County Church and Community Center, located at 600 W. Fifth St. in Lumberton, operates as a nonprofit organization serving the county's most emergent social issues since 1969. It was established to address the social issues in Robeson County.

Through the years, the center has tackled such issues as voter disenfranchisement, hunger and education, to name a few.

Executive director Brianna Goodwin prepared the Camber Foundation grant. Her vision, the release said, "is to continue the center's work to bring health equity and accessibility to residents of Robeson County through strategic partnerships."

Goodwin could not immediately be reached for additional comment on Wednesday.

Brittany Love, the center's director of Systemic Programming, has been assigned to administer the grant.

"In our research regarding the social determinants of health that most directly affect the overall well-being of our residents," Love said in the release, "access to providers became a powerful and consistent theme that community members struggled to overcome. Regardless of cost or transportation, if there are no providers available, then other factors become irrelevant."

The grant, the center said, will be used to provide health services and wellness solutions directly in communities, similar to how the mobile food pantry of the Robeson County Church and Community Center currently distributes food boxes in locations throughout the county.

The funds are an expansion of the organization's systemic programming initiatives "to identify and address gaps in equitable healthcare access and outcomes. Data gathered during the grant cycle will be analyzed and used to support future efforts and provide more opportunities for residents going forward," the center said in the release.

The award is part of the Camber Foundation's inaugural grant cycle, awarding an overall $1.25 million to organizations across eastern North Carolina focused on health and wellness, education and economic development.

The center was one of 31 organizations selected for an award out of over 250 applicants.

The word "camber" means "a positive, upward curve built into the beam of a bridge, intended to distribute the load."

The goal of the Camber Foundation is to enhance, strengthen and uplift partner organizations by adding "camber" to community-driven solutions.