Roanoke Chowan Foundation Inc.

The Roanoke Chowan Foundation operates as a tightly defined regional health funder with a hyperlocal mandate: every dollar must demonstrably benefit residents of Bertie, Gates, Hertford, or Northampton counties in eastern North Carolina. Originally established as a public foundation and converted to an independent private foundation in 1997, the organization has distributed more than $15.2 million across 100+ grants since 1998 — a deliberate, sustained commitment to a single underserved rural corridor.

The foundation's giving philosophy strongly favors established local institutions with demonstrated community presence. The top two grantees — Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital (now ECU Health Roanoke-Chowan) with $1.86M across 10 grants, and ECU Health and Wellness with $1.39M across 3 grants — account for nearly 77% of the total trackable grant dollars in the grantee dataset. This concentration signals that the foundation builds long-term relationships with anchor institutions and returns to proven partners repeatedly across multiple grant cycles.

First-time applicants should not expect to compete immediately for large awards. The more realistic entry point is programmatic grants in the $30,000–$80,000 range, clearly aligned with one of the three program pillars: (1) health education and illness prevention, (2) healthcare educational opportunities at the organizational level (not individual scholarships), or (3) community-based health and wellness programs spanning all life stages.

The all-volunteer board — comprising 14+ members including multiple physicians (Dr. Michael Alston, Dr. Semaan El Khoury, Dr. Geniene Jones, Dr. JS Almario) — brings deep clinical expertise to proposal review. Proposals framed around specific disease states (diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disease, dental health) with evidence-based interventions will resonate more than broadly worded wellness initiatives. The physician presence also implies a preference for measurable health outcome data over anecdotal impact narratives.

There is no LOI stage in the documented process — applicants proceed directly to a formal application through the GrantInterface portal. Co-funding is an implicit expectation; the foundation rarely serves as the sole financial support for a program. The extensive budget documentation requirements (CPA-audited financials are mandatory) make this funder better suited to organizations with an established financial track record.

From the grantee dataset covering 31 grants totaling $4,213,801, the average grant is $135,929. The foundation's own typical grant data (7 recent awards) shows a median of $68,000, a mean of $130,284, and a range from $2,922 (car seat safety micro-grant) to $519,257 (large institutional support). Grantmakers.io reports a median of $82,000 and range of $6,700–$229,000 from recent IRS filings, reflecting a consistent mid-five-figure to low-six-figure target zone for most programmatic grants.

Annual grants paid have been remarkably stable across more than a decade: $636,110 (FY2010), $671,440 (FY2011), $595,741 (FY2012), $719,041 (FY2013), $780,079 (FY2014), $783,047 (FY2018), $751,316 (FY2019), $754,608 (FY2020), $911,989 (FY2021), and $883,899 (FY2022). Total giving including administrative disbursements runs $730,000–$1.08M annually. This consistency reflects a mature endowment-driven model: the foundation draws almost entirely on net investment income ($416,683 in FY2022; $1.58M in FY2021; $1.19M in FY2020) with negligible external contributions ($2,070 in FY2022). Total assets have held in the $15–17M range since at least 2010, peaking at approximately $17.7M in recent data.

By recipient type, the grantee data breaks down as: hospital-based clinical programs (ECU Health/Vidant affiliates) capture roughly 77% of total identified grant dollars; community health centers (Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center) hold about 12%; county governments and community nonprofits split the remaining ~11%. The smallest awards on record are micro-grants for car seat safety ($2,922–$5,844) distributed to public health entities, confirming the foundation will make small targeted safety grants alongside large multi-year institutional investments.

Program categories funded across the full grant history include: cancer care navigation, pediatric asthma, diabetes and cardiovascular disease case management, dental sliding-fee access, nutrition and farm-to-fork programs, urgent home repair for health and safety, AED equipment procurement, healthcare transportation (HHMA trips), school health wellness centers, digital health literacy, and breastfeeding support. No grants to individuals, research institutions, or organizations outside the four-county NC footprint were found.

Based on assets in the $17–18M range, Roanoke Chowan Foundation sits in a cohort of small regional health foundations. Peer data reflects approximate asset comparisons from IRS filings; annual giving for peers is estimated based on typical endowment payout norms where direct data was unavailable.

Roanoke Chowan Foundation stands out in this peer group for two key reasons. First, it operates an open, portal-based application system with published quarterly deadlines — making it significantly more accessible than comparably sized health foundations, most of which have moved to invitation-only models. Second, its geographic mandate (four rural NC counties) is among the narrowest in this asset class, meaning competition is limited to organizations with a demonstrable local presence. For applicants who qualify geographically, the open application culture and consistent annual payout of ~$880K make this a high-priority target relative to peer foundations of similar size.

The most concrete recent activity comes from April 4, 2025, when ECU Health publicly announced a nearly $65,000 grant from the Roanoke Chowan Foundation to support its Pediatric Asthma Program. Respiratory Care Manager Emily Wood stated: "The Foundation money eliminates barriers by allowing me to travel to patients' homes, schools or meet with them virtually." This award continues a documented multi-year grant relationship — the grantee data shows three prior awards totaling $189,561 to ECU Health Roanoke-Chowan Hospital specifically for pediatric asthma, cancer care navigation, and diabetes/cardiovascular disease case management.

In May 2024, the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald published an article titled "Investment in health and wellness," confirming active grant portfolio communication during that cycle.

The foundation's website now features a 2026 Request for Applications document available for download, confirming the open quarterly cycle continues into the current year.

Leadership is stable: Linda Alexander serves as Chair, Wendy P. Vann as President (20 hours/week, uncompensated), and Reba Green-Holley as Secretary/Treasurer. Sandra E. Woodard, who previously held the President role in earlier IRS filings, has moved to a Consultant designation — the only notable personnel transition visible in the public record. The board retains its physician-heavy composition with at least four MDs listed as active directors. No new program pillars, strategic pivots, or major funding suspensions were identified in the 2025–2026 public record.

The foundation's quarterly cycle creates four fixed submission windows annually: January 1, April 1, July 1, and September 1. First-time applicants should email president.rcf@outlook.com at least four weeks before the intended deadline to introduce their organization, confirm the specific cycle is open, and ask whether the board has bandwidth for new relationships in the current quarter. The foundation's small staff (one part-time president, no paid program officers) means this outreach will reach a decision-maker directly.

All applications are submitted through the GrantInterface portal (grantinterface.com/Home/Logon?urlkey=roanoke). Create your organizational account well before the deadline — the setup process requires completing account forms before the application itself appears. Download and read both the RCF Grant Application Guidelines and the 2026 Request for Applications from the foundation website before starting; the portal application mirrors these documents closely.

The required documentation package is unusually specific and commonly trips up first-time applicants. You must submit all six of the following: (1) the most recent IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, (2) a CPA-certified audit, (3) a current fiscal year budget with year-to-date income and expenses, (4) an annual budget for the project year if different from the current fiscal year, (5) a board of directors list with officer titles, and (6) a staff roster for all project personnel with hire dates. Missing any single item is a disqualifying error.

The application requires original signatures from both the organization's CEO and the Board Chair/President — clarify with the foundation whether digital signatures are acceptable via the portal or whether signed PDFs must be uploaded.

Align proposal language with clinical precision. The physician-majority board responds to specific disease states (asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, dental health), measurable outcomes (ER diversion rates, screening completion, patients served), and co-funding evidence. Frame outcomes quantitatively: "number of patients served," "reduction in ER visits," "percentage increase in preventive screenings."

Explicitly excluded categories: medical research, indirect costs, individual scholarships, programs serving populations outside the four-county region, and initiatives for which the foundation would be the sole funder. Build co-funding into your budget narrative before submitting.