Enlarge Caleb Fadel admiring the art at the FFTC open house

Posted: December 12th, 2011 Tonya Jameson

CORRECTION:  FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS ART GALLERIES ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FROM 10:00am-5pm MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.  We originally stated in this article that the galleries were also open on weekends, which is INCORRECT.  Crossroads Charlotte apologizes for the mistake.

The New South. A world-class city. A progressive city. Those are the phrases we use to describe Charlotte. Those are the adjectives to which we aspire.

On Saturday, visitors at the Foundation For the Carolinas grand opening got a chance to see a physical manifestation of our collective aspirations. The FFTC opened the doors of its new headquarters to the public and gave us a glimpse of class – world class.

The 80,000 square foot building is gorgeous. It’s not just the 360 pieces of colorful art that adorn the walls and display cases of the building; it’s also the attitude. The headquarters isn’t just for the people who work at the foundation – it’s for the people.
 
The facility will be open and accessible for the public to visit the gallery on weekdays and it will also be available for the non-profits to use as meeting space.

“This is a place that is free of charge,” said Michael Marsicano, FFTC president. “We hope people will come often and use the spaces to collaborate with different non-profits, donors and elected officials. It’s kind of going to be a hub for creative thought.”

Visitors Bill and Lisi Szymczyk were amazed by the artwork, but they were stunned to hear that FFTC will be open to non-profits. The Szymczyks were two of the more than 500 people who drifted through the building on Saturday.

The newly remodeled building, formerly the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, reopened as the FFTC’s headquarters earlier this year but it was unveiled to the public on Saturday. The 80,000 square foot building has a classroom, event space and two rooftop terraces.

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Posted: December 8th, 2011 Lashawnda Becoats

Inside Northwest School of the Arts on Dec. 3, Anish Bhatt of Queen City Bhangra Academy played the drums as a welcome to the finale for Many Cultures One Community.

Many Cultures One Community was a 30-day series of community-wide events and workshops to build trust across ethnic, racial and cultural differences. The Dec. 3 event drew about 175 people from organizations such as Neighborhood Good Samaritan Center as well as local service providers and community members.

During the event Crossroads Charlotte and Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary-care Research (MAPPR) unveiled The Mecklenburg Access Portal (The MAP). The MAP is a web-based resource directory for healthcare and social service providers to access information and resources. The portal will link the IRAI (Immigrant, Refugee, Asylee and International) communities to much needed services and link service providers to underserved populations.

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Posted: December 7th, 2011 Lee Howard

With the holidays approaching, blood donations tend to tank. So Sunday, the American Red Cross and Presbyterian Hospital kicked off an effort to encourage more people to donate blood and platelets. The "12 Days of Giving" campaign runs through Dec. 15.

Almost 14,000 children in the greater Charlotte area being helped by the Salvation Army's Christmas Bureau. So far, 7,000 families have signed up to receive help from the volunteer-based program that provides gifts to low-income families.

The CMS school board wants to hear from the community about what people want in their next school superintendent. The district will hold six meetings this week at schools throughout Mecklenburg County to gather local opinion.

Panhandlers are proliferating Uptown and most of them are not homeless, Charlotte Center City Partners’ Michael Smith says. And local homeless services groups and shelters are on board with CCCP to help curb nuisance begging. Note cards with information about homeless resources will be distributed in Uptown restaurants and businesses. The campaign encourages people to hand a beggar one of those cards instead of cash.

Writer Ken Garfield explores why Levine Children's Hospital Chapel is a quiet place that offers comfort and hope. You can see the evidence in the messages left in a notebook to the tear-stained floor.

Posted: December 5th, 2011 Tonya Jameson

In a small building tucked off Sharon Amity Road, dozens of refugees from Bhutan and elsewhere crammed into a small room inside the Neighborhood Good Samaritan Center.

Some wore flip-flops although it was cold enough to see your breath outside. Others were hungry after a long day of classes and little to eat. Yet, it wasn't the lack of warm shoes or even the hunger that bothers them – it was the lack of help. They were refugees fleeing countries such as Somalia, Vietnam and Bhurma. They wanted help, not hand-outs.

It was a refrain participants of Crossroads Charlotte's In Our Own Backyard: A Community Tour Through a World of Cultures bus tour heard often Thursday night. The tour exposed participants to organizations and agencies that help Charlotte’s Immigrant, Refugee, Asylee and International (IRAI) communities. The tour was part of the monthlong Many Cultures, One Community initiative.

Some of the tour participants worked with the IRAI communities’ service providers such as the Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary-Care Research and International House. Others simply heard about it and wanted to learn more about the IRAI communities.

Along with a stop at the Neighborhood Good Samaritan Center, the tour visited the Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency on Monroe Road and ended at the Hindu Center off of Independence Boulevard.

One UNC Charlotte intern from Japan said the tour exposed her to diversity and the challenges people face. She said she doesn’t see a lot of diversity in Japan.

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