WNC Bridge Foundation Competitors

Buncombe County Schools is the state's 13th largest school system and the largest district in Western North Carolina. We employ nearly 3,800 people and serve more than 24,500 students, making BCS the county's second largest employer. More than 55 different languages are spoken in our 44 schools. Buncombe County rests in a central area of a high plateau bordered by the Blue Ridge, Great Craggy, and Black Mountains on the East and the Great Smokies chain of the Appalachians on the West. Sprawling over seven hundred and seventy square miles of valley lowlands and mountain coves, Buncombe County is home to over 206,000 residents. Asheville, located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa Rivers, is the county seat as well as the economic and cultural center of Western North Carolina. Buncombe County enjoys a broadly based economy supported by a thriving tourist and convention enterprise, widely diversified industry, forestry and agriculture.

Our Mission: To pursue justice by providing legal assistance and advocacy to help low-income people in Western North Carolina meet their basic needs and improve their lives. What We Do: Pisgah Legal Services is an innovative nonprofit founded in 1978 that: provides free civil legal aid to people who live in poverty; helps more than 23,000 of the most vulnerable people in our communities annually to meet urgent needs such as: housing, safety from abuse, health care and income; partners with dozens of other agencies to make sustainable change for people in crisis; coordinates the services of more than 250 pro bono attorneys in WNC; improves systems and policies that impact the lives of thousands of low-income people. Pisgah Legal Services provides a broad array of free civil legal aid, anti-poverty advocacy and access to health care in 18 counties and the Qualla Boundary in WNC. Program offerings vary by county depending on the availability and scope of funding. Pisgah Legal has offices in Asheville, Brevard, Burnsville, Cashiers, Franklin, Highlands, Hendersonville, Marshall, Morganton, Newland, Rutherfordton, Spruce Pine and Waynesville.

The North Carolina Community Foundation transforms the collective generosity of our donors into a permanent source of community support, with a focus on the state’s rural areas. NCCF partners with donors and a network of affiliates to sustain over 1,300 endowments totaling over $600 million in assets. Nearly $360 million has been awarded as grants to charitable organizations and scholarships to students, creating stronger communities for generations to come.