Charlotte’s ‘Corridors of Opportunity’ set to share $1M in grants to these community groups
The grant QC Family Tree received this month will stretch the nonprofit’s shoestring budget toward creating affordable housing and community revitalization, leaders say.
But the recognition from the city of Charlotte, which gave the award, meant so much more.
“Enderly Park, though it is Black and poor and needs help, we often don’t get the funding because we’re not a, quote, historically black neighborhood,” said co-director Shamaiye Haynes.
“This grant really represents us finally getting the kind of funding that we need to support the work that we’ve been doing for many years, and just crimping by, by the hair of our chinny-chin, chin.”
The nonprofit, which is an emerging business district in the Freedom Drive -Wilkinson Boulevard corridor, is among five business and community groups in historically low-income areas that received awards, the city announced. The grant, disbursed in different amounts, totaled $1 million.
Grant recipients are located in the city’s Corridors of Opportunities, which are underinvested areas around Charlotte receiving attention to foster thriving communities and preserve neighborhood legacies.
“We’re not only investing in the organizations themselves but also the countless entrepreneurs, employees and residents who rely on vibrant commercial centers for their livelihoods and daily needs,” Erin Gillespie, the Corridors of Opportunity executive program manager, said in an email to the Charlotte Observer.
The grants are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and will support these organizations with direct funding, technical assistance, planning, inventory, communications, business development and programming, the city’s release said.
QC Family received $220,000 and has been “cultivating community,” in this corridor for two decades, Haynes said.
“For the work QC Family Tree has done, 100% of the people who we house in our affordable housing are Black and poor,” she said.
Who are the recipients
Below is the complete list of groups and their awards:
▪ Charlotte East, Albemarle Road and Central Avenue - $220,000
▪ Historic West End Partners, Beatties Ford and Rozzelles Ferry roads - $220,000
▪ QC Family Tree, Freedom Drive - $220,000
▪ Sugar Creek Business Association, West Sugar Creek community - $170,000
▪ West Corridor Merchants Association, West and Wilkinson boulevards - $170,000
This story was originally published August 21, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
