Graham Revitalization Economic Action Team – GREAT
    

Report to the Public

GREAT Activities and Accomplishments

July 01, 2018 – June 30, 2019

FY2019 was another GREAT year for the organization. General membership and agency involvement as partners of the organization continues to increase. Committee and partner activities have resulted in over $291,000 dollars ($291,199) being provided to support partner and organization initiatives for Graham County citizens. The organization continues to keep operating expenses at a very low percentage.

Attached is a comprehensive list of activities and accomplishments for GREAT. Highlights of the year include:

  • Award of $100,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission to continue implementation of the Strategic Tourism Plan Destination 2025. The project is a collaborative effort with NC Department of Commerce, NC Department of Transportation and Graham County agencies;

  • Award of $10,000 from MountainWise for the installation of wayfinding signs in the Town of Robbinsville to encourage walking and physical activity;

  • Continuation of the RHS Sweetwater Creek project with funding from Cherokee Preservation Foundation in the amount of $16,500 for exotic plant control, native plant establishment, rivercane management and biological monitoring of Sweetwater Creek;

  • Continuation of providing increased internet access to underserved/unserved areas of Graham County with a $100,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission;

  • Funding from Graham County Travel and Tourism and Duke Energy in the amount 0f $15,000 to convert the Cheoah Ranger District’s historical Civilian Conservation Corp and Fitness trail to a Kids in Parks trail;

  • Support from The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina in the amount of $20,000 for general operating support of the organization; and

  • Continuation of the Imagination Library Project for Graham County children by Graham County residents and organizations.

Thank you for your involvement with GREAT and support of its activities to improve the quality of life for Graham County citizens.

 

Sincerely,

Rick Davis                  

Rick Davis, Executive Director

 

July 01, 2018 – June 30, 2019 Activities and Accomplishments
 

Volunteer Service by GREAT Board of Directors –the GREAT Board of Directors have provided 900 hours of volunteer service to the organization which equates to $21,771 using the NC volunteer hourly rate of $24.19 per hour.

Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Grant – CFWNC provided $20,000 to support the general expenses of the organization to continue meeting community needs and providing its services to Graham County organizations.

Strategic Tourism Plan Implementation–Phase II – GREAT received a $100,000 award from the Appalachian Regional Commission to continue implementation of the Strategic Tourism Plan. The project is a collaborative effort with NC Department of Commerce, NC Department of Transportation and Graham County agencies. The project consists of four components – wayfinding signage, Downtown Wi-Fi, Buy Local Campaign and online mapping and marketing.

Wayfinding Signage – collaboration with NCDOT has resulted in the approval of new ‘Welcome to Graham’ signs that will be installed at the five entrances to Graham County.

Downtown Wi-Fi – Downtown Wi-Fi – the Request for Proposals was developed and advertised with one proposal being received. Negotiations are being held with BalsamWest to develop an appropriate system.

Online Mapping and Marketing – the Request for Proposals was developed and advertised with two proposals being received. PointsMap/Video Ideas Productions, Inc. was chosen as the vendor to develop this mapping system app.

Buy Local Campaign – the kick-off meeting for the Campaign was held on February 21, 2019 at Stecoah Valley Center. Information and materials were provided to participants to use to encourage residents and visitors to spend locally. A partnership with the Graham Star to do an article on a local business and a Buy Local advertisement periodically.

Millcreek House – RHS Carpentry class had Open House activities for house #3 located on Pate Cooper Road off of Mill Creek Circle on September 17, 2018. The house has been sold!

Nourishing Food Grant – GREAT secured a $2,000 grant provided by Marshall University to provide vouchers for vegetables and fruit grown at Robbinsville's Stoney Hollow Farm to needy families. The County Health Department and the Graham Food Distribution Association distributed the vouchers to eligible families.

Dolly Parton Imagination Library – This is GREAT’s trademark project for Graham County children. There are 218 Graham County children currently enrolled in the program. Contributions from individuals and organizations amounted to $4,508 for FY 2019.

Big Brothers Big Sisters – Bowl for Kids Sake Event – The Graham County Big Brother Big Sister Program had a “Bowl for Kid’s Sake” bowling tournament fundraiser on November 10, 2018. GREAT was a pin sponsor and had a bowling team for the fundraiser held at Cherokee Lanes. A total of $5,023 was raised for the Graham County Big Brother Big Sister program.

School Counselor Funding – Graham County Schools has received a $67,000 grant for an additional school counselor at the elementary school to work closely with students with intense mental health needs.

CCLC Grant – Graham County Schools received a 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) grant for afterschool and summer school for elementary and middle schoolers. Funding for three sites – Robbinsville Elementary, Robbinsville Middle and Stecoah Valley Center. Grant is worth $1.2 million dollars over 3 years.

Graham County Broadband Project – GREAT received a $100,000 award from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for increased internet service to underserved/unserved areas in our county. BalsamWest was selected as the Internet Service Provider to implement this project.

Robbinsville Wayfinding Project – GREAT received a $10,000 grant for the installation of wayfinding signs around the town to encourage walking and physical activity. This project was a collaborative effort with the Town of Robbinsville, GREAT and MountainWise.

Civilian Conservation Corp Trail Clean-Up– A general clean-up (debris removal, leaf removal) of the 1/4 mile accessible hiking trail and the unpaved trail departing from the observation deck trail took place on Thursday, March 21.

Telemedicine Project – Graham County Schools partnered with Park Ridge Health to provide Telemedicine services to all students PK-12. The services provided will keep students in class and on campus for medical services and keep parents from missing work to take students elsewhere for medical services.

Substance Abuse Planning Grant – Work is continuing on a $200,000 HRSA (Health Resources & Services Administration) regional planning grant involving Graham, Clay and Cherokee counties. The consortium composed of Appalachian Mountain Community Health Services, MountainWise, Graham County Health Department, Cherokee County Health Department, and Clay County Health Department will provide services to combat the opioid epidemic in the three counties.

Mobile Market Project – In collaboration with Graham Fellowship Food Distribution and MANNA FoodBank funds were received from the Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte in the amount of $1,420 to purchase shopping carts for clients to use at the monthly food distribution.

New Wireless Internet Service – A new wireless internet service is available for Stecoah area residents. SkyWave Wireless Internet located in Bryson City provides internet service for residents with a line of sight to one of the towers or another SkyWave Access Point. For additional information, contact SkyWave at www.wncskywae.com or (828) 788 – 2929.

RHS Sweetwater Creek Project-Phase III – GREAT received of a $16,500 grant from Cherokee Preservation Foundation – Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisans Resources program for continuation of a restoration plan involving exotic plant control, native plant establishment, rivercane management and biological monitoring of Sweetwater Creek. The project involves the RHS Earth Science and Biology classes. GREAT volunteers have worked with Mainspring and RHS students and teachers throughout the year to remove invasive plants and on restoration activities along the greenway. The RHS Carpentry students installed a Fitness Trail map and renovated three signs for the butterfly pollinator garden on the RHS campus. Also, the project has been focused on in the 2018 Mainspring Annual Report. The article can be found at http://www.grahamcounty.net/great/Restoration.pdf.

 

Employee Worksite Wellness Program – The Health Department is coordinating with Harris Regional Hospital to initiate a comprehensive Staff Wellness Program with monthly goals and activities for all county staff. The program offers healthy challenges to employees to improve their health. Challenges can be nutrition, physical activity or inner wellness based. The program has been a successful venture with incentives and participant activities.

2018 Community Health Assessment – The Graham County Health Department has completed the assessment and it is available on the Health Department website at health.grahamcounty.org. It is full of the most up to date data and analysis. It contains the health priorities for the next 3 years which are mental health, substance use, and heart disease.

Santeetlah Lake Trail Clean-Up – Eight volunteers helped clear the North section of the Santeetlah Lake Trail on Monday, April 22nd. The volunteers worked to remove trees and limbs that had fallen across the trail, remove trash and remove mud encrusted from the interpretive sign in the Carver Cemetery parking lot.

Clean Sweep Activities – Many residents of Graham County also participated in the Annual Litter Sweep along the back roads. A total of 47 bags of refuse were filled and reported.

Old Field Gap Road Clean-Up – Volunteers from GREAT, the National Wild Turkey Foundation and Mainspring removed more than 800 pounds of household items and 26 bags of trash from the banks along Old Field Gap Road. Volunteers successfully removed two tires, a coffee maker, large screen television, a hospital bed, barbecue grill, circular saw, a clothes washing machine, somebody's front door and about 250 pounds of roofing shingles. After filling the beds of two pick-up trucks with items for recycling, a window air conditioner and various pieces of stainless steel, it was decided that there was much more hauled up the mountain than we could ever hope to carry away. NCDOT was notified regarding the refuse which had been dumped and pulled out along the road and gladly agreed to come by with a truck to pick up the items too large or heavy to carry away. “The National Wild Turkey Foundation is extremely thankful for the GREAT volunteers who helped clean up trash on our Yellow Creek Property. The property provides habitat for a diversity of wildlife species. It was important for us to remove the trash because illegal dumping can have serious negative impacts on those species. Our partnership with GREAT and Mainspring made the work day a big success,” stated Chris Coxen, NWTF District Biologist.

Kids in the Park – GREAT has received funding in the amount of $15,000 from Duke Energy and Graham County Travel and Tourism to revitalize and convert the Cheoah Ranger District’s historical Civilian Conservation Corp and Fitness Trail to a Kids in Parks Trail. The trail is located at the historical site of CCC camp NCF-24 that was in operation from 1934-1942. The 3.0 mile system includes a quarter mile handicapped accessible section with access to a viewing deck overlooking the camp site. The Kids in Parks is a signature program of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation

REVVED UP Organization – The newly formed group has been actively working to revitalize Downtown Robbinsville and promoting recommendations of the Reimagining Robbinsville document. Activities include: acceptance into the Downtown Strong Program; creation of the Graham County Garden Club; community garden moving forward, having received more than $35,000 in grant funding; plans for the Cheoah Cultural Arts Pavilion are being developed; plans for the re-use of the old VFW are in progress with 2 proposed businesses; a proposed community walking path parallel with Main Street that begins on Ford Street and ending on the Courthouse Square; a proposed pocket park behind the rock façade on Main Street; new business to be opened across from the Church Mouse; Roger's Restaurant is now open; improvements at the Historic Phillips Motel; an eighty foot flag pole with a 20' X 30' flag to be the first phase toward a veteran's memorial will be located near the Urgent Care Facility; plantings to be placed along the railings in and around Robbinsville; new entry point signage to be in placed at 6 locations entering Robbinsville; and clean up/maintenance being planned for the Main Street area.

Clean-Up at Joyce Kilmer Loop – Volunteers with the Partners of Joyce Kilmer and US Forest Service employees came out to the Memorial Forest on Friday, April 26th to clean up the trail and parking area. The road leading into the parking area had many, many trees down from the long winter of rain and wind. U.S. Forest rangers used heavy equipment to move the largest of the downed trees and volunteers helped clear the entry road, opened water breaks along the trail and crosscut and hand sawed trees that had fallen across the trail.

School Bridge Project - -NCDOT has completed work on the secondary access road to the campus of Robbinsville Middle/High School.

Duke Energy Bear Project – Duke Energy employees ‘stuffed’ 100 animals that were provided to the preschool students in Graham County.