The New Hanover Community Endowment (NHCE) has announced grants totaling more than $53 million to organizations in Wilmington, North Carolina, and the surrounding New Hanover County.

The 19 strategic grants will be distributed over three years in support of programs focused on improving the healthcare workforce pipeline, enhancing early childhood education, and addressing health access. In addition, NHCE awarded 14 one-year grants totaling $1.4 million to help fund elder care, literacy, and youth violence prevention initiatives. NHCE was established in 2020 following the $1.2 billion sale of the county-owned New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health.

Multiyear grant recipients include the University of North Carolina at Wilmington ($10.2 million), Cape Fear Community College Foundation ($10.1 million), New Hanover County Schools ($1.6 million), and the Greater Wilmington Chamber Foundation ($250,000), as part of a collaborative effort that will bolster healthcare education and support college and high school student success through wraparound services, recruitment, and retention initiatives.

“This kind of collaboration is exactly what we hoped would happen during this grant cycle,” said NHCE president William Buster. “Collaboration between our academic institutions and nonprofit community is indicative of the ways partnerships can lead to solutions where all can thrive. We plan to continue to invest in collaborations like this across sectors.”

For a complete list of recipients, see the New Hanover Community Endowment website.

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Courtney Hale)