The North Carolina Local News Lab Fund will provide up to $150,000 in grants to organizations and initiatives around news and information related to hurricane recovery in Eastern North Carolina (ENC). The Fund will consider projects that provide critical information to communities with a focus on collaboration, content, capacity building, and/or community engagement related to recovery and resilience in the region.
Timeline:
- Call opens: March 25
- Application Deadline: Submit letters by April 15 at 5 p.m. ET.
- Application Review: Applications will be reviewed from April 15 to May 14. During that time, we will reach out to your organization if there are any follow-up questions.
- Application Decisions: Organizations will be notified by May 31 if their grant proposal has been funded. If there are any delays or follow-up questions we will notify organizations that have applied.
Grant Amounts: The maximum grant size is $25,000.
Eligibility:
Applicant must be a 501c3 or fiscally sponsored by a 501c3 organization. Preference will be given to projects that are based in or include partners based in ENC and that are led by and serve traditionally underrepresented audiences.
Background:
In the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, communities across Eastern North Carolina are beginning to heal and rebuild. Having trustworthy, accurate and timely news and information is vital for North Carolina’s communities as they recover, but, as Melanie Sill wrote in an op-ed in the News & Observer, there aren’t emergency agencies to help the news outlets and to keep information flowing. It is a crucial time for communities that still need important information about recovery when the major networks have packed up and left.
Communities’ information needs are immediate, substantial, and long-lasting when recovering from disasters. Communities also should be involved in the process of recovery, which news organizations and others can help facilitate if they have the resources to do so. This lack of information, oversight and news after Hurricane Matthew led to many communities being overlooked – making Florence’s effects even worse.
Additional information and application instructions can be found here: https://localnewslab.org/about/north-carolina-local-news-lab/disaster-relief-call-for-proposals/