Enlarge Traye Gaines is a cancer survivor featured on the calendar to benefit the Buddy Kemp Support Center.

Posted: December 30th, 2009 Meaghan Clark

On Wednesdays, Crossroads Charlotte Correspondent Meaghan Clark will give you a round-up of community-building news and events (click items for full stories):

1. Calendar Alert! Cancer survivors from the Presbyterian Cancer Center’s Buddy Kemp Support Center will make their mark in 2010 as part of an annual cancer survivor calendar.

2. Police chief Rodney Monroe’s approach to law enforcement, to connect with all communities, is working. He is the Charlotte Post’s newsmaker of the year.

3. If you care about breaking the cycle of poverty and academic failure, join other locals at a book-club discussion on "Whatever It Takes," a project aimed at helping the most disadvantaged communities.

4. Charlotte has been ranked 27th most literate city in the United States. Is it something to be proud of?

5. Write down their number! New Year’s Eve revelers need to consider Designated Driver Assistance, a group of concerned citizens who will drive people home safely.

Got a suggestion or a resource for us to check out? Please leave it in the comments or send an email.

Posted: December 29th, 2009 Greg Lacour

Crossroads Charlotte occasionally spotlights individuals or groups who are improving the city's social capital.

Area 15 is a combination small business incubator, warren of artists’ work spaces and work of art-in-progress. Occupying a 23,000-square-foot former furniture storage building on North Davidson Street, Area 15 started five years ago when artist and counselor Carlos Espin and his interior decorator wife, Arlene, decided their low-income Optimist Park neighborhood needed a catalyst for business and creative growth. So they bought the building and began leasing space – for artists but also for other small business ventures. Today, Area 15 houses several artists and businesspeople, including a furniture maker, exotic jewelry shop and real estate office, along with four nonprofit organizations and plenty of artwork. Area 15 also works with a firm that mentors prospective small business owners. More space is available; see the Area 15 Web site.

Why they do what they do? “Just helping people is what I and my wife have been about for 25 years, and this is just the latest way,” Carlos Espin says. “During harder times like this, folks want to be surrounded by supportive people, and that’s what we do.”

What's next? A possible coffee shop, Not Just Coffee, in the building. The Espins are working out the details with its prospective owner. They’re also planning a “double dish” potluck party at Area 15 on New Year’s Eve, with drinks provided by Counter Culture Coffee.

Click here for more of James Willamor's photos of Area 15.

Know someone who is a connector for a community?
Nominate that person to be profiled by a Crossroads Charlotte Correspondent. Email his or her name, phone number and email address and a brief description of what they do to Crossroads Charlotte. If your nominee is selected, you will be contacted by a correspondent.

Posted: December 28th, 2009 Tonya Jameson

The video opens with a dark screen and a man singing, “What do you see?”

The black fades into a tight shot of artist John W. Love Jr. talking into a microphone telling us we’re not blind. His hypnotic voice narrates over a collage of images of people.

There’s a young man with green hair. A white guy with dreadlocks. A black woman. A pregnant women. Their stories are woven into this narrative we call Charlotte. Love's poem and the accompanying music asks: What do we see when we see Charlotte?

It is the most familiar and vexing question facing this New South city.

Who are we?

It is a question Crossroads Charlotte asks in workshops. It is a question the Levine Museum of the New South, by its mere existence, tries to answer. The question poses even more urgency as we watch the recession chip away at our identity. We no longer feel like a banking center.

The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce is the latest to take a stab at helping us find our identity. The video featuring Love and a host of familiar and unfamiliar faces was created for the chamber’s annual meeting. Since being posted on YouTube in November, the video has received more than 2,000 hits, and lots of positive feedback.

Keep Reading

Posted: December 23rd, 2009 Meaghan Clark

On Wednesdays, Crossroads Charlotte Correspondent Meaghan Clark provides a round-up of community-building news and events in the city and region (click items for full stories):

1. Sharing the love of the game: Sean Schultz will be remembered by a community of boys who were lucky enough to call him coach.

2. Actions speak louder than words: City Councilman Bill James has been asked to apologize for hurtful remarks to fellow council member. His refusal to do so could leave a terrible stain on his public persona, says Glenn Burkins of QCityMetro.com.

3. Home for the holidays: 200 soldiers are back in the Carolinas, thanks to the generosity of Lowe's and other community members.

4. Friends, neighbors and local companies help give an old home a new life in Davidson.

5. The Future of Good, Part 2. Charlotte Magazine delivers the second part of its Mission Possible report. Don't miss Ken Garfield's story on the impact of Leon and Sandra Levine's generosity on the city and region.

Got a suggestion or a resource for us to check out? Please leave it in the comments or send an email.