What $10 Can Do Through Give Raleigh

Seven local nonprofits. One shared mission: putting your dollars to work before a setback becomes homelessness.

A parked car was never supposed to be home. But that’s exactly where one local mother and her two children found themselves after a divorce upended their lives. Bouncing between their car, emergency shelters and, when she could afford it, hotel rooms, she kept working—and saving—determined to secure a permanent home for her family.

And she almost did. The apartment was within reach. The monthly rent was manageable. But the thousands of dollars required upfront to actually move in weren’t. After everything she’d done right, $3,000 stood between her children sleeping in a car and sleeping in beds of their own.

Her story is far from unusual. So many of Wake County’s housing-insecure neighbors aren’t who you might imagine. They’re working parents, professionals and families who were making it—until suddenly they weren’t. An illness. An injury. A divorce. An unexpected death in the family. One ordinary setback that becomes another, and in a flash, the stability they spent years building begins to unravel.

That’s precisely what RM’s Give Raleigh, in partnership with Pinnacle Financial Partners, was designed to interrupt. The annual 40-day giving campaign raises funds for Cooper Charitable Foundation, which puts those dollars to work through seven local nonprofits helping neighbors stay—or become—safely housed.

For this single mother, that nonprofit was Oak City Cares. A $3,000 Cooper Charitable Foundation grant covered the move-in costs, finally allowing her family to trade nights in parking lots for a permanent home. Today, her children have a safe place to sleep, study and grow—and their mother can focus on raising them instead of wondering where they’ll spend the night.

Ten bucks didn’t pay that $3,000. Neither did $20 or $100. But your $10 was never meant to do it alone. Add it to ours. And your neighbor’s. Your mom’s. Your dad’s. Then add Pinnacle Financial Partners’ dollar-for-dollar match of the first $10,000 raised. That’s what Give Raleigh does. That’s how $10 becomes something much bigger.

Last year, those gifts became $118K+ through Give Raleigh—money Cooper Charitable Foundation put into the hands of those seven local nonprofits that know exactly where a few dollars at exactly the right moment can change the trajectory of someone’s life.

A deposit gets paid. A bed gets delivered. A car gets repaired. A student stays in school. A mother stays housed. That’s the $10 difference. That’s what happens when Raleigh gives together. 

Meet the Mission

Seven ways your gift can help keep a Wake County neighbor moving forward.

Family Promise of the Triangle | 1993 
Home is more than an address. Family Promise helps families move from cars, motels and borrowed couches into permanent housing through prevention, emergency shelter, rapid rehousing and ongoing support.

The Green Chair Project | 2010
Four walls don’t make a home—a bed, table and chair do. The Green Chair Project transforms empty apartments into homes by providing furniture and essentials for families rebuilding after homelessness, crisis or disaster.

Oak City Cares | 2019
Finding support shouldn’t be harder than asking for it. Oak City Cares connects neighbors with housing, employment, health care, meals and other essential services through Wake County’s one-stop hub for homelessness resources. 

Wake Tech Fostering Bright Futures | 2009
You can’t put a price on education—until you can. FBF removes financial barriers through tuition assistance, stipends and wraparound support, helping former foster youth stay in school, earn degrees and build independent futures. 

Healing Transitions | 2001
Recovery isn’t a straight line. Healing Transitions provides free peer-based recovery services—from emergency shelter and detox to long-term support—giving people as many chances as it takes to rebuild their lives.

The Carying Place | 1993
Sometimes preventing homelessness is as simple as helping a family through one difficult season. The Carying Place combines short-term housing, financial education and personalized support to help hardworking families achieve lasting stability.

The Women’s Center of Wake County | 1977
Everyone deserves a safe place to begin again. Wake County’s only day shelter for single women provides meals, showers, housing support, case management and life-skills programming to help women move from crisis to stability.