Environmental Stewardship.

Sustainable Community Development.

Social Justice.

Established in 1991, The Conservation Fund's Resourceful Communities Program blends innovative techniques to help North Carolina's underserved communities create new economies that protect and restore, rather than extract, natural resources.

Resourceful Communities provides a range of direct assistance to develop the leadership and organizational capacity necessary for sustainable community development. Because Resourceful Communities works closely with local partners, including nonprofit, private and public concerns, we help ensure local ownership of long-term economic, social and environmental change.

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An Idea, a Grant—and a Challenge:
How Our Resourceful Communities Program Began

The roots of The Conservation Fund’s Resourceful Communities Program (RCP) emerged in 1990, when Mikki Sager, then an administrative assistant, and veteran Fund staffer Dick Ludington were approached by residents of Tyrrell County, N.C. A big conservation project had taken land off the county tax rolls, costing the small community needed revenue. Listening to community concerns and knowing the region’s potential, Ludington hatched an idea: build a visitor center, with bike and kayak rentals, youth conservationists and more to create jobs and businesses from the region’s rich natural resources. He asked Sager to write a grant proposal—her first.

To Sager’s delight, her grant request of $24,000 was approved—but only as a match, requiring her to raise twice that amount from other sources. Rising to the challenge, she succeeded—and soon, RCP was launched.

RCP helps North Carolina’s rural communities address persistent poverty by tapping natural resources to create jobs and strengthen economies. Over time, RCP has had its share of watershed moments, including the program’s first “Grassroots Convening” in 2001. The statewide gathering of 20 community, government, business and environmental leaders who met to share ideas and forge new partnerships was a resounding success and is an annual event. In 2010, more than 270 partners participated in Grassroots Convening and leadership workshops across the state.

Each year, RCP partners share ways to farm sustainably, say, or develop businesses that use natural resources well. As a result, their communities are not forced to choose between a healthy environment or decent jobs but instead work toward solutions that provide both, while confronting issues of social justice.

As Sager says, “It’s this human dynamic—all the challenges of people and place—that makes our work so meaningful.”