News 04/12/18

Letters of Interest Are Due May 1, 2018

— press release

Triangle North Healthcare Foundation Offers Grant Opportunities for Health Programs

Triangle North Healthcare Foundation is seeking partners to help measurably improve health in Vance, Warren, Franklin, and Granville counties. The 2018 grant cycle is now open. Letters of Interest are due May 1.

To be considered for a grant with Triangle North Healthcare Foundation, you must represent a nonprofit organization, school, or governmental agency that serves the Triangle North region— Warren, Vance, Granville, and/or Franklin counties, according to the Foundation’s executive director Val Short. “Your project should fall into one of our five funding priorities, which are Chronic Disease, Mental Health & Substance Abuse, Nutrition & Physical Fitness, Success in School as related to Health & Fitness, and finally, Reproductive Health,” said Short.

The first step in the grant application process is the Letter of Interest, which is actually a form, available on the online Grant Portal, and accessed via the Foundation’s website, www.tnhfoundation.org.

“We ask that anyone interested in applying for a grant should contact us first to schedule a meeting,” said Short. “We can discuss the details of a project and determine if it falls within our funding guidelines.” To schedule a meeting to discuss a potential grant project, call 252-598-0763.

Since its first grant cycle in 2013, Triangle North Healthcare Foundation has awarded over $1 million in grants to a variety of programs and projects throughout the region, including the Henderson YMCA’s Save Our Kids and Girls on the Run programs, Boys & Girls Clubs’ healthy teen programs, N.C. MedAssist’s free pharmacy for the uninsured, Smart Start, and many others. A full listing of TNHF grant programs is available on the Foundation’s website.

The mission of the Foundation is “to encourage, support, and invest in quality efforts that measurably improve health in the Triangle North region.” The Foundation cannot accomplish this alone. “Through our partnerships with community organizations, formed through grantmaking, this Foundation can make a difference in the health status of our communities,” said Mrs. Short. “Please let us hear from you!” she added.

Triangle North Healthcare Foundation is a nonprofit regional grantmaking organization based in Henderson, NC, which supports and invests in health and wellness initiatives and programs that will impact health in a positive way in Warren, Vance, Granville, and Franklin counties. Funding for the Foundation’s grantmaking was made possible by the endowment established after the merge of Maria Parham Medical Center and Duke Lifepoint.

Home and Garden Show 04/10/18

United Way of Vance County Yard Sale 4-14-18

— submitted by Terri Hedrick

Support our United Way of Vance County Yard Sale this Saturday, April 14, 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the United Way office location at 715 South Garnett Street in Henderson. Proceeds will support basic needs of local families. Adult and children’s clothing, children’s toys, bicycles, furniture, household goods and more will be for sale. Come out and get great items at low prices and support our community at the same time!


Please submit qualifying public service announcements for non-profit organizations, and WIZS will publish them online at wizs.com / Facebook / Twitter as well as on 1450 AM and on our live stream.  You may use the online form at https://wizs.com/psas/.

Shepherd Youth Ranch Provides Equine Therapy to Local Children

By: Kelly Bondurant, Freelance Writer/Editor for Hire

Shepherd Youth Ranch, located in Creedmoor, NC, pairs rescue horses that have experienced abuse and neglect with children who have also experienced trauma.

Founded by Ashely Boswell in 2004, the program relocated from just outside of Charlotte, NC to Creedmoor seven years ago to provide local youth with equine-assisted learning and psychotherapy. The ranch currently serves a 12 county area with Vance, Granville, Franklin and Wake being their most heavily served population.

Trained horse counselors work with children and their families; however, Boswell believes it is the horses themselves who do the counseling. “Our horses have a great impact on these children’s lives,” said Boswell. “They are prey animals and can really read the nonverbal cues of people and know what’s going on.”

Since the therapy involves animals, Boswell believes this helps create a non-threatening environment that allows the children to open up and express their thoughts and frustrations.

Boswell has found that most of the participants two biggest fears are the fear of abandonment and the fear of rejection. “Many of the children have been abandoned by one or both parents,” Boswell said. “Also, many of the children have a fear of bullying and being rejected.”

At first, some of the children are intimidated by the sheer size of the horses. Boswell believes that overcoming this initial fear helps build life skills, “When a child can accomplish something in spite of that fear [of horses] they can then take the skills they learned with the horse out into the world and overcome other fears.”

Participants begin with Trail 2 Success, the foundation program of the ranch. This is a 24-week intensive equine-assisted learning program. Children attend weekly sessions while their parents attend monthly multi-family sessions.

After completing the Trail 2 Success program, children can enter the Shepherd Academy program to continue their work with the horses. “Children can participate in the Shepherd Academy program for as long as they want,” said Boswell. “The goal is that they will become interns and volunteer and serve other programs as mentors for other children.”

Both the Trail 2 Success and the Shepherd Academy programs are available for children ages 7-17. The ranch also provides a therapeutic riding program for children ages 4-17 with autism.

Many of the ranch’s horses have been with the program since it was first founded. According to Boswell, the majority of the horses are from abusive situations and were purchased directly by the ranch or were rescued by more official means.

Boswell explained that while the program began with mostly court-ordered participants, the word has spread about the ranch’s services and many children are now there of their own accord.

These children are often referred by school counselors, mental health professionals, youth organizations, court counselors, teachers and parents.

One of the most satisfying outcomes of the program, according to Boswell, is the positive effect the equine therapy has on the participants’ self-esteem and suspension rates, “During and after graduating from our program, there is a 95 percent decrease in both in and out of school suspension rates and a 99 percent decrease in recidivism.”

Boswell reports that only one child has gone back into the court system after completing the program in the 14 years it has been in operation.

In summing up the overall mission of the ranch Boswell stated that “we believe through God’s creation itself, the horse, that we can reach the unreachable.”

For more information on Shepherd Youth Ranch including their mission and volunteer opportunities, please call (919) 480-1535 or visit their website at www.shepherdyouthranch.org.

Free Food Distribution Thurs, Apr 12, 2018

The First Baptist Church of Henderson, NC will coordinate a free food distribution on Thursday, April 12 from 10 a.m. until 12 noon.  It will take place at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market, located at 210 Southpark Drive, off Beckford Drive.

First Baptist volunteer Betty Boyd said, “In partnership with St. James Missionary Baptist Church, we are able to offer this distribution once a month! We are responsible for April, June, August, October, December, and February. St. James coordinates the other months. In February, we distributed 10,207 pounds of food.”

In an earlier article on WIZS.com, Boyd said, “This is the same distribution that St. James Missionary Baptist Church has organized and coordinated. They have been offering this service every other month. They asked First Baptist to partner with them to bring this food distribution to the area all year. We are excited about the opportunity to supplement food resources for around 200 families each month.”

The food distribution is open to anyone and is on a first come/first served basis.  Citizens coming to the distribution are asked to remain in their car.  Police and Sheriff’s Department personnel will direct traffic into the Farmer’s Market parking lot.

Boyd said, “The distributions that I have volunteered for with St. James Baptist have usually ended around 11:15 a.m. when they have given out all boxes. If a car has two adults, they will receive two boxes of food. We are very excited to be able to bring this supplement of fresh vegetables and fruits to our community!”

News 04/11/18

Vance County Schools 04/09/18

Henderson Kiwanis Club 2018 Annual Azalea Sale

— submitted by Arthur Falkner

Please come out and support the Kiwanis Annual Azalea Sale on Fri., April 13th 1-6 p.m. and Sat., April 14th 7 a.m. -4 p.m. Located on Dabney Drive in front of Wendy’s. We will have 1 and 3 gallon Azalea’s, Helleri Holly, Knock-out roses and Various Shrubs.

News 04/10/18