The Initiative Board of Directors recently announced the 2006 awards for Working Capital Investments. Receiving grants are Brick Capital CDC, Cape Fear Regional CDC, Cleveland County CDC, Durham County Land Trustees, EmPOWERment, Inc., East Carolina CDC, Hand Made in America, Housing Assistance corporation, Kingdom CDC, Monroe-Union County CDC, Mountain Housing Opportunity, Northeastern CDC, Passage Home, Prosperity, Unlimited, Inc., Rebuilding Broken Places, Rocky Mount/Edgecombe CDC, United Durham, Inc., and Wilson Community Improvement Association.

A grant awarded to the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe marks the first time the Initiative has invested in a Native American community. The Haliwa-Saponi Tribe plans to use the funds to support programs that include providing home ownership opportunities to tribal members, counseling for new tribal homeowners, housing rehabilitation and employment opportunities. "We are honored to support the works of these organizations in our communities", says Initiative President, Ebonie Alexander.

The Initiative board also approved awards to Community Developers of Beaufort-Hyde, Davidson Housing Coalition, Gateway CDC, Outer Banks CDC, Uhuru CDC, and Windows on the World e-CDC, Investments made by the Initiative total more than $2 million for 2006. Generally the funds are used to support cooperating expenses for the grantee organizations. For more information about the Initiative, the projects it supports and its investment awards process, visit www.ncinitiative.org