North Fulton Community Charities (NFCC) recently announced its Growing with Purpose capital campaign to fund much-needed renovations to existing facilities that house its food pantry and the NFCC Thrift Shop, and the construction of a new two-story 18,000 sq. ft. Service & Education Center located across the road from its current facility. These capital improvements will increase NFCC’s capacity to deliver specialized support, programs, and services to help families meet their basic needs, achieve self-sufficiency, and strengthen the North Fulton community. To date, NFCC has raised more than $5.8 million (95%) of its $6.2 million capital campaign goal.
NFCC took advantage of facility closures during the pandemic to renovate the food pantry and Thrift Shop. The expanded food pantry and lobby reopened to clients in early August. The Thrift Shop reopened after Labor Day. Construction of the new two-story, 18,000 sq. ft. Service & Education Center began in June and is expected to be completed in early 2021. The Barbara Duffy Center, named in honor of NFCC’s first Executive Director who retired in 2019 after nearly 30 years of service, will serve as the point-of-entry for individuals and families and provide the space needed to expand and improve integration of Emergency Assistance/Case Management with Workforce Development and Education programs.
“As the North Fulton community continues to grow, so must NFCC to sufficiently meet current and future needs,” said NFCC Executive Director Holly M. York. “We have been providing programs and services out of two over-crowded and inadequate facilities for nearly 15 years, one of which was a leased building that housed our Education programs and was recently sold, requiring us to temporarily relocate to donated space nearby.”
“We planned for and began our expansion prior to the pandemic in order to meet current needs and accommodate long-term growth,” said York. “However, the pandemic has further accelerated the need for emergency assistance and demand for our Workforce Development and Education programs as families seek to get back on their feet and find and return to work as quickly as possible. We are incredibly grateful to our early donors who understand the urgency we face and quietly made major gifts to seed the campaign and help us get these projects well underway.”
Lead donors to the campaign include Alpharetta Presbyterian Church, City of Roswell, Eagles Nest Church, The Fraser-Parker Foundation, The Imlay Foundation, The James M. Cox Foundation, JM Family Enterprises and DataScan, The Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, LocumTenens.com, Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church, North Point Community Church, Roswell Presbyterian Church, Roswell United Methodist Church, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, The Truist Foundation, The Tull Charitable Foundation, The Vasser Woolley Foundation and two anonymous friends of the charity.
“We are proud to be supporting NFCC with the establishment of the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Technology Lab in the new Barbara Duffy Center. It will help NFCC provide critical job readiness skills to a much broader audience and allows us to share our expertise with a group of dynamic individuals who are working hard to reenter the workforce,” said Bill Madison, Chief Executive Officer, Insurance, LexisNexis Risk Solutions. “The project builds on our long history with NFCC and our dedication to investing in the community, which needs support now more than ever.”
“We have so many people to thank,” said Mary Good, Co-president, NFCC Board of Directors. “Most of all we are thankful to the North Fulton community for its unwavering volunteer and financial support throughout our nearly 40-year history. We know we can count on our community to help us get across the finish line of this campaign and ensure that NFCC is fully prepared to serve the needs of North Fulton as the public health and economic crises endure.
For more information about NFCC’s Growing with Purpose capital campaign and plans for growth, please visit https://nfcchelp.org/growing-with-purpose.