Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 27, 2011, edition 1 / Page 5
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Truliant spotlights area's diversity HY I.AYl.A FARMER THI- CHRONIC l-b Truliant employees got to explore the world last Thursday without even leaving the office. The Winston-Salem based feder al credit union celebrated International Credit Union Day (Oct. 20) by inviting four interna tional organizations to its head quarters off Hanes Mall Boulevard. Representatives from the Foreign Language Assocation of North Carolina, the Hispanic League, the Indo-US Cultural Association and Liberian Organization of the Piedmont (LOP) set-up shop in Truliant's cafeteria - outfitting tables with information about their groups, artifacts and other items. Truliant employees were invited to visit the tables to learn more about the organizations and the cultures they represent . "We're trying to draw attention to the international nature of credit unions," said Truliant CEO Marcus Schaefer, who lived abroad for much of his childhood. "The credit union movement is a world wide movement that helps con sumers everywhere build founda tions for themselves and their fam ilies." International Credit Union Day was started to highlight the diver sity of the credit union movement, which encompasses 49,000 credit unions in 97 nations around the world. Unlike banks and other for profit institutions, credit unions exjst to help their customers improve their financial situations, said Schaefer. who has traveled to several foreign countries represent ing the World Council of Credit Unions. LOP President James Hunder jumped at the chance to share information about the organization and Liberia, a West African nation that recently made international headlines when its president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was named as one of three winners of the 201 1 Nobel Peace Prize. "Some of the principal objec tives of the LOP is to create cul tural awareness, and this is*jiivt the perfect opportunity to do that." said Hunder, who founded the organization in 1988. "It's just an Front row, from left: Amy Ham hurt of the Hispanic League, James Hunder of the Liberian Organization of the Piedmont (LOP), Milan Arora of the Indo-US Cultural Association and Truliant's Marjorie Rorie. Hack row, from left: Raphael Perez. Truliant CEO Marc Shaefer, Leslie Baldwin of the Foreign Language Association of NC, Truliant's Karen DeSalvo and Lisa Houston of the LOP. opportunity to educate the audience about our culture." Lisa Houston helped Hunder man the LOP table, which dis played a spread of Liberian handi work, from handmade bags and wallets, to iron-ore Kissi Money that was once used in the nation and the Liberian dollars that are in circulation today. "It's always good to show the historical transitions from where we came from to where we are now," said Houston, who immi grated from Liberia in 1979. "I always loved to talk about history, to show (someone) what it is that we have to offer, to talk about the unity of the country and how we feel about the country." Houston said many people are not aware of the strong ties that exist between America and her native country, which was founded by freed American slaves. Even the design of Liberia's flag is pat terned after its parent nation, Houston said, and many American customs are also observed there. "We have adopted a western cul ture, but we do have tribal and tra ditional culture intertwined with it," she explained. Milan Arora, the immediate photos hy l^i\la Farmer Truliant employees Anabel Romero (left) and Catherine Setiawan. past president of the Indo-US Cultural Association, educated employees about Indian culture during the celebration. Like the LOP, Indo-US's primary goal is to spread cultural awareness and appreciation within the local com munity. To this end. the organiza tion. which is made up of about 125 members, hosts several cultur al events, including the popular India Fest, which is staged down town each spring. Arora. who has lived in this country for 14 years, said he enjoys sharing his culture. "It's always good to talk about your own country, the country that you came from," said the father of one. "We are all naturalized and citizens of the U.S., but our cul ture is still the same." Truliant employees Anabel Romero and Catherine Setiawan were among those who took part in the celebration. Setiawan, a native of Cianjur, Indonesia, has traveled abroad extensively. She said learning about other people's cultures has made her a better per son. "When I go to the new places, I like to try the food and learn about the culture," said Setiawan, who works in the company's Electronic Funds Transfer department. "It's opened my mind up." Romero, a business relations representative and native of Guerrero. Mexico, praised Truliant for bringing the cultural diversity to the forefront during the celebra tion. "Truliant tries to promote diversity and I think that's a good way of reaching out to the commu nity," said Romero, an active member of the Hispanic League. "Everybody brings something dif ferent to the table, so promoting diversity is an important thing for employers to do." HAWS from i Hixe \4 Housing Choice Vouchers and 1,355 Public Housing units. Since the program's inception, participating housing authorities have partnered with local busi nesses and service providers to operate their affordable housing programs more efficiently and effectively. For example, they have developed mixed-income and tax credit properties, created lore closure prevention and mortgage assistance programs and increased the number of project-based vouchers offered to residents. Woods says HAWS could do simi lar things and more. "We would apply some of the funds to streamline our internal operations, beginning with updat ing our access to and use of mod ern technology," he said. "Funds would also be used to give fami lies with working head of house holds incentives to increase their education levels, job training and income levels over time." HAWS argues that by offering more opportunities for affordable housing and developing a more educated, job ready population financial stability will become more attainable for thousands of people. "Moving to Work program could have an enormous positive impact on the economic develop ment of the city of Winston Salem." says Woods. During his testimony. Woods explained the importance of designing effective and creative housing programs that appropri ately address the needs of the local community. He stated. "Given the current pressures on the feder al budget, it is now more impor tant than ever to empower local housing agencies to do all that they can do for their communities with the funding available to them." Woods hopes that his testimo ny will give the Housing Authority and other similar mid sized agencies more of a voice in the matter of overall eligibility. "Housing Authorities like ours that work hard to operate above and beyond the industry's stan dards deserve a chance to make an even greater difference in their com m unities." Right choice, right price. Medicare Advantage plan with prescription drug coverage from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina month emiurn Get trusted coverage at the right price from BCBSNC. ? 2012 BCBSNC plans rated overall2 ? ??? ? Quality health care coverage for more than 78 years. ? SilverSneakers'', a fitness membership at no additional cost.' ? Strong network of contracted doctors and hospitals. Annual Election Period ends December 7, 2011. Attend a meeting to learn more about our Medicare Advantage Plans. Prospective new enrollees will receive a $10 gas card gift certificate as a thank you - and there's no obligation to enroll Cannot be redeemed <?rc?* f^2?l Tues., Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 10:00 a.m. Hampton Inn 1990 Hampton Inn Court Winston-Salem (Near Hanes Mall) Wed., Nov. 2 and Nov. 9 10:00 a.m. Quality Inn & Suites 2008 S. Hawthorne Rd. 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Additional information about benefits is available to assist you in making a decision about your coverage. This is an advertisement ; for more information contact the plan. 1 You must continue to pay your Part B premium. Rate is for Blue Medicare HMO Standard Plan, 2012. 2 Plan performance summary star ratings are assessed each year and may change from one year to the next, http://www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan/results/planresults/plan-list.aspx. Accessed Oct. 13, 2012. 3 The SilverSneakers program is provided by Healthways, Inc., a third-party vendor independent of BCBSNC. 4 An authorized sales representative will be present with information and applications. There is no obligation to enroll. 5 BCBSNC is a Medicare-approved Part D sponsor. Prescription drug coverage is not sold as a benefit of any Medicare supplement plan. " Mark of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. ' Mark of Healthways, Inc. 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Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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