The AMY Wellness Foundation is pleased to announce that $2.5 million has been awarded to nonprofits
serving Avery, Mitchell and Yancey county residents.
The programs and work funded during this cycle support a wide range of social determinants of health
(SDOH) issues including Transportation, Food Insecurity, Housing, Education, Interpersonal Violence,
Toxic Stress, Social Cohesion and Access to Health.
“The grant applications from 39 non-profits in the 3-county area were reviewed by each of the 8 members
of the Board of Trustees, who spent over 130 hours in their assessments. After intensive review and
discussion, organizations submitting grants that were most relevant to the priorities, highlighted by our
listening sessions, were awarded funds from our grant monies.” Dr. Randy S. Ellis, Board Chair, AMY
Wellness Foundation.
Over the next few months, the Foundation staff invites organizations that applied and were not funded
this cycle to discuss programs and initiatives that might be better aligned during the next grant cycle in
2020. More information will be provided including cycle dates and SDOH areas of interest in the new
year on the Foundation’s website.
“The work nonprofits are doing in our three counties is not only exciting but extremely vital for our
region. I am pleased to be a part of helping continue their great work and look forward to seeing the
impact we can all make together.” John Blackburn, Vice-Chair, AMY Wellness Foundation. “My hope
for the 2020 Grant Cycle, is that more organizations work in collaboration to solve upstream issues our
communities face,” Blackburn said.
AMY Wellness Foundation is poised to partner with organizations that are working in innovative,
collaborative and transformative ways to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals in our mountain
communities. The staff is actively working on a plan to bring together organizations both public and
nonprofit to form discussions around SDOH issues affecting residents in hopes to break systematic cycles
that cause barriers to health and wellness.
“We look forward to our second grant cycle, in the spring of next year, to further hone our priorities and
further the collaborative efforts of the hard-working non-profits in our counties.” Said Ellis.
AMY Wellness Foundation will be working closely with Grantees awarded funds to share stories of
success and the impact these funds will provide to Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey counties.
