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Posted: May 24th, 2010 Liz Barrett

Last week the 2009-2010 class of Front Porch grantees gathered at the Levine Museum of the New South to celebrate another successful year of building social capital in the community. Through 30 different projects and organizations, individuals of different generations, cultures, ethnicities, and sexual orientations come together to learn to understand and trust each other, overcome their differences and build bridges. From neighborhood block parties to potluck dinners to community garden workdays, the recipients of Front Porch grants bring the community together and make a big impact with just a little money.

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Posted: January 26th, 2010 Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman

Local poet and playwright, Quentin Talley (a.k.a. Q), channeled Aretha Franklin's famous "R.E.S.P.E.C.T. (Find out what it means to me)" lyrics when he asked participants in a Jan. 23 workshop at the Mint Museum to write down what respect means to them. Called "Eye to Eye: Building Respect One Relationship at a Time," the workshop included poetry, art, storytelling and "talking stick" lessons.

However, contrary to Aretha's anthem, participants in the workshop, made possible by a Front Porch Grant, quickly found that respect is more about listening and paying attention to others than it is about explaining your own needs for R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

The day began with a guided tour through the Mint Museum's exhibit of Lois Mailou Jones' work. Q instructed everyone not to just stare, but to think about the lessons in respect Jones was conveying through her paintings of Haiti, North Carolina and Paris.

After lunch, Q asked the crowd to share the words of respect that came to their mind. Some of those words were acceptance, tolerance, listening, character, manners, understanding. No one mentioned teaching others to respect them, rather the focus was on offering respect to others.

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Posted: November 11th, 2009 Liz Barrett

This past weekend at the Levine Museum of the New South, the Charlotte Symphony competed against a gorgeous fall Sunday and a Panthers game and easily packed an enthusiastic crowd into the Museum performance space. The event “We Are What We Sing: Music and Cultural Identity” explored the role music plays in serving as a bridge to cultural understanding and featured performances by the Catawba Cultural Preservation Project, CPCC Early Music Consort, Charlotte Symphony Musicians, and the Piedmont Open IB Middle School Chorale. Anthropologist Dr. Richard Chacon of Winthrop University opened the event by sharing some experiences where music has provided common ground for people of diverse backgrounds.

The performances explored music of Peruvian, Japanese, Spanish and Catawba Native American tradition and ranged from solo operatic singing to an all female drum group. With musical expressions representing cultures from around the world, the performances brought together a cross section of local Charlotteans for an enjoyable afternoon of the arts.

The program was made free to the public through a Front Porch Grant and is part of the larger Orchestra on Campus 2009 series, a project that encourages collaboration among students and professionals from different disciplines and provides students with hands-on learning in the arts.

See more photos of the event on Flickr.

Posted: October 27th, 2009 Liz Barrett

Whether performing a cross-cultural musical act together, digging in a community garden with neighbors you’ve never met, learning a language with other parents at your child’s school, or sharing a potluck meal with those of a different sexual orientation, the Front Porch Grant programs provide opportunities for people to overcome differences, build bridges and learn to understand and trust others through a wide range of informal events and projects.

Relaxed, personal gathering spaces, like the front porches of our community, inspired the creation of the Front Porch Grants program. Traditionally front porches are a place for neighbors to connect and build relationships, meet new folks and in turn work together to build a strong community. It’s all simply based on the idea of getting to know your neighbors; for when we get to know our neighbors, we understand them, we don’t stereotype them and the barriers that once were, are no longer.

Using the framework of Crossroads Charlotte, the Front Porch Grants program asks grantees to act now in a way that will create the future they want to see for our community. And this year we are happy to award 30 local organizations with grants of up to $2,500 for programs that will build a stronger community and create a better future for us all. Over the next seven months, these organizations will bring together unlike people to overcome differences, increase trust, and expand social connections and informal networks. Through the Front Porch grants program, these folks, with smaller-scale programs that might get overlooked by the bigger grant opportunities, are doing a lot with a little and creating a positive lasting impact in our community.

In its fifth year, the Front Porch Grants program, funded by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Foundation announces their 2009-2010 grant recipients:

Centralina Council of Governments, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Steele Creek Youth Network (SCYN), The Charlotte Symphony, Christ Lutheran Church - McClintock Partners in Education, Civic By Design Forum, Exodus Foundation, Father's Against Violence and Repeat-Offenders (FAVAR Ministries), Florence Crittenton Services, GenerationEngage, Hands on Charlotte, Helping Empower Local People (H.E.L.P.), International House, Kids Voting Mecklenburg Co., Latin American Women's Association (LAWA), MeckED (Mecklenburg Citizens for Public Education), Mental Health Association of Central Carolinas, Mint Museum of Art, Neighbors For A Safer Charlotte, North Carolina Dance Theatre, North Carolina Outward Bound School, Presbyterian Hemby Children's Hospital, Queens University of Charlotte, Refugee Support Services of the Carolina, Secret Angels Project, Shamrock Gardens PTA, Sports Outreach Institute, St. Peter's Homes McCreesh Place, Statesville Road Elementary School, Villa Heights Community Organization, Wesley Heights Community Association, WTVI

Check back to the website throughout the next seven months, as we’ll be posting announcements and recaps of all the Front Porch Grant events.