Carolinas

On May 20, 2024, Carolinas AFN invited funders and financial institutions located and/or investing in South Carolina to participate in an interactive session to build a shared vision for a collaborative funder table focused on expanding pathways to economic mobility. Attendees discussed regional synergy opportunities to promote the financial wellbeing of families and communities, identified ongoing and emerging cross sector innovations, and supported action-oriented strategies that advance economic mobility and equitable wealth building.

On February 13, 2024, members of the Carolinas AFN regional chapter participated in the 2024 Household Financial Resilience convening hosted by the Institute for Emerging Issues. Click here to learn more.

On November 16, 2023, the Carolinas Asset Funders Network and the Greater New York Asset Funders Network joined Adria Scharf, Associate Director, Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing for this cross-regional virtual convening to explore case studies in employee-owned health care businesses and the impact for the Carolinas and Greater New York regions.

The program included:

• Briefing on case studies of how employee-owned health care businesses can offer better jobs and better care; and
• Targeted discussion about how to support and grow employee ownership in health care and health services and highlight the role for philanthropy.

Read more here.

Watch the webinar.

View the slides.

The Carolinas Asset Funders Network hosted the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Charlotte Branch to showcase new information on consumer experiences in the Carolinas, with particular focus on rural communities and communities of color. This meeting elevated new data to inform how we all invest in and advocate for closing the wealth gap. LEARN MORE

Read the Banking and Credit Access in the Southern Region of the U.S. Report.

Read the Consumer Finances in Rural Areas of the Southern Region Report.

On May 16, 2023, the Carolinas Asset Funders Network, in partnership with Mission Investors Exchange, continued to activate AFN’s interactive funder primer, On the Road to Racial and Economic Justice: Essential Questions to Address Racial Bias in Asset Building Philanthropy.

LEARN MORE.

WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE.

AFN’s Member Spotlight on Charlie Gardner

During a regional discussion with Vice President Kamala Harris, AFN member, Latino Community Credit Union was recognized for expanding access to capital and financial coaching to support Latino-led businesses and business owners. The discussion highlighted national and local models to help small business ownership and homeownership as pathways to intergenerational wealth building and economic mobility.

Watch the Recording

Read AFN’s recently released Leveraging CDFIs for Southern Small Businesses. Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in the Southern United States arise from and operate within a unique combination of circumstances that make them particularly well positioned for philanthropic investment that creates meaningful and lasting impact on small businesses, jobs, and local economies. It is a companion publication to Leveraging CDFIs to Increase Wealth Generation and Equity,

Check out Asset Funders Network’s April 2023 brief and webinar, Employee Ownership Strategies for Economic Resilience and Equity: Pathways for Philanthropy. This resource is especially helpful for funders and practitioners involved in small business, employee ownership, job quality, and racial equity strategies. The webinar features regional insights from one of the Carolinas AFN members, Charlie Gardner, program officer at the Winston-Salem Foundation.

North Carolinians involved in the criminal justice system are assessed financial obligations that can add up to thousands of dollars—and most are poor and cannot pay them. The practice of converting these fines and fees to civil judgments has become increasingly common in the state, according to a report released by the Center for Responsible Lending, Forward Justice, and the North Carolina Justice Center. But very little of the civil debt is paid off, so many individuals subject to the judgments go deep into debt and experience harsh consequences that may last for decades.

The report, “Waiving Criminal Court Fees Prevents Harms of Civil Debt,” presents data distilled from North Carolina’s Civil Case Processing System (known as VCAP) in a new method of analyzing the costs of these conversions among the states.

Read the report here.

Funding provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, and the North Carolina Justice Center.

North Carolina has become the 40th state to expand Medicaid. It’s estimated that more than 600,000 people in North Carolina will be eligible for coverage once Medicaid expansion is implemented. North Carolina hospitals will also see a sharp decrease in the amount of uncompensated care they provide, and the Governor has noted that expanding Medicaid will create 40,000 jobs in North Carolina.