Last month the Duke Energy Foundation announced a $25,000 grant awarded to the Cleveland County Family YMCA to advance work around systematic solutions to racial equity. The grant will fund three priorities for the YMCA’s work in the community:

Train 8-10 facilitators in the first quarter of 2021 to deliver diversity and inclusion training for 250 people in the community.
Establish a leadership development program engaging local minority leaders,  under the age of 40, who will take YMCA Diversity, Inclusion and Global Engagement trainings and also participate in a Leadership Development Program.
Reenergize the Y’s Minority Achievers Program, where volunteers will mentor college, high school and middle school students.
“This is important work for our community, particularly at this time as our nation is struggling so much with racial equity,” said YMCA CEO Cam Corder. “We’re honored to be good stewards of this funding to strengthen our community in Cleveland County and foster strong minority leaders.”

Corder said plans are underway now to launch the first diversity and inclusion training sessions.

“We have had so much success with mentoring minority youth through the years at the Y, including Andrea Fite, who is now the attorney for the City of Shelby, and Tiffany Crank, who is at Atrium Health’s Levine Cancer Institute. They were both part of our Achievers Program as teens,” Corder said. “Andrea, who now serves on the Board of Directors for our Dover Foundation YMCA, is a strong leader in our community. We’re eager to foster more young leaders like her.” 

(Jan. 26, 2021)