Cannon Foundation awards grant to CCM | Community Spirit

CONCORD - Cooperative Christian Ministry was awarded a $30,000 grant from The Cannon Foundation to further the organization’s mission of food, shelter and financial assistance to members of the community.

A large portion of the grant – $20,000 – will be used for the CCM Teaching Housing Program. Cooperative Christian Ministry currently operates 16 teaching houses. Working homeless families are qualified and accepted into the program while working with case managers and staff to regain stability and reestablish independence in their lives.

The program acts as a stepping stone between homelessness and permanent housing while helping families develop the resources and discipline to be independent again. This grant will assist with the renovation of two donated homes for the Teaching House program.

The Teaching House program provides families a chance to move beyond homelessness. A mother of three, “Carrie” was a teacher’s assistant when her world fell apart.  Only a year away from being a licensed teacher, with all of her credits at a school in Florida, Carrie didn’t have the support to work, study and raise her family. Through perseverance and resources offered to her by Cooperative Christian Ministry, she was able to secure a scholarship grant from UNC-Charlotte and will complete her degree.  Working, studying and raising a family, Carrie currently lives in a Teaching House with her children.

The Cannon Foundation grant award also provides security systems at CCM’s Crisis Center and the CCM Day Center. The remainder of the grant provides capital improvements for storage and refrigeration of food distributed through CCM’s nine food pantries.

“We appreciate The Cannon Foundation’s willingness to provide the tools and infrastructure that allow our community’s nonprofits to be efficient and effective,” says Executive Director Ed Hosack. “Many of our happy endings would have been different without The Cannon Foundation.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Lynn Swisshelm, Development Director, at 704-706-9049 or lswisshelm@cooperativeministry.com.

ABOUT THE CANNON FOUNDATION: The Cannon Foundation was established in 1943 by the late Charles A. Cannon, president and chairman of Cannon Mills Co. for more than 50 years. Virtually all giving is in North Carolina, and has extended from the local area to reach from Manteo to Murphy.

ABOUT COOPERATIVE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY: The mission of Cooperative Christian Ministry is to provide immediate assistance to members of our community who are experiencing crisis in the areas of food, shelter or finances, while providing them access to resources that will empower them to move beyond crisis.