With determination, grit – and help from the Cabarrus County Community Foundation – social services nonprofits are managing to support clients in spite of dwindling federal funds  

Erica Vaughan, executive director of Habitat Cabarrus, captured what it’s like to work in nonprofit social services right now: “On top of the housing crisis that’s present everywhere and the land crisis that’s present everywhere, we now have a funding crisis.”

Agencies that provide for the critical needs of society’s most vulnerable are struggling. And scrambling. But Vaughan isn’t wringing her hands over what’s happening across the country. She’s doing something.

“I’m a silver-lining girl, and I see opportunity in everything,” she said. She’s looking at the crisis as an opportunity to “dig in deep with donors and re-engage them.”

Habitat and other agencies in Cabarrus County have had to. And they’re more grateful than ever for the support of donors, including the Cabarrus County Community Foundation, one of 13 regional affiliates of Foundation For The Carolinas, stretching across North and South Carolina.

Established in 1989, the community awards dozens of grants each year to agencies engaged in education, food and nutrition, housing and more. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $2.6 million to Cabarrus County nonprofits.

Last year, 27 Cabarrus County nonprofits received a combined $192,750 in funding from the Cabarrus County Community Foundation. Here is a closer look at three of the grants. The leaders, staff and volunteers at these nonprofits are engaged in the hard, necessary work of ensuring their neighbors thrive in school, have medical care, safe places to live and enough to eat:

Coltrane L.I.F.E. Center

Photo courtesy of the Coltrane L.I.F.E. Center

Since 1974, Coltrane L.I.F.E. (Living Interest for the Elderly) Center has provided compassionate care for seniors and adults with disabilities. The adult daycare – and healthcare – center serves 40 to 50 people a day in two programs – one for participants with memory impairments and a larger program for seniors with no cognitive impairment but who’d otherwise be home alone all day.

Executive Director Susan Caudle understands how important it is for seniors to be socially engaged. Her grandmother was a participant, albeit a reluctant one.

“She did not want to come initially,” said Caudle. “She was in her 80s but said she didn’t want to be around ‘old people.’ My dad finally said to her, ‘Do this for me. While I’m at work, I don’t want to worry about you being at home alone.’ So, she came.”

And she ended up loving it. She started coming two days a week but soon increased to three and, eventually, five. Caudle tells people: The more they come, the more they benefit.

Caudle’s grandmother had been going to the doctor by herself, and the family was unaware of  what the doctor was telling her. “We encouraged her to come here for the socialization,” Caudle said, “and ended up discovering she was diabetic.”

It’s not unusual for participants to discover, through a screening at the Center, that they have a previously undiagnosed medical condition.

The staff includes a full-time nurse, a part-time nurse and nursing assistants, all of whom work with participants’ doctors to help meet their health needs. A nurse will administer medication during the day for participants who need it.

“The Cabarrus County Community Foundation is one of our steadiest, most dependable supporters,” Caudle said. CCCF support has “helped with our nutrition program and allowed us to purchase supplies and healthcare equipment we couldn’t have otherwise.”

Last year, the Foundation awarded the group $10,000 to support transportation for adults accessing health services; since 2020, the total is more than $30,000.

A L.I.F.E. Center day is set up much like a school day; some participants even refer to it as “school for seniors.” A healthy breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack are provided each day, and the food is prepared onsite to accommodate those on special diets.

When they arrive at about 7:45 a.m. – some by the van driven by a staff member – they have breakfast followed by a morning devotional and a structured activity such as Bingo (with prizes, of course), trivia, pet therapy, cooking or music.

There’s always some form of exercise. “But we don’t call it that,” Caudle said. “We disguise it by calling it Moving for Fun or Moving to Music.”

After lunch, those who need a rest can head to a room with recliners and prop their feet up. Afternoons consist of another activity or two and a healthy snack.

Coltrane doesn’t just benefit participants. It’s peace of mind for their families, who
“get a break from the stresses of caregiving,” Caudle said. “And that’s something all of us will be touched by at some point in our lives.” A monthly support group for family caregivers is open to anyone. It’s free, and no registration is required.

Getting out of the house is crucial for seniors. “Older adults who are home alone during the day typically don’t eat right,” said Caudle. “They may not take their medication correctly. We  address their healthcare needs, their dietary needs and their social needs.”

Academic Learning Center

Photo courtesy of the Academic Learning Center

The first thing to understand about the Academic Learning Center is that it’s not actually a center. There’s no physical building. The free reading and math tutoring ALC offers takes place in Title I elementary schools.

ALC serves kids who fall into what Executive Director Anne Jaeger calls “the bubble of having the academic need and the financial need.”

Tutoring sessions happen in a comfortable, familiar setting. Better yet, the students’ current teachers serve as tutors. “We pay teachers who are already certified, already highly qualified, to be tutors,” said Jaeger. “They use the curriculum and materials that align with what kids are learning at the time.”

ALC’s mission, Jaeger said, “is to lift students higher in academics and self-esteem, since both are essential for school success and beyond.”

She characterizes her scrappy organization as “small, but mighty.”

How small? She’s its sole full-time staffer, and she’s joined by a part-time bookkeeper.

And how mighty? The program serves more than 500 children from 12 schools each school year.

The program is as lean as it gets. And that benefits students. Saving on overhead means schools can provide snacks.

ALC was founded in 1998 in response to parents and grandparents in one Concord neighborhood who said children needed an enrichment activity after school. “There just isn’t enough (programming) that’s affordable for families,” Jaeger said.

Photo Courtesy of the Academic Learning Center

Since 2020, Cabarrus County Community Foundation has granted more than $20,000 to the organization, including a $6,000 grant in 2025 to provide before and after-school tutoring to students. “One of the most helpful things about receiving funds from the Foundation,” she said, “is knowing there’s a consistent source of support.”

Jaeger hopes to eventually serve more students, but the program is constrained by having more students who need tutoring than there are teachers. So, for two years, ALC has piloted a program Jaeger developed called “The Hero in Me” with volunteer reading mentors from All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Concord who tutor first and second graders in Kannapolis.

Jaeger gauges ALC’s effectiveness by measuring growth in reading comprehension and math at the end of every year. She also solicits feedback from parents and measures growth in kids’ self-esteem.

The ALC model is efficient, and it works. This “small, but mighty” team is providing a service that’s desperately needed. Jaeger said, “We’re the only nonprofit in this county that says to parents: ‘You can keep your child right here after school, at no cost, to hone in on their specific academic needs.’”

Habitat for Humanity Cabarrus County

Most folks know Habitat for Humanity builds houses; less well known is its repair program.

Volunteers make critical repairs – not just to Habitat homes – but to any home that needs it and whose owner qualifies for assistance.

“There are elderly individuals and veterans living in homes in desperate need of repairs,” Vaughan said. “They might need an HVAC system, a new roof, rotted wood replaced on a deck.  Many live in older homes where the concrete steps might be crumbling and pose a fall risk.”

Volunteers – Habitat Cabarrus has more than 350 – will remove the problematic steps and put in ramps. They’ll add grab bars in showers, replace leaky roofs.

The average cost of those repairs is around $5,000, which is out of reach for people on a fixed income. “In some cases, it’s actually dangerous for people to live in their homes,” Vaughan said. “We help ensure they can stay in their home, that it doesn’t become condemned, that the city doesn’t take it over. And the Foundation plays a huge part in that.”

Photo courtesy Habitat for Humanity Cabarrus County

Last year’s $10,000 grant supported that program and helped fund the 85 critical home repairs completed. Since 2020, the Foundation has awarded Habitat Cabarrus more than $40,000 in funding.

Repairs aren’t all Habitat Cabarrus does. They also build homes. And the public still has misconceptions about who those homes are for.

Vaughan said, “Some people will say, ‘Habitat for Humanity: You give people homes, right?’ And we say: ‘No, our homeowners put 250 sweat equity hours into the program. We don’t give them anything.’”

“Our homeowners also support each other,” she added. “They attend each other’s closings; they watch each other’s kids. It’s a wonderful community of families, and we’re blessed to be a part of it.”
The Habitat ReStore in Kannapolis is available to Habitat owners (and the general public) with affordable furnishings, appliances and more.

And the staff and volunteers are available with education that covers budgeting for repairs, property management, taxes and insurance, “even the most basic thing you can think of,” said Vaughan. “Like hanging pictures. We try to cover everything, because we know that if we give our families a solid foundation, then they’ll fly.”

To find out more about the Cabarrus County Community Foundation and all of FFTC’s regional affiliates, visit fftc.org/regional_affiliates.