Charlotte's 'first responder of funds'
A local charity helps companies provide emergency financial relief to employees.
The following article appeared in the Oct. 3, 2022, edition of The Charlotte Ledger newsletter. Find out more and subscribe here.
Charity Spotlight: When disasters like Hurricane Ian hit, growing Charlotte nonprofit E4E Relief steps in
Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida last week, caused tens of billions of dollars in damage. Charlotte nonprofit E4E Relief helps companies with large workforces manage employee financial hardship programs, says CEO Holly Welch Stubbing (above). E4E is expecting 5,000 to 8,000 applications for assistance in connection with Hurricane Ian.
by Tony Mecia
A couple weeks ago, as a storm system starting moving toward the Caribbean off the northern coast of South America, officials at E4E Relief’s Charlotte office reached out to its 125 customers.
E4E Relief provides financial assistance to workers at large companies who experience hardships or endure natural disasters. And with a big storm brewing, E4E Relief checked in with those companies to see if they were comfortable with the amounts they had planned to spend on worker financial assistance programs.
“We were able to go to companies and say, ‘Here is your model of what you should expect to see in this storm,’” said E4E Relief CEO Holly Welch Stubbing.
The storm, of course, turned into Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 hurricane that tore through Florida and later crossed the Carolinas. It demolished homes and upended lives.
And while plenty of charities and government programs are starting to help in the relief efforts, E4E Relief has carved out a growing niche in providing immediate funding to workers facing unforeseen financial struggles. It’s a charity — a subsidiary of Foundation for the Carolinas — that allows companies to help their employees without tasking their own human resources departments with administering a relief program. Nearly one-tenth of Fortune 500 companies are clients.
Although it is gaining a national profile, E4E Relief flies mostly under the radar in Charlotte. Its origins go back more than two decades, to the 9-11 attacks, when then-Wachovia CEO Ken Thompson asked Foundation for the Carolinas to find a way to help the bank’s workers in New York. Since then, E4E Relief has worked providing relief on countless hurricanes, California wildfires, the Russia-Ukraine war, Covid and other disasters. Clients include Wells Fargo, LendingTree, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Salesforce and T. Rowe Price.
E4E Relief says its clients have about 5 million employees. In the last five years, it has received $330M in donations and has made $212M in grants — most in the range of $750 to $3,000.
“When something like this happens, the head of a large company wants to know, ‘Where are my people? Are they OK? What is going on down there? And what are we doing for them?’” Stubbing says. “… One of the things we have found is we are the first responder of funds, if you will, in a variety of situations. Aside from people literally being on the ground, like the military or the federal government, we are the first responders of actual dollars, even ahead of federal government dollars to individual people.”
E4E Relief has 55 employees, who work out of an office on North Tryon Street uptown. It also has about 30 contract workers.
Stubbing says E4E Relief is in “growth mode” and that the idea is catching on nationally, as companies see the benefits of having an outside charity manage their hardship assistance programs.
As for Hurricane Ian, Stubbing says E4E Relief plans to add another 40 contractors or so to handle the expected deluge of applications — as many as 5,000 to 8,000. As of Thursday, E4E Relief had already received 250 applications, many related to the financial costs of evacuating from Florida. After applications are completed and approved, the money can be in recipients’ hands within three to five days, sometimes quicker.
“A lot of people who come to us are in crisis,” Stubbing says. “We want to be really supportive and compassionate around their needs.”
Need to sign up for this e-newsletter? We offer a free version, as well as paid memberships for full access to all 4 of our local newsletters:
➡️ Opt in or out of different newsletters on your “My Account” page.
➡️ Learn more about The Charlotte Ledger
The Charlotte Ledger is a locally owned media company that delivers smart and essential news through e-newsletters and on a website. We strive for fairness and accuracy and will correct all known errors. The content reflects the independent editorial judgment of The Charlotte Ledger. Any advertising, paid marketing, or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.
Like what we are doing? Feel free to forward this along and to tell a friend.
Social media: On Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Sponsorship information/customer service: email support@cltledger.com.
Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project