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ROCKY MOUNT – The Golden LEAF Board of Directors has awarded $1,949,100 to support five projects through the Open Grants Program.

Included in those grants is $500,000 to Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center, Inc. (RCCHC) for the construction and site work to build a 10,000-square-foot, integrated medicine, satellite clinic with eight dental operatories and four medical exam rooms, in Aulander located in Bertie County. At full operational capacity, the clinic will employ 11 oral health staff, five medical staff, and one behavioral health professional, earning an average annual wage of $66,650.

The Golden LEAF Board also approved $3,105,284 in funding for the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority to administer the Golden LEAF Colleges and University Scholarship. This award will support 215 new scholarships and 600 renewal scholarships. Golden LEAF scholarship recipients are eligible for up to $3,500 per year.

Additionally the board awarded $632,447.50 in funding for four projects through the Flood Mitigation Program.

At the meeting, the Board received a report on the activities of Golden LEAF over the past fiscal year.

“The Board was pleased to hear how the job creation and economic investment awards made last year are expected to create at least 2,379 jobs and a capital investment of more than $4.9 billion over the next several years,” said Don Flow, Golden LEAF Board Chair. “These projects will provide thousands of skilled workers with jobs and create lasting economic impact.”

For more information about Golden LEAF programs, visit www.goldenleaf.org.

The Golden LEAF Foundation was established in 1999 to administer a portion of the tobacco settlement agreement monies back into North Carolina’s rural and economically distressed communities. For almost 25 years, the nonprofit has partnered with state and local governments and other foundations to build economic opportunity across North Carolina through leadership in grantmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation.

The Foundation has provided lasting impact to tobacco-dependent, economically distressed and rural areas of the state by helping create 67,000 jobs; $720 million in new payrolls and more than 95,000 workers trained or retrained for higher wages. Golden LEAF has awarded 2,151 grants worth over $1.2 billion since its inception.