The Duke Endowment

For more than three decades, The Duke Endowment has supported visionary health care initiatives at Atrium Health, investing more than $53 million.

Today, new funding is expanding cancer care in rural communities, opening pathways for students to pursue health care careers and increasing access to school-based behavioral health services.

Together, these efforts are strengthening care and opportunity across the Carolinas.

Read more in a recent announcement by Atrium Health Foundation: https://bit.ly/3O86X4j

Summer learning programs can make a difference when they are built on evidence of effectiveness.

Through its Rural Church program area, The Duke Endowment has spent years supporting summer literacy programs in rural North Carolina and evaluating what helps young readers succeed. Since 2016, participating students have demonstrated gains in reading skills, more positive attitudes toward reading and increased engagement with books at home.

As summer gets underway, programs like the Summer Reading Adventure at West Jefferson UMC are putting these lessons into practice, helping children continue learning while school is out. Read the recent Ashe Post & Times article to learn more about their Summer Reading Adventure and the partners making it possible:

Summer Reading Adventure starts in June at WJUMC WEST JEFFERSON — West Jefferson United Methodist Church of Ashe County will once again open their doors to house a reading program for rising first and second grade students. The