Nantahala Health Foundation has launched a COVID-19 Impact Recovery Fund to match charitable donations dollar for dollar up to $100,000 and better position itself to bring organizations together to prepare for a post-COVID future.

“The immediate threat has always been that the virus would spread and create pressures on our communities’ limited healthcare systems,” said NHF Executive Director Lori Bailey. “Beyond that, however, we anticipate dramatic short- and long-term effects on our region’s education systems, workforce and local economies. By growing our resources and matching donations from the public, we will be better equipped to respond quickly and sustain that response over the duration of the recovery.”

Launching a major fundraising campaign may seem like an odd response from such a young organization, but Bailey said it’s the right approach, in that it gives those who are able an opportunity to make a tremendous impact on future health outcomes in Western North Carolina.

“If we were in control, we would approach our first major fundraising campaign very differently,” said Bailey. “As a relatively new regional nonprofit, yet to distinguish ourselves and begin the work of earning the community’s trust, asking for help is not typically one of the first things we’d undertake. However, these are not typical times, and our effort to address this particular health threat is not our first accomplished in support of our mission to eliminate barriers to better health.”

While it’s true that Nantahala Health Foundation is new to Western North Carolina’s nonprofit landscape, its regional roots run deep, said Jane Kimsey, who chairs a 10-member volunteer board with representation from each of the six counties served by NHF, as well as the Qualla Boundary.

“We were established a little more than a year ago with a mission to eliminate barriers to health, and our hard work is already changing lives,” Kimsey said.

The most recent example is that of NHF’s partnership with Dogwood Health Trust and other Mission Health System legacy foundations to source, manufacture and delivery vital personal protective equipment to medical professionals, first responders and essential front-line workers throughout the region. Understanding that much more would be needed to prepare for a post-COVID-19 reality, NHF’s board voted unanimously earlier this month to establish the COVID-19 Impact Recovery Fund and match donations up to $100,000.

“We cannot begin to predict what our communities will need six or nine months or even a year from now,” Kimsey said, “but we knew we must position ourselves in such a way that we’d be ready to help when future needs are identified.”

Prior to their swift response to the current global crisis, NHF conducted several community listening sessions throughout 2019 to learn from nonprofit service providers how they could best work together to improve health outcomes by addressing the region’s social determinants of health. Because an individual’s health is influenced first by where one lives, learns, works and plays, Nantahala Health Foundation’s mission is to partner with agencies working toward the well-being of all.

“As a results of those listening sessions, we partnered with 28 WNC organizations and were proud to invest some $1.5 million into their work and into the local economy during our first grant cycle,” Kimsey said.

COVID-19 has forced the young foundation to adapt quickly, Bailey said. “Thankfully, we can take what we’ve learned and apply it to what we’ve known all along: that adaption promotes growth, and that Western North Carolinians are resilient, hard-working people. We are more than willing to roll up our sleeves and help our neighbors in need.”

Nantahala Health Foundation is a catalyst for innovation and collaboration, existing to address the social determinants of health in Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Macon, Swain counties and the Qualla Boundary. With a mission to support and collaborate with local organizations to improve the health and well-being of all with the communities they serve, NHF’s board and staff envision a future without barriers to its residents living healthy, productive lives.

For more information and to make a donation, visit nantahalahealthfoundation.org.