The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation awarded the Town of Chapel Hill a $375,000 grant Wednesday, the town announced. The grant is in support of Chapel Hill’s Building Integrated Communities initiative. BIC “aims to understand the experiences of immigrant and refugee residents and to develop recommendations… that support the integration, well-being and leadership development of immigrant and refugee residents in Chapel Hill.”

“This funding will allow the town to build on the progress we have made over the last few years, in collaboration with our community partners, to break down barriers to access and build leadership among our diverse immigrant and refugee residents,” said Sarah Vinas, director of affordable housing and community connections for Chape Hill. “We appreciate the ongoing partnership with UNC-Chapel Hill’s Institute for the Study of the Americas through BIC.”

The town plans to use the grant funding to implement the BIC Action Plan, which includes hiring full-time staff positions, interpreters and developing leadership opportunities for immigrants and refugees in the area.

Chapel Hill first launched BIC in 2019. Since then, the town has created a Language Access Plan, established a liaison to welcome new immigrants and refugees to the area and trained town staff on language access.

For more information on the grant and BIC, click here.

 

Featured image via Town of Chapel Hill

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