Local endowment fund returns from hiatus

Swannanoa Valley Medical Center accepting applications from health and wellness and medical nonprofits

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
February 22, 2024

The nonprofit organization that funded the construction of the Swannanoa Valley Medical Center has opened a formal grant cycle for the first time since 2014. The funding is available for Black Mountain and Swannanoa nonprofit organizations providing medical or health and wellness services. Photo by Fred McCormick

In the late 1960s, residents of Black Mountain and Swannanoa came together to address a crucial need in their local community. Steady growth in the region led to the nearby construction of I-40, but accessing medical services still required residents to travel to Asheville. An ambitious initiative, fueled by the effort of approximately 200 volunteers and more than $475,000 of donations from the community, resulted in the 1974 completion of a 12,000-square-foot facility on Old U.S. 70 that continues to provide local medical services today.

While the Swannanoa Valley Medical Center now operates under private ownership, the nonprofit organization that built it is reopening a formal grant cycle for the first time in a decade.

The SVMC sold the structure that now houses multiple health and wellness and medical providers in 2022, but the board that facilitated its development is looking for new ways to support nonprofit organizations in Black Mountain and Swannanoa.

“We have given out a few small grants in the area when we learned of particular needs,” said Sharon Zeigler, longtime member of the board and chair of the SVMC grant committee. “But, we haven’t gone through a formal grant cycle since 2014.”

Maintaining and improving the building became the organization’s primary focus in the subsequent years, according to board chair Kevin West,.

“We had some money set aside in the Ernie DeWick Endowment Fund, which our founders affiliated with the Community Foundation of WNC, for major maintenance,” said West. “We leveraged that money with what we saved for improvements and conducted around $75,000 in renovations.”

Before selling the building to Dr. Thomas Wolf, the nonprofit organization granted a lease to Bounty & Soul, which operates out of a secondary structure on the property. Funding was replenished after the sale of the medical center, allowing the organization to chart a new course.

“The board members have remained mostly the same over the years,” West said. “We have always had the understanding that the money we generate is for the good of the people of the Swannanoa Valley. We have a strong fiduciary motive to keep the best interest of our community in mind.”

The endowment fund has supported area organizations including Hand in Hand of the Swannanoa Valley, the Black Mountain Counseling Center and the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry in previous years. Any 501(c)(3) operating within the Swannanoa Valley with a focus on health and wellness or medical services is eligible to apply. The deadline for applicants is midnight, Tuesday, April 30.

Nonprofit organizations interested in the grant are asked to contact the Swannanoa Valley Medical Center Grant Committee at 828-686-0506 or email svmcgrantapp@gmail.com.

“We will send a copy of the grant application and the process is fairly simple,” Zeigler said. “We ask basic questions and for verification that they are a 501(c)(3). We gather that information at the end of April, review the applications, and the committee discusses the applications and makes recommendations to our board.”

Recipients will receive the grants in July.

“Our goal is to do something good for the Swannanoa Valley by being smart in leveraging these funds,” West said. “We’re excited to learn more about the nonprofits in our area and their ideas to enhance the valuable services they provide.”