Local Black-woman-led nonprofit receives $1 million grant

A Charlotte-based nonprofit is preparing to serve more people after being awarded $1 million in grant funding from Lowe’s Foundation, the foundation announced Wednesday.

She Built This City, founded in 2019, empowers girls and women to learn construction and manufacturing trades through training and hands-on experience. Headquartered near Southend, the grant will used to establish five new locations across North Carolina, including spaces in Charlotte, Carbarrus, Greensboro and High Point.

The funding comes from Lowe’s Foundation Gable Grants Program, an initiative to fund the training of 50,000 job-ready skilled tradespeople by 2028.

Executive director LaToya Faustin said receiving this much funding is a “life-changing” opportunity.

Latoya Fuastin, Executive director of She Built This City. Faustin is one of QCity Metro’s Great 28 honorees for 2024. (Lilly Sum/ Flowersome Photography)

Plans for growth

“In the nonprofit world, we have to jump through a lot of hoops just to get access to money,” she told QCity Metro. “To get a funder that gives you unrestricted funds and access immediately, it shows they trust us to steward this funding.”

Faustin said she plans to hire new staff and introduce new curriculum offerings and certifications.

Apprenticeship in action at She Built This City. (Photo courtesy of She Built This City)

The organization will also increase its community service initiatives, such as one of the projects where program participants build wheelchair ramps for senior citizens, Faustin said.

She Built This City offers free tuition for students to go through the training program and provides childcare services to participants. In addition to hiring staff, operations are expensive, Faustian said.

“Like any business, services cost money,” she said. “Lowe’s is helping us sustain and expand to serve more individuals.”

The Gable Grant program

Last year, the Lowe’s Foundation launched the Gable Grants program, a five-year, $50 million commitment to aid nonprofits, schools and organizations across the country in training skilled tradespeople.

The Foundation awarded Gable Grants totaling nearly $8 million to community and technical colleges in July 2023.

She Built This City, alongside Goodwill Industries of Southern Piedmont, is the first Gable Grants recipient based in Charlotte. The organizations are two of ten nonprofits set to receive funding from a $6 million investment from Lowe’s.

Lowe’s Foundation reviewed hundreds of applications nationwide for the grant. Still, She Built This City continued to be a “shining star” during the selection process, according to Lowe’s Foundation Director Betsy Conway.