Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro
The Bible compares the kingdom of Heaven to a mustard seed. It’s the smallest of seeds, yet when it grows, it becomes the largest of garden plants. That’s why a nonprofit in Guilford County chose the name Mustard Seed Community Health.
Census numbers show North Carolina’s Hispanic population increased by 40% in the last decade. It’s the fastest-growing segment of the population in the state, making up more than 10% of everyone in North Carolina.
One agency in the Piedmont Triad believes that’s why it’s important to share Latin culture with everyone.
“I think that for the longest time, I’ve been in Greensboro since 1997, and for the longest time, we were almost invisible,” says Claudia Femenias, the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for Casa Azul. “I mean, nobody really knew that Latinas were here. So this, when we started with this, was very nice to start teaching this. I think that creating this bridge of understanding, creating a safe space, creating culture and art and showing it to everybody, it does create a stronger community.”
Uniting and strengthening the community is Casa Azul’s mission. The nonprofit introduces people of different backgrounds, preserves and promotes Latino heritage, and works to strengthen families through cultural arts.
Femenias says Casa Azul began in 2011 with Dia de Muertos, the celebration of the Day of the Dead in Mexico. That used food, dance and music to teach people about the Hispanic tradition.
Over time, Casa Azul added a Latino arts and education series and even introduced Latin writers into local schools. Volunteer staff now host about 20 different free programs, and the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro helps support it with a $40,000 grant. It’s all designed to create a safe space for everyone in a community that values diversity.
“But we also strive to create bridges of understanding, to teach about the richness of Latino cultures, to the non-Latino, to the people in the community, Greensboro Community, High Point community, and Guilford County in general,” says Femenias.
Casa Azul is always looking for financial donations and volunteers to help with programs such as this year’s Dia de Muertos celebration. It kicks off this Saturday evening with a free reception. It will be in the Greensboro Cultural Center in downtown Greensboro. An altar exhibit created by local Latino artists will also be open to the public through November 8.
Nancy McLaughlin, Greensboro News & Record “Dr. Beth” Elizabeth Mulberry visits with Johnnie Lewis in 2018 at his home near Mustard Seed Community Health clinic, Woody Marshall, News & Record …
The Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet is a nonprofit that offers not only ballet but also jazz, hip-hop, tap and contemporary dance classes, and the school is also using dance to make life better with the help of a community foundation.
“When they come here, sometimes you have people who have self-esteem issues, they won’t make eye contact, or they don’t talk much, and then all of a sudden they just blossom.”
And it’s dancing that helps make that blossoming happen. For more than 15 years, Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet and its school of dance have created dance magic in the Piedmont Triad. Founder and Director Princess Johnson says dance intrigued her when she was a child, even though she says she wasn’t that good at it.
“I did well in all subjects, and I was gifted in many things, but I honestly was not that gifted in dance,” says Johnson. “But for some reason, dance was compelling and calling to me, probably because it was the most challenging thing I had ever faced.”
Johnson says dance challenged her to express herself and made her feel seen and heard. Years later, she worked to help other girls feel seen, too, with a dance production called “The Hair Journey.” She says hair is such an important part of how we identify and can impact how we navigate our lives.
“Some of us may choose to wear weaves or some of us may want to be natural, or we want to braid our hair, but those choices are always so significant. So, we try to tell that story of our hair through dance and movement and even hands-on classes and training,” she says. “We’ve done hair braiding classes, art classes that involve creating self-portraits of you and your hair. So, we really want people to learn to love themselves and feel confident in who they are and how they were born.”
A $14,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro helped make “The Hair Journey” happen, but Royal Expressions is about more than dance. It’s also about building healthier lifestyles. In the last year, it has implemented a community garden where students can learn about growing food and making better food choices so their bodies are properly fueled for dance.
“If you would like to start your dance journey with us, either through your child or yourself, we do have a school, and our school, we do train and dance, but our wrap-around services include building community, and also building healthier lifestyles,” says Johnson. “So, we are really heavy on focusing on making sure that people have physical, mental and emotional well-being through our program.”
Royal Expressions offers dance classes for children as young as two. There’s also an adult recreational program. It’s based in Greensboro but is working on plans to expand statewide.
Eastern High is the recipient of the 2025 Hubert B. Humphrey Jr. School Improvement Award. The Humphrey Award is designed to recognize a school that designs and implements “a comprehensive school improvement plan that supports collaboration and leads toward improved student achievement.”
Center City Investors, LLC created by The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro’s Real Estate Management Fund today announced the purchase of a 6.65-acre parcel of land, formerly the site of the News & Record.
Blues musician Willie Dixon once said, “The Blues are the roots, and other musics are the fruits. It’s better to keep the roots alive because it means better fruits from now on.”
One nonprofit group in the Piedmont Triad is trying to do just that. The Piedmont Blues Preservation Society works to not only keep blues music alive but also to preserve blues culture, and it’s with the help of a community foundation.
The Professional Advisors Committee (PAC) of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro (CFGG) are a volunteer group of expert professional advisors helping their clients realize their charitable giving goals by partnering with the foundation.
Realizing that older adults need a larger screen than the standard phone, Dr. Merritt and the Organization to Provide Equal Access to Technology, or OPEAT, stepped in to bridge the digital divide. The program invites anyone over the age of 50 to come in and learn computer skills at all levels. Some need to start with learning how to turn the computer on.
Investing and supporting equity in education as well as empowering whole families, that is the mission of the SchermCo Foundation.
