Resource Center celebrates fruitful year
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
It's been just over a year
since visionaries at a smat
tering of local agencies
banded together to offer
their services to the home
less community in one
place. Housed in the base
ment of Goler Memorial
AME Zion Church, the
Resource Connection
Center is a "one-stop shop"
where homeless individuals
gain assistance in applying
for government benefits and
aid, as well as access to a
variety of services that
address issues with housing,
substance abuse, mental
health and other concerns.
The RCC was derived
from Project Homeless
Connect, an annual event
that offers similar assistance
on a much larger scale. The
Project is part of the city's
Ten Year Plan (TYP) to End
Chronic Homelessness, an
initiative it adopted several
years ago.
"Project Homeless
Connect was so successful
that we felt we wanted to
offer it ... more than once a
year," explained Teri
Hairston, program assistant
for the TYP. "With every
thing being under one roof,
we take away the barriers of
transportation, of people
having to make appoint
ments and also the repeti
tion of completing all the
intake information (for each
agency individually)."
The Center sees an aver
age of 50-75 individuals
with a variety of needs each
month, Hairston says,
though she admits there is
much more that needs to be
done in the fight to end
chrbnic homelessness.
"We've been very suc
cessful," she stated. "(But)
what we hear aJl the time is
they want jobs and they
_ need housing and they need
medical services. Those
three things have been the
hardest pieces to get in
here."
The Center held a spe
cial celebration Thursday, to
commemorate its anniver
sary and the approaching
holiday season..
"Today, we're celebrat
ing our anniversary," com
mented TYP Director
Andrea Kurtz, "and it's
Christmas so we wanted to
bring a special celebration
and cheer to the event."
Report
from page AW
potentially discriminatory
membership guild require
ments. The serious shortage of
minority faces on primetime
television can also be traced to
the virtual disappearance of
black programming since the
merger of UPN and WB net
works into The CW network,
according to the report.
"Perpetrating the situation
is the fact that the few African
Americans in higher posi
tions in that
industry
lack power
to green
light new
series' or
make final
creative
decisions,
which has
Bulluck translated
into a criti
cal lack of primetime program
ming by, for or about people of
color," said NAACP
Hollywood Bureau Executive
Director Vicangelo Bulluck.
The NAACP is warning the
industry to improve or face
political action. The Civil
Rights organization wants a
task force established com
prised of network executives,
educators and NAACP coali
tion partners to update a
Memorandum of
Understanding between parties
and create best practice stan
dards throughout the industry.
"The NAACP fias a long
history of working in partner
ship with the networks, studios,
guilds, agencies and others to
c r e -
ate substantive opportunities
for people of color in front of
and behind the camera,"
Bulluck added.
For more information and
to download a copy of the
report, visit naacpXrtg.
^Ruxosby^LaylJ^ai
Volunteers man the serving line.
Teri Hairston and
Andrea Kurtz
Kurtz says she hopes to
see the Resource Center
reach far greater proportions
in the upcoming year.
"What I would really
like to see is for this to
i
become a permanent thing
... and not something that
just happens once a month,"
she remarked. "We're hop
ing that in 2009, we'll be
able to do a Resource Center
on a daily basis."
Goler member Joyce
Henry has volunteered at
the Center since its incep
tion. She says it added an
important layer to the home
less ministry that had been
in existence at the church
for nearly a decade .
"The church already had
a program where we were
feeding the homeless (twice
a week) ... they added that
extra element to make it
whole," she commented.
"It's one thing to feed them
but they need more than
food.
This was an opportunity
to take something that we
had and make it better."
The results of the collab
oration between the church
and the many partners that
populate the Center are
apparent to Henry.
"It has just taken off,"
she said. "When you see
how effective the program
has been and how many
people have benefitted from
the services, you know you
are on the right track."
Benjamin, a former PHC
client whose last name has
been omitted to protect his
privacy, came to the cele
bration to express his grati
tude to the woman who
helped him get clean after
battling drug and alcohol
addictions since he was a
teen. Lisa Henderson, of
Daymark Recovery Service
Inc., was among the dozens
of service providers on hand
at the celebration. 0
"I never had a problem
getting a job or a place to
stay, but ... due to my drink
ing and drug addictions, I
couldn't maintain employ
ment," Ben explained.
"Once I reached a certain
amount of money in my
pocket, I began to use heav
ily."
Now 57, Benjamin has
been clean and sober since
October 2007. He says he
owes his vastly improved
existence to the dedication
of Henderson and many like
her who work at the Center.
"It's good to have a pro
gram right there in your
hands where you can access
it," he said. "It will put you
on the right track if you
decide that's what you
want."
News
Clips
Part of 1-85 named for
Childress
Last week, N.C.
Transportation Secretary
Lyndo Tippett joined N.C.
Board of Transportation mem
ber Nancy Dunn and other
state and local officials to ded
icate a 5 3-mile section of 1-85
I t c
Childress
64 to Lake
Road (State
Road 2085)
in Davidson
County as
the Richard
Childress
Freeway, in
honor of the
former
NASCAR driver and current
team owner Richard
Childress.
Childress is the president
and owner of Richard
Childress Racing. His race
team, based in Welcome, has
won 12 NASCAR champi
onships including six Sprint
Cup, five Nationwide Series
and one Craftsman Truck
series.
Childress is also the owner
of Childress Vineyards, locat
ed in Lexington. He has also
directly invested more than
$100 million into the local
economy and recently donated
$5 million to Wake Forest
University Baptist Medical
Center to initiate the Childress
Institute for Pediatric Trauma.
Volunteers collect more the
four million pounds of liter
along NjC. roads
In 2008, participants in the
N.C. Department of
Transportation's Fall and
Spring Litter sweeps removed
more than 4.4 million pounds
of litter from North Carolina
roadways.
Participants in the
cleanups included NCDOT
crews, N.C. Department of
Correction inmate squads,
individuals in the Community
Service Work Program,
Adopt-A-Highway groups and
volunteers from garden clubs,
civic groups and other com
munity organizations.
The N.C. State Highway
Patrol also participated during
both two-week litter sweeps
and concentrated its efforts on
citing motorists for littering or
failing to secure their loads.
Troopers issued more than
250 citations during the 2008
sweeps.
UNCSA's Colavecchia will
claim national award
Franco Colavecchia, a fac
ulty member in the School of
Design and Production at the
University of North Carolina
School of the Arts (UNCSA),
has been chosen to receive the
Distinguished Achievement
Award in Scene Design from
the U.S. Institute for Theatre
Technology (USITT). The
award is given "to honor an
individual who has estab
lished a career record of
achievement in his or her spe
cialty," according to USITT
President Carl Lefko.
The USITT Distinguished
Achievement Awards are
reviewed by the institute's
Awards Committee and then
approved by the institute's
board of directors.
HIV & Syphilis Testing
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