From left to right at a groundbreaking event for the new facility: Vecinos CEO Marianne Rupp Martinez with SECU Foundation representatives Jama Campbell, executive director; Chris Ayers, board chair; Parker Patterson, senior grants officer; and Scott Southern, director of grants administration. (Credit/SECU)
The SECU Foundation, the charitable arm of SECU ($55.8 billion, Raleigh, N.C.), announced two new grants this week – $1.6 million for Vecinos, a health care services nonprofit based in Cullowhee, N.C., and $325,000 to Hendersonville Rescue Mission, a Hendersonville, N.C. nonprofit serving people experiencing homelessness.
According to Scott Southern, director of grants administration for the SECU Foundation, the total amount awarded by the Foundation in Fiscal Year '24 is $24.6 million through grants, scholarships and loans.
Vecinos' $1.6 million grant will fund the building of a new medical center and human services hub in North Carolina's Macon County, allowing it to serve an additional 2,000 clinical patients in its first year after its opening and an additional 1,000 clients through the nonprofit's partnerships. The health care nonprofit serves low-income and uninsured adults in six counties, working with partner organizations to provide services via mobile clinics and outreach programs.
"With a passion and determination to help others, Vecinos' leadership and staff continue to reap great rewards for the people and communities they serve," SECU Foundation Board Chair Chris Ayers said. "We are excited to be part of their larger vision and health care outreach to create healthy and thriving communities in the Western region and other underserved areas of the state."
Holding check from left to right: HRM Board Member and SECU Hendersonville Branch Advisory Board Member Laura Simpson; HRM CEO Reverend Anthony McMinn; and SECU Regional SVP Kim Hollifield, surrounded by SECU and SECU Foundation representatives. (Credit/SECU) The Hendersonville Rescue Mission will also gain a new facility thanks to its $325,000 capital grant from the SECU Foundation – it plans to build a Women's Ministry facility for women and children experiencing homelessness in four North Carolina counties. According to SECU's announcement, the grant enables the nonprofit, whose emergency shelter remains consistently at full-bed capacity, to increase its shelter capacity as well as other wrap-around supportive services for more than 230 individuals annually.
"HRM's mission has been filling a critical space in housing and emergency services for a vulnerable population in this rural western area for decades," SECU Foundation Executive Director Jama Campbell said. "We applaud their dedication to this important work, and we are pleased the Foundation's grant will help ensure that HRM can continue their ministry of promoting well-being and recovery for even more individuals in need."
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
