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Posted: June 26th, 2010 Greg Lacour

Patrick Nsibambi, who had trained in the Hospitality & Tourism field, offered his fellow graduates in Goodwill Industries’ Occupational Skills Training program some parting words – a Portuguese saying that, loosely translated, means, “The struggle continues.”

It wasn’t the cheeriest way to close. But there was no sense in denying reality. The 42 graduates were mainly professionals who had lost their jobs  and were trying to freshen their skills or learn new ones, then re-enter the workforce at a time of 12-percent unemployment.

Still, no one at the program’s graduation ceremony, at the Carole A. Hoefener Center uptown on June 25, was frowning much. This really was a fresh start for everybody. It was for Linda Lorde, who graduated from the OST program in February and now works the front desk at the Hampton Inn & Suites on Arrowood Road. Lorde was the guest speaker at the ceremony Friday.

“If you want it bad enough, you’ll do it,” Lorde said in her address. “When they see Goodwill, they know they have a good product.”

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Posted: June 25th, 2010 Rhiannon Bowman

Nearly 100 community members gathered at a church in Ballantyne on Thursday to talk about the fears, facts and future of affordable housing developments.

Sharon Doerer, who was in the audience at Harrison United Methodist Church, says she and her family moved to the Ballantyne area in search of better schools after living in west Charlotte for 14 years.

Doerer, an organizational science doctoral student at UNC Charlotte, was curious to see how the moderators and panel would frame the discussion.

Panelists Debra Campbell, director of Charoltte-Mecklenburg's Planning Department; Ned Curran, president of The Bissell Companies; Rodney Sadler, professor at Union Seminary kicked off the meeting by sharing their personal beliefs about affordable housing.

If a person works as hard as they can to take care of themselves, Campbell says, then others should chip in if that person is still unable to meet their own needs.

Curran says many of his employees are the very people who would qualify and benefit from affordable housing opportunities adding, "if we're not looking after each other, then we're not a balanced community."

"The people we are talking about living in affordable housing aren't 'them', they are 'us,' " says Sadler. Throughout the evening he repeated that thought, suggesting many may only be a missed paycheck away from needing affordable housing.

City Council member Warren Cooksey, one of the moderators, says recent debates before the council made it clear there is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the issue.

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Posted: June 24th, 2010 Rhiannon Bowman

In ancient times, Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, was a time for feasting and dancing, animal sacrifices and bonfires.

But things were a bit more subdued on Monday when about 20 people gathered at The Bag Lady, a whimsical store on Kenilworth Avenue, to celebrate Summer Solstice by reading poetry.

Some of the readers read their own poetry and some read the words of others. Rachel Dunkan read a poem her grandmother, Madeline Adams, wrote in 1937, from a now tattered orange folder last carried to school more than 70 years ago.

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Posted: June 23rd, 2010 Meaghan Clark

Stories that caught our eye this week:

1. No Novello Festival of Reading this year as Mecklenburg County libraries face huge budget cuts. The beloved festival has been dropped because of restricted funds to the library system.

2. North Carolina is in need of more family physicians. A new program has been put in place to meet the growing demand; house calls not included.

3. A picture can be worth more than a thousand words, as former UNCC Director of Police and Public Safety Marlene Hall can attest to. Her photo in Playboy magazine stirred up controversy and she has since resigned.

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