Archive for category: News

Help us honor and thank our 2020 Community Foundation Champions! Interfaith Community Outreach (ICO) ICO staff and volunteers help people in our community with a variety of financial needs. Residents who are in need go to them for help after losing a job, accidents, hurricanes, emergency outreach, cancer and more. Extraordinarily, ICO partnered with the Community Foundation in 2019 by going to Ocracoke and helping with case management. They helped our community again in 2020 during the COVID-19 school closures. “I called Jenniffer earlier last year (during COVID), when the board identified the need to help working families with childcare…we needed a partner that would help families pay for whatever childcare they could find,” said Executive Director Lorelei Costa, when conferring the award. “Interfaith Community Outreach stepped up.”  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Dear Friends,

I hope this letter finds you safe and doing as well as possible during this pandemic. Interfaith Community Outreach is responding to the ever-present needs our community is experiencing; circumstances made more difficult due to Covid-19. We count on your long-term support,as your support is what allows us to respond swiftly in times of need to aid our neighbors.

Unfortunately, we had to shut down our physical program operations in March. We pivoted quickly to provide our services to our neighbors in need through online applications and phone interviews. Although demand for support in our community increased two-fold as a result of Covid-19, we provided and will continue to provide support.

In response to the increased demand, ICO added new Covid-19 related programs including temporary assistance for remote learning childcare and internet for school aged children. An example of need in our community where ICO provided temporary assistance is a struggling single father with a first-grade daughter. He lost his job because he could not leave his daughter home alone during Covid-19. Facing eviction, he reached out to ICO. We secured a spot at a local remote learning camp and covered his rent. As a result of the temporary assistance he received from ICO, this father was able to find employment and support his household. He is one of the many families impacted by this pandemic.

As a bright light in our community, providing temporary assistance to struggling families and individuals in need, we count on supporters like you. ICO has provided over $459,000 in outreach to help struggling individuals and families with every day expenses including: Mortgages, Rents, Utilities, Medical Expenses, Cancer Outreach and Transportation Costs, Burials, Emergency Dental Expenses, Prescriptions, and Car and Insurance Expenses.

We are so thankful for supporters like you and appreciate how you make caring for your community a priority. Your tax-deductible donation will help ICO continue its mission.

On behalf of a grateful community,

Jenniffer Albanese,

Executive Director

The Cape Hatteras United Methodist Men (CHUMM) was asked to provide one of the collection points for donations to the families of the fire victims.

Our website https://www.hatterasmethodistmen.org/ has a link for credit card donations. Also we will accept checks and gift cards sent by mail to CHUMM, PO Box 1591, Buxton NC 27920. We cannot accept clothing or furnishings etc. since we don’t have the facilities for them. Your online receipt will serve as a tax receipt. However, we will mail a receipt for checks and gift cards with return addresses.

Of course we’re just one of several means including FB links for getting your donations to those in need. CHUMM was asked to help because of our long standing reputation in the community.

We will have a very capable volunteer manager and auditor for this account. As always 100% goes to the victims. Dare Social Services case workers will advise us on the distribution, although they aren’t allowed to handle funds.

I won’t try to give an update on the tragedy here, but would like to mention that the volunteer first responders, including at least one of our CHUMM members, performed some heroic acts in trying to save the victims. They were emotional victims as well.

Keep your prayers going,

Dennis, for CHUMM

252.305.4925

The Outer Banks Hospital is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2020-2021 Community Benefit Grants Program. Grants are awarded for projects that will significantly increase access to healthcare and financial resources in our community for nearly 11,000 individuals in need. The grants listed below equal $125,000 in support of local organizations that will provide services to meet a variety of community needs this coming year.  

Carova Beach Volunteer Fire & Rescue Auxiliary, Inc. – Training of volunteers and facilitating care on the northern beaches of the Outer Banks

Children & Youth Partnership for Dare County – Mindfulness-based wellness programs for students at Dare County Schools

Community Care Clinic of Dare – Medical care for uninsured/low income patients

Dare County Health Department’s Breaking Through Task Force – Public awareness and education campaign to reduce the stigma related to behavioral health

Dare County Health Department’s Women’s Health Programs – Prenatal ultrasounds and Breast Cancer diagnostics for under-served woman in Dare County

Dare County Transportation – Transportation of patients to medical care appointments

Food for Thought – Ease food insecurity in Dare County

Hatteras Island Cancer Foundation – Transportation assistance for cancer patients 

Interfaith Community Outreach – Medical assistance and crisis intervention 

NC MedAssist – Free pharmacy services shipped directly to patients’ homes and an over-the-counter medication giveaway event in Dare County

Funds are generously provided by Vidant Health, with support from The Outer Banks Hospital’s Development Council and Chesapeake Regional Healthcare. Since 2006, The Outer Banks Hospital has granted $1,704,840 to organizations, of which over $1.47 million of the funding has come from Vidant Health.

The Outer Banks Hospital, located in Nags Head, North Carolina, offers a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services. A joint venture between Vidant Health and Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, the hospital opened in March 2002. The hospital’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for the residents and visitors of Dare County and the surrounding region by promoting wellness and providing the highest quality health care services. For more information, visit www.theouterbankshospital.com.