FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 3, 2025
Contact: Valerie Pencook
Valerie.Pencook@jwpf.org
RALEIGH, NC: The John William Pope Foundation announced the winners of 2025 Joy W. Pope Memorial Grants in the Arts and Human services. The grant program is open to nonprofits statewide and offers awards funds for one-time projects, up to $100,000 for each program.
The 2025 Human Services award recipients include Baptist Children’s Homes of NC ($20,000), GHA Autism Supports ($35,377) and With Love from Jesus ($50,000). The Arts award recipients include Chowan Arts Council ($30,000), Parkway Playhouse of Burnsville ($20,200), The Sunrise Preservation Group ($59,500).
The Joy Pope Memorial Grant process is extremely competitive and the John William Pope Foundation received a record number of applicants. The projects awarded will go towards capital projects to improve their facilities and continue improving their communities.
Human Services:
Baptist Children’s Homes of NC
The Baptist Children’s Homes of NC offer a variety of services to help children, families, single mothers, college students, disabled and aging adults. The grant will support the Barnabas Project which will teach six 18-21 men skilled trades at Central Carolina Community College and put these skills into practice by building their own tiny home. Upon completion of the program, they can move their tiny home to a new location or sell it to begin a career.
GHA Autism Supports – Stanly has served individuals from across North Carolina with Autism Spectrum Disorder. They currently support 103 individuals in multiple programs providing residential, vocational, educational, community and in-home services. The organization has an outdoor swimming pool facility where individuals they support can learn basic swimming, water safety and enjoying cooling off during the summer months. They will utilize their grant to build on-site restroom and changing room facilities and a covered area for picnic tables.
With Love from Jesus provides clothing, food and household items for the Raleigh/Wake/Johnston County Community. Honored guests have the opportunity to select and choose what their family needs. They will use their grant to purchase a new refrigerated van to do food pickups.
Arts:
The Chowan Arts Council provides a forum for artists through gallery space, exhibits and cultural events to promote and preserve the arts and culture in Chowan. They plan to utilize the grant to upgrade flooring, roofing and electrical for safety and increased handicapped accessibility.
Parkway Playhouse of Burnsville
Parkway Playhouse of Burnsville is the oldest summer stock theater in Western North Carolina and maintains a full teaching theatre with five mainstage shows, three youth productions and two summer productions. They plan to use the grant to replace their stage curtains.
The Sunrise Preservation Group
The Sunrise Preservation group supports the Sunrise Theater, a historical Southern Pines landmark that aims to entertain, educate and engage the community through film and performing arts. The wear and tear of daily use of the theater has resulted in concern for the safety and well-being of patrons with mobility issues. They plan to use the grant to level the floors and upfit the restrooms to make them more handicap accessible.
The John William Pope Foundation is a private family grantmaker that supports nonprofit public policy research, education, human services, and the arts with the goal of improving the wellbeing of North Carolinians. Since 1986, the foundation has given more than $244 million to these causes. The Pope Foundation receives its support from the Pope family, the owners and operators of Variety Wholesalers, Inc. based in Henderson, NC.
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