Duke Energy provides $100,000 in grants to support organizations providing senior home ramp programs

GREENVILLE - South Carolina's senior population should never have to decide between the necessities of life and living out their golden years in safety in their own home.

"Being able to safely enter and exit our homes is a basic need for everyone," said Mark Champagne, executive director of Sumter United Ministries. "We have been told of seniors in our community being physically carried in and out of their home because there wasn't a suitable wheelchair ramp available."

To assist the efforts of organizations like Sumter United Ministries, the Duke Energy Foundation is providing $100,000 in grants to 13 organizations in the state with existing home ramp programs for low-income senior citizens or those with disabilities who qualify for assistance. Each program qualified for up to $15,000 in funding based on the size of the population it serves.

"This money will make life so much better for several homeowners in our community," Champagne said.

"Safety is the most important aspect of everything we do at Duke Energy, every day," said Mike Callahan, Duke Energy's South Carolina state president. "A simple safety improvement like building a ramp can make an enormous difference in the quality of life of our seniors. These grants will provide real freedom and security to the recipients of these services."

Grants were awarded to the following organizations:

- Sumter United Ministries - $7,500

- United Way (Clarendon County) - $2,500

- AIM (Anderson County) - $15,000

- Caring and Sharing (Williamsburg County) - $2,500

- Greenwood Community Home Repair - $5,000

- Habitat for Humanity (Greenville County) - $15,000

- Habitat for Humanity (Spartanburg County) - $15,000

- Habitat for Humanity (York County) - $5,000

- Helping Florence Flourish - $5,000

- Home Works of America (Marlboro County) - $2,500

- KARE of Kershaw - $5,000

- Lighthouse Ministries (Florence County) - $10,000

- Rebuild Upstate (Oconee and Pickens counties) - $10,000

This year's grants are a continuation of the foundation's efforts to support South Carolina organizations that help make needed home repairs to enable senior citizens to continue to enjoy life in their current homes. In 2023, the Senior Home Repair Program provided $225,000 in grants to 15 qualifying nonprofits of up to $20,000 through a request for proposals.

"The response we received after last year's grants were announced was tremendous and eye opening as the scope of the need became evident," said Amanda Dow, director of the Duke Energy Foundation in South Carolina. "We looked more closely at the programs implementing this work and refined this year's grants to a single specific focus area - home ramp programs - that will allow for more targeted disbursement of funds and reach more individuals in need."

In addition to the grants, Duke Energy employees will be volunteering with several of these organizations to build ramps in communities in the company's service territory that serves more than 830,000 retail electric customers and stretches from the Pee Dee region to the Upstate.

Individuals looking for more information on qualifying for support from individual programs should contact the organizations receiving these grants.

Duke Energy Foundation

The Duke Energy Foundation provides more than $30 million annually in philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The Foundation is funded by Duke Energy shareholders.