Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Feb. 25, 2021, edition 1 / Page 7
Part of Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
The Chronicle February 25, 2021 A7 Millionaire From page A3 earned from selling on eBay, the students will re invest and open their Ama zon store in 2021. Yassin says the pan demic has shown many that they must create ad ditional streams of income and look into home-based businesses. Having earned over a million dollars sell ing through online plat forms such as Amazon and eBay, Hall has been fea tured on multiple outlets including CBS and ABC for her earnings and abil ¬ United Way seeks to make impact on city with new initiative BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY THE CHRONICLE The United Way of Forsyth County is rolling out a plan to help revitalize several neighborhoods in East Winston-Salem. Their new initiative, “Place Matters,” aims to make a permanent impact on the community by combating several issues that have been plaguing the area. The Place Matters ini tiative began five years ago and comprises 15 neighborhoods in the east ern part of the city. Any service provider must do work from within those 15 neighborhoods and the initiative is governed by a Residence Impact Council (RIC) and they have the fi nal say on what programs get funded. “For example, if there is a program that wants us to provide financial stabili ty, it goes through a review process and the actual resi dents make the decision on how much to fund in terms of that program,” said Ce dric Parker. Incorporated into the initiative is a faith compo nent led by Parker, faith- based engagement coordi nator for the United Way. “We practice asset-based community development and so one of the stron gest assets is the Black church,” said Parker. The Black church has been the institution that has allowed us as a community to flour ish, not only from religion, but also politics and edu cation. Now identifying those assets within those 15 communities, we can better see how we can pro vide those services that fit within those initiatives.” The United Way is approaching the initia tive from several different areas. Under/Unemploy- ment, Multigenerational Support, Housing, and Healthy Living are the four general areas of the initiative. There are sev eral agencies underneath each area that the RIC have deemed necessary for the community. The initiative is cur rently in a funding cycle, so the RIC will convene to analyze the agencies and programs to see if the goals have been met and if so, they may be funded again if no other agencies will be looked at to be brought in. According to Parker, the driving force for the initiative came from the president and CEO of United Way of Forsyth County, Cynthia Gor- dineer. Gordineer looked at the approach of the or ganization and saw chang ity to teach others how to “BOSS UP.” “We are delighted to have found the BOSS CLASS LLC’s eBay course that aligns with our curriculum expectations that will bring awareness and exposure into entre preneurship, problem- solving, and critical think ing,” said Iris Blevins of Genesis Preparatory Acad emy. While this is Hall’s first in-person class taught at a school in Georgia, her award-winning bestselling books on mental health chronicling her life as the United Way es were necessary. “We looked into how to be more equitable when it comes to the work that we do,” Parker continued. “We very much see that (Hwy) 52 divide in Win ston is real and if you look at one neighborhood in East Winston and compare the diversity in income from a neighborhood from the other side of 52, there is a drastic diversity and these are people with the same education but just from different sides of the track. “We wanted to make sure that we addressed those issues with our pro gramming and make sure it was resident led. So, Cyn thia Gordineer and others went through an extensive process of finding out what was the right approach for Winston-Salem.” The United Way of Forsyth County looked at other United Way organi zations in other cities and adapted their approach specifically to Winston- Salem. “It started off with a community survey with some students from Winston-Salem State and Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods,” he said. “That’s our neighborhood resource in connecting us with the community be cause we know they know best in terms ofhow to gal vanize the community. “Basically, that was our initiative to get things started and the commu nity identified these 15 areas and priorities that they wanted to see in their neighborhoods, so it’s all resident and neighborhood led. It’s not the United Way telling them what they need, it’s actually the community telling us what they need.” Thus far, the most im portant component of the initiative has been hous ing, said Parker. The Unit ed Way has a partnership with Habitat for Humanity in the Dreamland neigh borhood. “Our first push was housing,” said Parker. “We actually went through a slower process when it comes to housing, because they (RIC) were not com fortable with the propos als, so we put it off and came back with stronger proposals. “Before that partner ship, there was not a new daughter of a violent bi polar schizophrenic have been on the curriculums of several schools as read ing material. She is also a philanthropist known for her hurricane relief efforts and supplying students in the U.S. Virgin Islands with the laptops needed to get back to school on- line amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. To learn more about the courses, visit Boss- ClassLLC.com. To learn more about Yassin Hall, visit YassinHall.com or follow her on Instagram @ YassinHall. City should act now to steer funding toward projects that address climate change and climate justice build in Dreamland Park for 50 years,” he went on to say. “I believe we are up to eight new houses that have been built in Dreamland Park and we see that as a win by in creasing homeownership. We’re also looking to pro vide efforts to beautify the neighborhood, so it’s not just putting new build up, it’s also making sure the neighborhood looks well.” Many of the neigh borhoods involved in the initiative are around the Smith Reynolds Airport. The United Way chose the neighborhoods by re searching the areas that needed uplifting and in corporating areas that are already established. “It was a process that we took some time to con sider,” Parker said about the neighborhood selec tion process involved in the initiative. “We wanted to make sure the project was successful, so when we looked at the 52 divide, there was some data and research that showed these were areas that fell within the poverty level, but we also wanted to make sure we had some established areas as well, because we figured that would be a more successful model. “It’s harder sometimes, when you deal with gener ational poverty, to see the needle move and every'- body wants to see the nee dle move at some point. So, having other neighbor hoods that are established helps us when we go back and look at the numbers to say ‘Hey, we’ve actu ally moved the needle.’ We wanted to make sure that these neighborhoods were those that were un derserved and also had strong community support as well.” There is no timetable for this initiative, Parker said. The United Way is there for the long run, until they are no longer needed. The goal is to move this project to other areas once it’s completed, but first want to see the target areas of this initiative thriving once again. For more information about Place Matters, dial 211 or call Cedric Parker at 336-721-9311. You can also visit the United Way website at www.forsyth- uitedway.org. BY JAMIE MAIER AND MILLER COFFEY The Biden-Harris administration is taking immediate action to address cli mate change and its impacts on people and communities across the U.S. Just hours after taking office, President Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, canceled the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline, and ordered federal agencies to review and reinstate more than 100 envi ronmental regulations rolled back by the Trump Administration. Biden has com mitted to pass legislation that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, creates green energy jobs, and provides new sources of federal funding in support of environmen tal initiatives. This national commitment to climate action comes with billions of dollars of funding for municipal and regional “green” projects and infrastructure. The City of Winston-Salem must act now to secure this funding and grow our reputa tion as an innovative, resilient, and for ward-thinking community. The City has already made some im portant commitments to climate action, including passing a resolution in Novem ber to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050 and committing to a focus on green job training, job creation, and economic growth. We at Piedmont Environmental Alliance (PEA) encourage the City of Winston-Salem to take the following ac tion steps today to steer national funds to ward projects that address climate change and climate justice: ♦Create a 5-year comprehensive re newable energy plan for the City that in cludes stricter building codes, increased energy efficiency in city buildings, and a plan to transition the city fleet to electric vehicles. If we act now and utilize new funding opportunities, Winston-Salem could be the first North Carolina city to reach 100% renewable energy in munici pal buildings. ♦Improve local public transportation, with an emphasis on effective, accessible, and equitable options for all people. Na tional transportation infrastructure legis lation is on the horizon, with important funding opportunities for cities who are ready to adopt better and greener trans portation systems. This move would also improve quality of life and employ ment outcomes for low income residents, whose reliance on the current transporta tion system is a significant barrier to eco nomic mobility. ♦Create a plan with measurable goals for green job training and creation. The Biden administration has signaled that they will call on state and local commu nities to implement green job training and infrastructure development through partnerships with community colleges, unions, and the private sector. Winston- Salem should utilize connections with Forsyth Tech and locally-based corpora tions to build job skills among residents and invigorate the local economy. ♦Incentivize low-carbon manufactur ing standards and other environmental business standards. Upcoming legislation could fund a transition to a low-carbon manufacturing approach. The City should prioritize public-private partnerships with businesses that adopt standards early and utilize funding opportunities that become available. Now is the time for leadership on climate change and climate justice. Pied mont Environmental Alliance looks for ward to working with residents and local government officials to build a more resil ient, just, and sustainable Winston-Salem. Do you want to see Winston-Salem become a leader in sustainability and climate action? Send a message today to share your support and vision with city leadership by going to https://www. peanc.org/city-climate-action. Jamie Maier is the executive director of Piedmont Environmental Alliance, a local non-profit working to build a more Just, resilient, and sustainable community. Miller Coffey is the communications and engagement coordinator at Piedmont Environmental Alliance. Piedmont Environmental Alliance (PEA) works every day to educate and empower people of all ages, build com munity, and inspire action to create a more just, resilient, and environmen tally sustainable community. Founded in 2006 with the first Piedmont Earth Day Fair, PEA is building a community of environmental stewards and community leaders through our innovative education programs, annual events, partnerships and community-based work focused in Winston-Salem and the Piedmont region. Learn more about PEA and all of our pro grams at www.peanc.org IMiislOR'SdlEni WHEEE SHOULD WE ECC^S 6UZ ENEMY AS A eaMMUNTty? Register to participate in Winston-Salem’s online virtual strategic plan public input session. Advance registration required to receive an invitation to the meeting. Register via Signup Genius at cityofws.org/WSinput Registration Deadline: 11 p.m. March 3 Your comments will help guide the discussion when the mayor and City Council hold their strategic planning workshop in late March. CITY Of WINSTON-SALEM STRATEGIC PLAN PUBLIC INPUT MEETING
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 25, 2021, edition 1
7
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75