PEMBROKE — The Robeson County Community Development Corporation is among 28 organizations statewide that over the next three years will share $5.85 million in grants from the N.C. Community Development Initiative. The grants are aimed at sparking economic growth and job creation in some of the state’s most distressed areas.

The Robeson County organization will receive a one-year, $40,000 Capacity Building Grant to help strengthen its operations for greater impact, according to a statement announcing the grant award. Robeson County Community Development Corporation works with local businesses, churches, service agencies and representatives in Robeson, Bladen and Scotland counties to help low-income families achieve financial fitness and home ownership. It offers financial and home-buyer education, as well as foreclosure and loss mitigation counseling.

“This grant will help our agency develop more skills so we can do more in the area of economic development,” said Gayle Fernandez, the organization’s executive director. “The money will be used for training that will help our agency’s capacity to do things.”

According to the release announcing grant recipients, Robeson County Community Development Corporation is the only nonprofit in Robeson County that will receive a Capacity Building Grant.

The Capacity Building Grant program is one of two new Initiative grant programs launched this year. The second, the Community Enterprise Fund, provides $210,000 to $300,000 grants over three years to help nonprofits implement their strategic economic development plans. Both are made possible with financial support from the state of North Carolina, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, BB&T Corp. and other public and private organizations.

For information on the Initiative’s grant programs, contact Millie Brobston, program officer for grant investments, at 919-835-6000 or mbrobston@ncinitiative.org.

More general information about the N.C. Community Development Initiative can be found by visiting www.ncinitiative.org.