Title
Vote on a request to accept the awarded three-year grant funding of $100,000/year from the Building Integrated Communities Acceleration Grant through the North Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation to assist with the implementation of projects and programs identified through the Building Integrated Communities planning process and authorize the county manager to execute the grant agreement for the same.
Abstract
Action Requested: Vote on a request to accept the awarded three-year grant funding of $100,000/year from the Building Integrated Communities Acceleration Grant through the North Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation to assist with the implementation of projects and programs identified through the Building Integrated Communities planning process and authorize the county manager to execute the grant agreement for the same.
Introduction/Background: The Blue Cross NC Foundation, in partnership with the Building Integrated Communities (BIC) technical assistance team at the Institute for the Study of the Americas at UNC-Chapel Hill, is offering funding support to current BIC communities to accelerate implementation of plans that were created through the BIC planning process. BIC is a planning and leadership initiative that partners with North Carolina local governments to create inclusive and welcoming practices and policies for immigrants from Latin America and other underrepresented world regions.
This funding will support the expansion of more inclusive practices by local governments to engage immigrants, Latinos, and historically underrepresented communities to inform decision making and develop health equity priorities and strategies.
Each community is eligible for up to $125,000 each year over three years. Grant amounts can be split among up to two organizations as determined by the BIC community partnership. This funding opportunity is exclusively for local governments and/or community-based organizations in the five municipalities that partnered with BIC before 2021. Specifically listed as eligible is “Siler City and Chatham County”. The grant application deadline was June 15, 2022.
BIC reached out to Chatham County to gauge the county’s interest in participating in this grant opportunity, and over the past several weeks, county staff in the manager’s office has been working with BIC and the Hispanic Liaison to determine what elements within the BIC plan each partner can play a role in and utilize funding support to advance. For the county’s part, grant-funded projects are intended to center around language access and an expansion of multilingual outreach and communication efforts in Chatham County.
The Chatham County Board of Commissioners authorized the county to apply for this funding at its meeting on June 6, 2022.
Discussion/Analysis: Chatham County has been engaging in efforts to enhance language access and multilingual outreach. This grant will offer further assistance in this work. The county’s intent is to utilize this funding to augment, not supplant, existing funding and efforts.
How does this relate to the Comprehensive Plan: Increasing access to county services and information through reducing language barriers and increasing engagement speaks to at least two Comp Plan objectives. Namely, “provide equitable access to high-quality education, housing, and community options for all”, and “foster healthy communities”.
Budgetary Impact: This grant funding source requires no local match. Therefore, there is no anticipated budgetary impact during the three-year grant period. Some projects that require ongoing costs to sustain, however, may be elected to continue after the three-year grant period. This will largely depend on operational goals/priorities, the extent to which the project(s) are determined to provide added value to the organization and/or community, and the extent to which the operating budget can meet the fiscal needs to sustain them. This funding is not intended to be utilized in such a way that will commit the county financially without first going through the appropriate budgetary review process.
Recommendation: Approve the request to accept the awarded three-year grant funding of $100,000/year from the Building Integrated Communities Acceleration Grant through the North Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation to assist with the implementation of projects and programs identified through the Building Integrated Communities planning process and authorize the county manager to execute the grant agreement for the same.