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High Country Charitable Foundation Inc

The vision of the foundation is to provide for need avery county residents and animals by supporting local public chartities and other private foundations

$611k
Granted FY2022
24
Grants FY2022
1
States reached
$90k
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2022.

Human Services$238kFood & Nutrition$203kHousing & Shelter$175kEducation$136kAnimals$59kPhilanthropy$52kYouth Development$43kCrime & Legal$41kOther$0
02FY2022 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 24 grants below total $451,524, the rows itemized in this filing. The $610,681 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $159,157 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2022

  • Under $10k3 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k20 grants · $342k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $90k
$15,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$4.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FEEDING AVERY FAMILIES INC$90,000
LINVILLE VOLUNTEER FIRE AND RESCUE$36,855
OASIS INC$30,000
AVERY COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY$30,000
AVERY COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$25,000
KIWANIS CLUB OF BANNER ELK FOUNDATIONAVERY HIGH KEY CLUB$20,000
GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION$19,000
REACHING AVERY MINISTRY$15,000
SPIRIT RIDE THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER$15,000
WAMY COMMUNITY ACTION INC$15,000
HIGH COUNTRY CAREGIVERS$15,000
MEDIATION & RESTORATIVE JUSTICE CENTER$15,000
LEES-MCRAE COLLEG$15,000
MOUNTAIN ALLIANCE FOR TEENS$13,000
HUNGER & HEALTH COALITION$12,500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–22, $163k) land where the poverty rate runs at 19%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%OASIS INC: $30k → 21%WESTERN YOUTH NETWORK: $15k → 21%HIGH COUNTRY CAREGIVERS: $15k → 21%WESTERN YOUTH NETWORK: $15k → 21%REACHING AVERY MINISTRY: $15k → 15%OASIS INC: $10k → 15%OASIS INC: $10k → 15%REACHING AVERY MINISTRY: $8k → 15%REACHING AVERY MINISTRY: $8k → 15%REACHING AVERY MINISTRY: $7k → 15%SPIRIT RIDE THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $15k → 21%SPIRIT RIDE THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $10k → 21%SPIRIT RIDE THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $5k → 21%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$996k · 22 repeat orgs$132k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +89% since the first grant, against +59% for those funded once.

22 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2022, 4 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
7

Total granted

$996k
$58k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+89%
+59%

Still filing today

82%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $74k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’22
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’22
Human ServicesEducationHealthFood & NutritionEmploymentYouth DevelopmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • FA
    FEEDING AVERY FAMILIES INC
    5× · 2017–2022 · $140k · revenue ×15
  • AA
    AVERY ASSOCIATION FOR EXCEPTIONAL CITIZENS
    5× · 2017–2021 · $80k · revenue +89%
  • AC
    AVERY COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
    6× · 2017–2022 · $65k · revenue +26%

Funded once

  • TN
    THE NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    3× · 2018–2020 · $25k · revenue +36%
  • AC
    AVERY COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPT
    4× · 2018–2021 · $10k
  • SPECIAL OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +59%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Volunteer Avery County & Community Services Inc

Volunteer Avery County finds resources to aid families and individuals that do not qualify for public assistance and fall through the cracks.

Human Services
2
Western Carolina Rescue Ministries Inc

Provide food, shelter, rehabilitation and christian ministry to the poor and homeless

Housing & Shelter
3
Yancey County Committee On Aging Inc

Provide services for elderly

—
4
May Coalition Inc

To create high quality employment opportunities for unemployed and underemployed residents of mitchell, avery, and yancey counties in north carolina

Employment
5
Mountain Housing Opportunities Inc

To provide affordable housing for low-income individuals living in buncombe county and the surrounding areas of north carolina.

Housing & Shelter
6
Community Health Network of Wnc

A collaborative network that increases access and improves health outcomes for safety net populations in western north carolina

Health
7
Homes of Hope Inc

Provied temporary and emergency and low income housing and secured shelter.

Housing & Shelter
8
Carolina Family Health Centers Inc

Carolina Family Health Centers, Inc. provides accessible and affordable health care with excellence...where patients come FIRST

—
9
Haywood Pathways Center Inc

Guided by faith, love, and respect, we provide food, shelter, and individualized supportive services for Haywood County residents.

Housing & Shelter
10
Ashe County Transportation Authority

Public transportation services to the general public including the elderly and disabled population

—
11
Carolina Family Connections

Recruit and train and license foster parents to receive foster children from county government agencies.

Human Services
12
Wnc Health Network Inc

WNC Health Network, Inc supports people and organizations to improve community health and wellbeing across Western North Carolina.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Avery Association for Exceptional Citizens; the most unlike its peers is Spirithorse Therapeutic Riding Center. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

29 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 29 of the 33 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/29
Grantees still filing
25/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AVERY COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $65,000 · OtherAVERY COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANITYWAMY COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $55,000 · OtherWAMY COMMUNITY ACTION INCKIWANIS CLUB OF BANNER ELK FOUNDATION: $52,000 · OtherKIWANIS CLUB OF BANNER ELK FOUNDATIONVOLUNTEER AVERY COUNTY: $40,000 · OtherVOLUNTEER AVERY COUNTYLINVILLE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $36,855 · OtherLINVILLE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INCMountain Alliance Inc: $25,000 · OtherMountain Alliance IncTHE NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · OtherTHE NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL FOUNDATION INCMEDIATION AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE CENTER: $31,000 · OtherMEDIATION AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE CENTERHOSPITALITY HOUSE OF NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA: $30,000 · OtherHOSPITALITY HOUSE OF NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINAGRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $29,000 · OtherGRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION IN…FRIENDS OF THE HISTORIC BANNER ELK SCHOOL INC: $16,420 · Other+8 more: $55,000 · Other+8 moreOPPOSING ABUSE WITH SERVICE INFORMATION & SHELTER: $50,000 · Human ServicesOPPOSING ABUSE WI…REACHING AVERY MINISTRY: $38,000 · Human ServicesREACHING AVERY MI…SPIRITHORSE THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $30,000 · Human ServicesSPIRITHORSE THERA…The Western Youth Network Inc: $30,000 · Human ServicesThe Western Youth…HIGH COUNTRY CAREGIVER FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Human ServicesHIGH COUNTRY CARE…CHILDREN'S HOPE ALLIANCE: $12,000 · Human ServicesCHILDREN'S HOPE A…FEEDING AVERY FAMILIES INC: $139,500 · Food & NutritionFEEDING AVERY FAM…THE HUNGER AND HEALTH COALITION INC: $34,500 · Food & NutritionTHE HUNGER AND HE…LEES-MCRAE COLLEGE INC: $52,500 · EducationLEES-MCRAE C…THE HILL CENTER INC: $36,500 · EducationTHE HILL CEN…BLUE RIDGE PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN: $32,000 · EducationBLUE RIDGE P…AVERY ASSOCIATION FOR EXCEPTIONAL CITIZENS: $80,000 · EmploymentWILLIAMS YMCA OF AVERY COUNTY: $59,249 · Youth DevelopmentAVERY COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $58,500 · Animals
Other$460,275Human Services$175,000Food & Nutrition$174,000Education$121,000Employment$80,000Youth Development$59,249Animals$58,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetFEEDING AVERY FAMILIES INC: $139,500 over 5y, 14% of budgetAVERY ASSOCIATION FOR EXCEPTIONAL CITIZENS: $80,000 over 5y, 6.4% of budgetAVERY COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $65,000 over 6y, 3.8% of budgetWILLIAMS YMCA OF AVERY COUNTY: $59,249 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetAVERY COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $58,500 over 5y, 5.1% of budgetWAMY COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $55,000 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetLEES-MCRAE COLLEGE INC: $52,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOPPOSING ABUSE WITH SERVICE INFORMATION & SHELTER: $50,000 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetREACHING AVERY MINISTRY: $38,000 over 6y, 4.2% of budgetLINVILLE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $36,855 over 2y, 6.9% of budgetTHE HILL CENTER INC: $36,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE HUNGER AND HEALTH COALITION INC: $34,500 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetBLUE RIDGE PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN: $32,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetMEDIATION AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE CENTER: $31,000 over 6y, 3.5% of budgetThe Western Youth Network Inc: $30,000 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetHOSPITALITY HOUSE OF NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA: $30,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetGRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $29,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetMountain Alliance Inc: $25,000 over 5y, 4.7% of budgetTHE NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE HISTORIC BANNER ELK SCHOOL INC: $16,420 over 4y, 4.8% of budgetHIGH COUNTRY CAREGIVER FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOPE ALLIANCE: $12,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY CARE CLINIC INC: $12,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetHOLSTON PRESBYTERY CAMP AND RETREAT CENTER INC: $10,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS NORTH CAROLINA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

North Carolina Community FoundationNC29.7× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: North Carolina Community Foundation · The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Inc · High Country United Way · Dogwood Health Trust · Womens Fund of the Blue Ridge Inc · Amy Wellness Foundation · The Cannon Foundation Inc · Grandfather Community Foundation Inc · Arthur Family Foundation · Manna Food Bank Inc · Foundation for the Carolinas · The Mataya Family Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization High Country Charitable Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from High Country Charitable Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 33 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $470k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2022, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

    Source object · view filing

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