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~ Smi~ Reynol~ Founda~on 101 RcynoIda Villnge Winston~~dcm, NC 2~0~ 9~25-7541 FOR IMMEDIATE ~LEASE SIXTEEN OFF PLANNING GRANTS AWAKED WINSTON-SATmM, NORTHCAROLINA (November 30, 1990) -- 20'North Carolina counties have been selected to participate in the first phase of the Opportunities for Families Fund (OFF) -- a human services renewal and reform initiative sponsored by the Z. Smith Re.olds- Foundation. Anson, Beaufort, Cleveland, Columbus, Duplin, Durham, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Hertford, Orange, Scotland, Swain, and Warren counties, along with two consortia of counties: one including Camden, Gates, and Pasquotank and the other Mitchell, Avery and Yancey, will receive $20,000 grants to comprehensive and structural reforms to enable develop necessary families in poverty to achieve self-sufficiency. Next fall five of the projects which have received the planning grants will be awarded grants of up to $1 million each to support a three to five year program of reforms and new initia- tives arising out of the planning process. The project was established after the Foundation's Trustees reviewed North Carollna's past and present efforts to combat poverty and concluded that dramatic reforms are needed -- new ways of organizing poverty-fighting efforts, and new partnerships to deliver the necessary programs and services more effectively and comprehensively. "Poor families must be served holistically. The needs of the family must be address~ together -- rather than as a series of unrelated circumstances," according to Mary Mountcastle, a Trustee of the Foundation and catalyst for the OFF Initiative. The 20 counties were chosen from a larger group of 83 counties which responded to the request for proposals issued by the Foundation last summer. In choosing the 16 phase one OFF grant recipients, the Foundation weighed a variety of factors. "Potential for success was an important factor, but not the sole or controlling one," said ~chary Smith, the Foundation's President. "Many of the proposals submitted reflected exciting ideas and strong commi~ment by the county's leadership. Due to the Foundation's limited resources, we were forc~ to choose a small number of counties for the and a relatively planning grants; conscious effort was ~de to select counties which reflect the rich diversity of the state in terms of size and ge~raphy." {more}