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WNC Business

Land of Sky Regional Council Recognized by The National Association of Development Organizations

Aug 26, 2024 04:36PM ● By WNC Business

The National Association of Development Organizations has conferred three National Association of Development Organizations Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Awards to Land of Sky Regional Council for the following projects: GO PLACES: Growth Opportunities – Peer Leaders Activating the Community for Employment Success, Healthy Opportunities Pilot Project, WISH Collaborative – WNC Initiative for Supportive Housing.

The annual Impact Awards program honors NADO members for their creative approaches to advancing regional economic development and improving quality of life. These projects have made significant impacts on their regions and demonstrate the diversity of services and program delivery provided by regional development organizations across the country.

The 2024 class of awardees consists of 97 projects from 64 organizations spanning 21 states. These projects will be recognized at NADO’s Annual Training Conference in New Orleans, LA in October and will be featured in an upcoming StoryMap.

GO PLACES – Peer Leaders Activating the Community for Employment Success   
GO PLACES is transforming the futures of 18 to 24 year olds in high-crime, high-poverty areas by offering life-changing work experience opportunities. This program focuses on empowering young adults with the skills, confidence, and support needed to break cycles of poverty and crime. By partnering with local businesses, a pathway to sustainable employment and brighter futures is created. The mission is to ignite hope and foster resilience, helping these young adults reclaim their potential and build stronger communities.

Healthy Opportunities Pilot Project
The Healthy Opportunities Pilot is a program in North Carolina that provides non-medical services to Medicaid members to improve their health and well-being. The program focuses on the social determinants of health including housing stability, food security, transportation, and interpersonal safety and toxic stress. Land of Sky Regional Council is serving members in the transportation and housing focus areas and is providing services such as rental and utility assistance, healthy home goods, moving support, and mileage reimbursement. This project currently serves more than 500 clients in the WNC HOP service area.

WISH Collaborative – WNC Initiative for Supportive Housing
The WNC Initiative for Supportive Housing, or WISH Collaborative, is a diverse, cross-sector partnership focused on ensuring older adults and adults with disability can live with independence in the community. Founded on the understanding that few dream of spending their final days in a nursing home, the WISH Collaborative builds the community’s capacity for safe, accessible affordable housing and transportation to help residents of all ages and ability remain at home and age in place. Since its launch in the summer of 2022, the WISH Collaborative has put nearly one million in federal and private grant dollars to work completing home repairs and modifications, training advocates with lived experiences, building the community health worker and construction workforce, and strengthening transit services across Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties.

To learn more about the 2024 Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Award and Transportation Excellence Award Winners visit 2024 Impact Award Recipients - NADO.

Source: Land of Sky Regional Council