High Country Caregivers recently received a $70,000 grant from the Dogwood Health Trust which will aid in the hiring of social workers to support the Kinship Navigation program in Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties.
“High Country Caregivers Kinship Navigation program is the region’s only support community of its kind,” said HCC’s executive director Jacob Willis. “Through this program, we offer support to caregivers who have taken on the responsibility of caring for their relatives’ children. Currently HCC, through the Kinship Navigation program, is providing support to 313 children and 254 caregivers.”
The High Country Caregivers Kinship Navigation program was established in 2019 to provide comprehensive and whole-family care to empower and strengthen kinship caregivers.
This includes those caring for relatives who are not their biological children due to both long-term formal placement as well as informal placement.
These services are provided by a professional kinship navigator with a social work degree.
Kinship navigators are responsible for resource distribution, referrals for legal, medical and financial services, and coordination of support groups, family events, field trips and childcare programming.
They also handle the logistical needs of each program facet.
“We are currently serving 313 children and 254 caregivers,” Willis said. “That is double the amount we were serving a few years ago.
This grant will provide us with additional social workers to help us as the number of families we serve grows.”
High Country Caregivers provide advocacy, support and education for kinship caregivers and their families.
Operating in Avery, Watauga, Ashe, Yancey, Mitchell and Wilkes counties, High Country Caregivers is currently serving 313 children and 254 caregivers.
For more information visit Highcountrycaregivers.org.
Dogwood Health Trust is a private foundation based in Asheville with the sole purpose of dramatically improving the health and well-being of all people and communities of 18 counties and the Qualla Boundary in Western North Carolina.
Dogwood Health Trust focuses on innovative and equitable ways to address the many factors that contribute to overall health and well-being, with a focus on housing, education, economic opportunity and health and wellness.
Dogwood Health Trust works to create a Western North Carolina where every generation can live, learn, earn, and thrive, with dignity and opportunity for all, with no exceptions.
To learn more, visit dht.org.