Community Stories
No Easy, Quick Answers in Equity Work
Equity work isn’t about finding absolute answers to anything. It is about asking questions over and over and over again and making good decisions about how to address particular problems in particular areas through an equity lens. That’s according to Gita Gulati-Partee, Founder of OpenSource Leadership Strategies, who led over 60 fundholders and community leaders…
Innovation: Changing the Odds
It’s hard to move forward when you feel like the odds are stacked against you. This is a feeling teenagers aging out of the foster care system know all too well. They face growing up — finding housing, education and jobs — without the family support others their age can rely on. There are social…
There is still work to be done, together.
I know many things have been written about all that has transpired after November 8. Many opinions and forecasts have been shared, and many questions remain. I’d like to offer this open letter to our community. The morning after the election, I had the opportunity to participate in a ceremony where our nonprofit partner Triangle…
#equitymatters: Summer Update
This year, the Foundation has embarked on a journey, working closely with Gita Gulati-Partee and OpenSource Leadership Strategies, to explore how we can do more to help create a more equitable community through philanthropy. We have dedicated a space in our quarterly newsletter to share what we are learning, what we are thinking about, and…
Triangle Community Foundation is Moving!
Triangle Community Foundation announced this month that they will be moving their office to The Frontier in the fall. The 33-year-old organization has occupied space at the American Tobacco campus in downtown Durham for the past ten years. President & CEO Lori O’Keefe expressed that staff is excited about the move, and the growing organization…
2016 What Matters Community Luncheon: A Region of Opportunity
Dr. Anthony Iton can predict your lifespan with startling accuracy. He’s a John’s Hopkins-trained doctor, but he won’t need to examine you. He won’t need your medical history either. Iton just needs to know your address. “It shouldn’t work, but more often than not, it does,” he said. “Premature death is not randomly distributed. It…
Focus on Housing: On the Road in East Durham
Donors and community leaders joined Foundation staff for two simultaneous bus tours of East Durham in early March, one based on Education and the other on Housing. The following story is one writer’s account of the Housing tour. To view a photo-journalistic account of the Education tour, please click here. The early-morning chill was just…
Through the Lens: Education Bus Tour in East Durham
Donors and friends embarked on a bus tour of East Durham in March of 2016, some learning about Housing and some about Education. To read the story on the housing tour, click here. Below is one photo-journalist’s account of the education tour. David Reese, president and chief executive of the East Durham Children’s Initiative (EDCI)…
Siler City Unidos: Working to Unify a Community
The Chatham County town of Siler City is 50 percent Latino — but the town’s leaders and most engaged residents are overwhelmingly white. Sergio Borrayo, a code enforcement officer for the town, says it is hard to engage the Latino population in community life. “I think that a number of people do not believe that their…
Second Helpings: Aiming to Break the Cycle
Drew Doll applied for 138 different jobs in the 30 days after he was released from prison. “One-hundred-thirty-seven said no,” Doll said, “But I kept at it.” He landed an accounting job and started putting his life back together. But he was troubled by the experience he had, one that’s familiar to former prisoners. In…
Solving the Problem of Generational Poverty
About two years ago, Kirby Jones and Albert Fisher started talking about the problem of generational poverty. Both men lead nonprofits in Wake County designed to help the poor, but their separate efforts didn’t seem to make lasting change. For years, nonprofit organizations have used a siloed method, Jones said, focusing on their areas of…
Durham and Raleigh Make it Official: August is Proclaimed Black Philanthropy Month
The Foundation reached out to Durham & Raleigh City Governments in July 2015 to request that the cities officially proclaim August to be ‘Black Philanthropy Month,’ and both Mayor Bill Bell and Mayor Nancy McFarlane responded in favor. Black Philanthropy Month (BPM), held every August, was created in August 2011 by Pan-African Women’s Philanthropy Network as an…