Latest News & Stories

Get the latest from the Endowment and read more about the impact of the work being done by our grantees and individuals in the field

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6 Things to Know Pathways to Grade Level Reading

5 Things to Know… Pathways to Grade-Level Reading

The first eight years of a child’s life are a critical time that build the foundation for future learning. In fact, research shows that reading proficiently by the end of third grade predicts a child’s later academic achievement and career success.

August 5, 2021 | Meka S. Sales

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Helping Children by Helping Communities

The historic Northside community in Spartanburg, S.C., has embraced an innovative effort to rebuild and transform for today’s residents and generations to come.

April 19, 2021 | Meka S. Sales

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6 Things to Know About “Hospital at Home”

A health care model that’s gaining traction across the country will soon be offered to patients in South Carolina, allowing them to receive acute-level hospital care — at home

April 19, 2021 | Lin B. Hollowell III

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Preparing Students for Lives of Purpose

When leaders at Furman University talk about The Furman Advantage, they often use the word “transformational.” Elizabeth Davis, the university’s president since 2014, says that’s intentional.

April 19, 2021 |

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Supporting A Strong Start for Children

In 2018, The Duke Endowment announced a strategic emphasis on early childhood as a way to amplify our existing program area work and help us produce greater impact across our grantmaking. Duke University experts helped us formulate the shared outcomes that steer our Zero to Eight work.

February 21, 2021 | The Duke Endowment

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Helping Churches Provide COVID Relief

Many churches want to make a difference in their communities – but despite good intentions, they sometimes lack the tools or know-how to run effective programs.

August 10, 2020 | Robert R. Webb III

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Coaching Young Students in Reading

When schools closed this spring because of COVID-19, Read Charlotte pivoted quickly to help parents strengthen their children’s literacy skills from home. The Reading Checkup, a website designed for families with rising K-4 students, debuted in June.

August 8, 2020 | Meka S. Sales

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Embracing the ‘New Normal’ in Higher Ed

When James B. Duke wrote the Indenture of Trust that established The Duke Endowment, he included four institutions of higher education among his beneficiaries. Davidson College, Duke University, Furman University and Johnson C. Smith University have each received funding from the Endowment since 1924.

August 8, 2020 |

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Protecting Children, Serving Families

Among the many troubling questions raised by the coronavirus pandemic has been the impact of school closures and stay-at-home orders on vulnerable children and families.

August 8, 2020 | Phillip H. Redmond Jr.

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One Rural Hospital’s Fight Against COVID-19

Hospitals across the Carolinas have been challenged as never before. The COVID-19 pandemic has strained their resources, upended their budgets and stressed out their doctors, nurses and support staff.

August 8, 2020 | Lin B. Hollowell III

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New Chief, New Plans for South Carolina Department of Social Services

Last year when South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster nominated Michael Leach to lead the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS), some observers wondered how he might turn around the agency’s embattled child-welfare services unit. Given the Endowment’s history of supporting child welfare practice improvement in both Carolinas, we sat down with the new director to ask how things are going.

February 24, 2020 | Phillip H. Redmond Jr.

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Strengthening Congregations and Communities

Is your community thriving? Cultural sociologist Josh Yates says the best way to answer that question is to think of thriving as a wholistic form of growth.

February 21, 2020 | Robert R. Webb III