The Cannon Foundation awards $175,000 for renovation project
The Cleveland Community College Foundation recently received a grant for $175,000 from The Cannon Foundation, Inc., headquartered in Concord, NC.
Cleveland Community College will use the award to support extensive renovations in the Bailey Allied Health and Science Center. These renovations will allow the expansion of nurse training programs at the College.
Renovation Project
The College anticipates renovating 7,500 square feet of classrooms, laboratories and offices. The additional space will accommodate increased enrollments for the Associate Degree Nursing, Practical Nursing, and Nurse Aide programs. CCC plans to enroll 40 or more students annually in the Associate Degree Nursing program alone.
Renovations will include enlarging classroom spaces and adding training labs. In addition, the College has purchased simulation equipment, including a high-fidelity birthing mannequin, that require a control room from which instructors can create real-life scenarios and conditions in patient care. The new equipment has tremendous value for students and instructors, particularly when they face limited opportunities for training in external clinical settings due to COVID-19.
“We are so grateful to the Cannon Foundation for its generous support,” said Jason Hurst, CCC president. “The planned renovations are vital to the future of our nursing programs as we train more nurses – a critical need in our community and others – and provide them with high-quality education and training experiences.”
CCC has been a member of the Foothills Nursing Consortium with Isothermal Community College and McDowell Technical Community College for the past 29 years. In 2020, the Consortium agreed to dissolve, allowing each college to offer its respective programs to meet the consistently high demand for nurses, which COVID-19 has further strained.
The Consortium dissolution will be finalized in 2023. CCC’s Bailey Allied Health and Science Center is one of the newest buildings on campus (2009) but was designed for the enrollment caps in place by the Consortium, 24 students annually.
About The Cannon Foundation
The Cannon Foundation was formed in 1943 by Charles A. Cannon, chairman and president of the Cannon Mills Company. The Foundation continues his philanthropic legacy by funding primarily capital and infrastructure projects for organizations across the state of North Carolina.