Summary:

As a result of individual, business and agency donations and support, the Graham Revitalization Economic Action Team organization has been successful in bringing Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to the children of Graham County. The organization has agreed to serve as the 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization for this program. Contributions are fully tax deductible and a confirmation letter for your files will be provided following your support.  Through your support of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library you can make a huge difference in the future of Graham County children and the future of our community.  The cost is approximately thirty-five dollars ($35) per child per year. 

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library (www.imaginationlibrary.com) is a proven book immersion program that provides high quality books (one per month from birth to age 5) to all registered children in Graham County regardless of income level.  These are high quality, age-appropriate reading materials carefully selected for each age group.  The cost is FREE to all children of Graham County.

Summary:

This funding will support the general operating expenses of the organization and the salary of the Executive Director.  The Executive Director will continue strengthening the organization through recruitment and training of citizen volunteers and implementation of the Strategic Plan resulting in a viable and effective organization.  The executive director will market programs and successes, submit and administer grants, and implement the GREAT Strategic Plan.

Organizational Goal

The organization will continue to address its mission by promoting collaboration and providing a direction for Graham County. The primary purpose of GREAT is to gain an enhanced economic position for the County and its economically disadvantaged population through the use of existing community assets.

Activity 1

The GREAT organization and its partners will continue to fulfill its vision for Graham County "a place where traditional Appalachian culture lives, people flourish and businesses thrive and prosper" by addressing the issue of high unemployment. Tourism is recognized as a major contributor to business growth and increased economic opportunities for Graham County. The implementation of the recommendations of the recently developed Graham County Strategic Tourism Plan Destination 2025 through collaboration of the county, its municipalities and the travel development authorities.

     Activity 2

The GREAT organization, Graham County government, Town of Robbinsville, Town of Lake Santeetlah, Town of Fontana and the Tourism Development Authorities (TDA) will increase capacity building through the collaboration involved in implementation of the recommendations in the Graham County Strategic Tourism Plan Destination 2025.

Activity 3

The GREAT organization and its partners will implement the Graham County Strategic Tourism Plan Destination 2025 and promote its recommendations to increase economic opportunities for existing businesses, lodging facilities, the artisan community and entrepreneurs in the tourism related areas. A special focus will be placed on the promotion of the local heritage and cultural assets of Graham County to enhance economic opportunities.

Name:                      Robbinsville High School Sweetwater Creek Restoration and 

                                 Education Project - Phase III

                                  Cherokee Artisan Resiurces (RTCAR)

Summary:

The Project will take advantage of the natural resources found on the Robbinsville High School (RHS) campus to initiate a "living laboratory" along the Sweetwater Creek Greenway, through development and first-year implementation of a management and restoration plan that will involve invasive exotic plant control, native tree and shrub planting, rivercane management and harvesting, and biological monitoring of Sweetwater Creek and its riparian habitat through fish and bird sampling. The project will involve the RHS physical sciences classes in all aspects of the project, utilizing the recently-completed RTCAR-funded outdoor classroom .

     The project will continue with a final Phase III of a “living laboratory” along the Sweetwater Creek Greenway on Robbinsville High School (RHS) campus, through continued implementation of a restoration plan that involves invasive exotic plant control, native plant establishment, rivercane management and harvesting, and biological monitoring of Sweetwater Creek and its riparian habitat through fish and bird sampling. The project involves the RHS Earth Science and Biology classes in all aspects of the project. This year, the project will also involve RHS Art classes, in collaboration with Cherokee rivercane artisans. This is the final year of a three-year project.

Funding Agency:        North Carolina Recreation and Park Association

Summary:

The project will focus on the Community Garden concept of providing the community with access to fresh vegetables via community gardens. The GREAT organization will facilitate this unique approach in collaborating with the Graham Health Department, Graham Food Distribution Coalition and Stoney Hollow Farm in addressing this need. 

The trouble most community gardens run into is maintaining a consistent volunteer base to work the garden and getting the food to the most "at risk" population. This project not only addresses both of these issues, but marries the needs of the food insecure with goals of the health community in providing a wide variety of healthier food options, all the while making the participants into stakeholders.

The grant funds will be used in collaboration with the Graham County Health Department and the Graham Food Distribution Coalition to distribute monthly vouchers to the most needy to be used in selecting and picking fruits and vegetables of their choice. Stoney Hollow Farm has agreed to provide a discount of 10% percent to these customers so they can get a significant volume each month. As an incentive for participants to try new fruits and vegetables, the owners have agreed to provide small class cooking instruction for some of the more exotic items.

This is a unique approach in meeting the overall goal of getting nourishing fruits and vegetables to a needy population, especially food insecure children, through a "hands on" approach by the participants.

Funding Agency:        Mountain Wise

Summary:

The Wayfinding Signage project is a component of the Reimagining Robbinsville plan and the Graham County Strategic Tourism Plan Destination 2025. The project will provide high quality signage directing residents and tourists to attractions, local businesses and opportunities to enhance physical activity with the Town of Robbinsville. The signage will incorporate the unique destination identity of Graham County and its municipalities developed during the Graham County Destination and Identity project.

The wayfinding signage will direct residents and tourists to various natural assets (hiking trails, waterfall trails, biking trails, handicapped accessible trails, etc) and local downtown assets that encourage physical activity (playgrounds, walking/fitness trails, pedestrian pathways in the downtown area, etc). Some of the signs are used to direct people to parking downtown so they can park, get out of their cars and explore downtown by foot. The wayfinding signage project will incorporate the various assets identified on the recently developed Graham County Asset Map.

Funding Agency:        Appalachian Region Commission

Summary:

The Strategic Tourism Plan Implementation – Phase II project will continue the implementation of components of the Graham County Strategic Tourism Plan Destination 2025. The goal of the Strategic Tourism Plan is to double tourism impact in Graham County from $25 to $50 million by 2025 as measured by statistics provided by the NC Department of Tourism, Film, and Sports Development. The increased tourism impact will be realized through the implementation of four project components: Wayfinding Signage, Online Mapping and Marketing, Buy Local Campaign and Downtown WiFi. Tourism is the primary economic driver in Graham County.

The production of a strategic tourism plan was the team project developed during the Appalachian Gateway Communities workshop held in January 2014. Since the completion of the strategic tourism plan in 2015, several recommendations have been implemented including the production of the Graham County Asset Map (team project developed during the Appalachian Gateway Communities workshop held in December 2015). In addition, the Graham County Destination Identity and Branding Project (ARC NC – 18379), which created branding materials for the county, has been completed. The system of branding materials developed in this project will be used as the thread that connects visitors to the many attractions, businesses, and assets of Graham County.

Funding Agency:        Appalachian Region Commission

Summary:

The Graham County Broadband Infrastructure Project will address the lack of high-speed internet access in specific areas of the county. A Request for Proposals will be issued and a contract with an Internet Service Provider will be completed to deploy high-speed Internet service in currently underserved and un-served communities. The project will provide telecommunication infrastructure that enables up to five communities with approximately one-third (3,000 residents) of Graham County's population to access a high-speed Internet connection.

The GREAT organization in collaboration with NC Broadband Infrastructure Office will develop and issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) and contract with a private Internet Service Provider (ISP) to deploy high-speed Internet service in identified communities of Graham County. The GREAT Broadband Committee will review the proposals and select an ISP that will meet the requirements of the RFP. Proposals will be judged on cost, history of service to the community and provider reliability. Selected provider will provide the required minimum 20% match for project. The selected provider's construction elements may include wireless technology infrastructure.