The West Virginia First Foundation has entered into a partnership with West Virginia University and Ascend West Virginia — which was launched during the pandemic through a financial gift from a sitting First Foundation board member — to open outreach offices in five cities and towns throughout the state, according to a Thursday news release.
The offices will be housed in Ascend WV locations in Morgantown, Fayetteville, Elkins, Martinsburg and Lewisburg and will come at no cost for the First Foundation, which is a private nonprofit tasked with distributing an expected $1 billion in state opioid settlement funds throughout the next 10 years. So far, these are the only offices announced to be opened by the First Foundation, which meets regularly through Zoom and is run by members from across the state.
“I want to thank WVU and the Ascend WV program for their generous contribution of office space,” said Jonathan Board, executive director of the First Foundation. “Having these outreach locations will allow the foundation to be present within communities in every region of the state as we focus on serving the people who most need help.”
Ascend WV started in 2020 and aims to recruit people from out-of-state with financial and recreational incentives to move to West Virginia for remote work. It launched through a $25 million gift from Marshall University President Brad Smith and his wife, Alys Smith, an attorney and philanthropist who was appointed last year by Gov. Jim Justice to sit on the First Foundation’s board of directors.
To date, according to Ascend, 406 individuals and their families from 38 states and five countries have relocated to West Virginia through the program.
The program operates in partnership with the Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative at WVU and the state Department of Tourism.
E. Gordon Gee
WVU President E. Gordon Gee said supporting the First Foundation is evidence that the university is “a force for good.”
“This is the essence of being West Virginia’s land-grant flagship University,” Gee said in the news release.
Danny Twilley, assistant vice president of economic, community and asset development at the Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative, said providing brick-and-mortar office space for the First Foundation lines up with the values of the collaborative.
Danny Twilley
“Community engagement has been a cornerstone of our program from the start, whether we’re connecting ‘ascenders’ with resources and opportunities in their new home, helping native West Virginians find their way back or supporting communities in their endeavors to thrive,” Twilley said in the release.
The First Foundation is currently accepting applications for its 2024 grant cycle, where it is poised to distribute $19.2 million to organizations throughout the state undertaking work to combat the ongoing drug and overdose epidemic. Applications for the grants are due Oct. 5 and are expected to be awarded later this year.
The foundation is in the process of building a request for proposals to create a needs assessment survey for future grant cycles. Board, as the Foundation’s executive, is also working to hire several full time executive staff to help facilitate the organization’s operations and the distribution of future funds.
For more information on how to apply for First Foundation grants, visit https://wvfirst.org/grants/.