Damages credibility:' Denied Forsyth community grant applicants object to term 'non-compliant'

Non-compliant.

For more than four hours on May 19, Karen Cuthrell waited patiently for the chance to express her irritation at that label being associated with the Winston-Salem nonprofit The Feelings Co. she founded and runs as chief executive.

Cuthrell applied for a $100,000 Forsyth County community grant for her latest initiative, The Feeling Friends Community Center of Culturally Responsive Emotional Intelligence.

Her application was found by county staff to not meet certain minimum criteria requirements, thus determined to be non-compliant.

For Cuthrell, being considered as non-compliant was unacceptable. That's why she wasn't about to waste any of her two minutes before the board when it was her turn around 10:15 p.m.

"The word noncompliant carries weight," Cuthrell said. "It suggests that an applicant failed to follow rules or act improperly.

"When that label is placed on an organization without notice, explanation, documentation or an opportunity to respond, it damages credibility and raises serious concerns about definition of character."

She alerted commissioners that she was making a "formal complaint regarding the process by which my grant application was labeled non-compliant."

Cuthrell made a public records request that the commissioners and county staff provide the grant application policy criteria, checklist, staff communications, review forms and written reasons used to label nonprofits as non-compliant.

"I was not properly notified, not given a clean opportunity to correct any alleged deficiency, not provided a written explanation," Cuthrell said.

"Instead, I learned from an outside associate that my application had been placed on a noncompliant list, and that list was posted on social media before anyone from your office contacted me."

At Thursday's commissioners budget workshop, county manager Shontell Robinson explained noncompliant is a term used internally by county staff.

Robinson said non-compliant could mean having an incomplete application, not providing an annual IRS 990 form, or other documentation, such as an independent audit for those requesting at least $100,000.

Kimberly Busse, the county's deputy director of budget and management, said typical items that would spur conversation with an applicant would be a bad link to a digital document or a document not uploaded correctly.

Having an application considered as non-compliant "does not prevent them from applying in the future," Robinson told commissioners. "It does not have a negative impact on the county's side."

"I'm very open to changing the terminology. We did not think about what that looked like for the organizations themselves."

Robinson added that commissioners can accept staff's grant recommendations, or vote to approve or deny grants based on their reasoning.

Forsyth's community grant priorities are in five categories: cultural; economic opportunity; education; health; and safety.

Cuthrell was convinced her initiative was a cinch for approval not just for its purpose - developing social emotional learning tools for children, particularly in marginalized communities.

She already has made a significant investment, spending $210,050 to buy the Old Skyland Elementary School property at 2050 Big House Gaines Blvd. in a former county-owned purchase approved in November by the commissioners.

She is attempting to raise several million dollars to convert the building into an education-focused community center called Skyland Quarters.

Feeling Friends also has been the recipient of grant funding from Greater Winston-Salem Inc.'s Minority Business Enterprise program.

With all those accomplishments, Cuthrell said being labeled as noncompliant was more than just inappropriate terminology.

Cuthrell chastised the board for "a process that has not been transparent, fair or properly communicated ... by a system that is unclear, inconsistent and unjust."

"I'm also requesting a review of whether this process had a disparate impact on Black applicants, those from East Winston and a public correction if the county cannot prove the label was properly applied," she said.

A potential sign of the economic times in Forsyth was demonstrated by a 52% increase, or from 77 to 117, in applications for the county's 2026-27 community grant funds.

The 2026-27 budget recommendation from Robinson provides $1.82 million toward community grants - unchanged from fiscal 2025-26.

The 117 grant applicants requested for a combined $10.11 million with the largest request at $410,000.

Robinson's budget recommendation provides funds to 37 grants.

Of the 117 grant applications, 19 were determined to be non-compliant.

Among those applicants were: Union Community Development Corp. ($250,075); The Leap Center Inc. ($250,000); Reading Revolution Inc. ($236,330); Rejuvenation Support Services Inc. ($200,000); Salem Presbytery ($150,000); N.C. Black Repertory Co. ($100,000); and Big Brothers Big Sisters Services Inc. ($100,000).

Robinson told commissioners that many of the 80 grants turned down was not because "they were not a worthy organization or because their proposal was not good, but we had to start making reductions based on the amount of funding available."

There were 35 grants in the health category for a combined $3.54 million; 12 grants were recommended at a combined $845,208 with Senior Services Inc. receiving the most at $376,000.

There were 31 grants in the education category for a combined $2.92 million. Eleven grants were recommended at a combined $495,639, led by $200,000 for Kaleideum (which requested $300,000).

There were 24 grants in the economic opportunity category for a combined $1.87 million. Four grants were recommended at a combined $155,000, led by $55,000 to Experiment in Self-Reliance Inc.

There were 16 grants in the safety category for a combined $1.33 million. Six grants were recommended at a combined $260,960, led by $75,496 for Legal Aid of N.C.

There were 11 grants in the cultural category for a combined $447,400. Four grants were recommended at a combined $62,400, led by $30,000 to Reynolda House.

County staff did not recommend the $111,500 grant request from Joyful Soul Treasures, which provides assistance in obtaining healthcare services for area HIV and AIDS patients.

"My group spoke constantly with county staff during the process and were consistently told that we were in good standing," Shannon Allen, the nonprofit's founder, told commissioners.

"Yet, without prior formal notice, requests for clarification or opportunity to respond, we were publicly labeled noncompliant in our proposed budget."

Allen stressed that "this matters for a small nonprofit. This label carries serious, unfair reputational consequences."

"It changes the donor's trust in us. It jeopardizes our ability to be able to serve those who are in vulnerable situations."

Allen said her nonprofit was initially told by county staff that "they didn't understand our funding request despite it being clearly stated. Later, we were told the issue was the lack of an independent audit."

Allen said that under state law, her nonprofit does not meet the financial threshold required for an audit.

"To demand an audit without prior notice statutory requirement based on state regulations, places an unreasonable burden on emerging organizations," she said.

Courtney Jones, with Big Brothers Big Sisters Inc. in Forsyth County, asked commissioners to reconsider its $100,000 grant request that would assist in providing site-based mentoring services to more than 400 local youths.

"We understand our application was marked noncompliant," Jones said. "However, this issue was never communicated to our organization during the process, and therefore we were not given an opportunity to correct or clarify the matter before recommendations were made.

"We want to challenge the process to ensure that we are able to advocate for youth whose lives are directly impacted by these decisions. The youth we serve are worth that investment."

Brittany Giles Jones, a producer with N.C. Black Repertory Co., told commissioners "we are discouraged to find out that we were on the noncompliant list without even notice, explanation or conversation."

"I'm still waiting on official notification from the county" why the company was on the list.

"This type of designation is detrimental to our organization, which has been here for over 40 years, brought over $200 million to this county and continues to support these residents."

Commissioners dedicated the final 35 minutes of Thursday's budget workshop to review the comments from the non-compliant applicants and what steps they should take in response.

Commissioner Shai Woodbury asked about applicants who received funds in 2025-26, but were deemed to be non-complaint for 2026-27. Robinson said there were five.

Commissioner Gray Wilson asked whether the groups who were determined to be non-compliant were given the opportunity to "educate them" about their application.

Bailey Arnold, the county's community grants administrator, said that with 117 applicants, there was limited interaction considering the goal was to adhere to the application deadline for submissions and documentation, and that there were workshops conducted for potential applicants.

Commissioner Tonya McDaniel said the number of community grants denied "because of our policy was eye-opening to me."

The county's policy for reviewing community grant requests is "an application will not be considered if the applicant is determined ineligible based on requirements stated in Section III(a), the application packet is incomplete, and/or submitted after the established due date."

Section III(a) requires 501(c) nonprofit applicants to have an office in Forsyth and serve county residents through locations in the county.

Woodbury said she was astounded that county staff denied the application from N.C. Black Repertory Co.

"We don't want to think about losing it to Guilford, Mecklenburg," Woodbury said. "I would recommend that they end up on the list of recommended applications."

Busse said the festival operators were denied because they did not submit the required workbook that details their funding request in their application.

"The system should be flagging applications whose workbook is incomplete and notifying the applicant," McDaniel said.

Robinson said county staff typically does not review applications before the Nov. 30 submission deadline.

"We would just need to change the policy because the policy states we do not accept incomplete applications," Robinson said.

Busse said that for applicants who were denied for noncompliance or being ineligible, county staff has offered to send them letters to explain what noncompliant means if they believe they are being negatively affected in seeking funding from other sources.

McDaniel questioned whether $100,000 is the right grant request amount for requiring an audit.

Commissioner Dan Besse said the goal with requiring an audit for request for more than $100,000 is "to discourage organizations without proven experience in managing that sum of money from submitting applications that are frankly over their financial debt ... to be realistic about their applications."

Chairman Don Martin said that while he is agreeable to improving the application process for future grant cycles, "an appeal right now is a redo, and I don't see going back and having another consideration or an appeal because everybody that didn't get any money would appeal."

"Or if you got some money and want more money, I'm going to appeal, so I don't see that an appeal is available."

Woodbury suggested that the application process more directly involve the community is setting the grant priorities and criteria.

"Once again, it appears a certain demographic ... we heard Black women felt like it was a system that did not elevate their application. That definitely is not the intention."

McDaniel said that "every person deserved the same respect in terms of communication. It doesn't make them non-complaint, but incomplete."

Martin said he would agree to provide applicants with the reviewer's comments and a score to let them know what they can work on for future grant cycles.

"That would be feedback to them, exactly what the federal government does," Martin said.

Woodbury said that "we owe it to the community to be a bit more personalized compared with a federal or state grant."

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This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 9:05 PM.