The Chronicle
January 10, 2019 B5
Community adopts ESR
families, teaches to decorate
IN MEMORIAM
on a budget
■SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE„
This past Christmas, local community part
ners worked with Experiment in Self-Reliance
(ESR) to adopt ESR clients and provide a class
to help clients decorate for the holidays on a
budget.
Thirty-five ESR clients were adopted by St.
Leo’s Catholic Church and Psi Phi Chapter of
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. to make sure they
received groceries, food for a Christmas meal,
necessities, and presents for their children to
open at Christmas.
St. Leo’s and Psi Phi Chapter of Omega Psi
Phi Fraternity Inc. wanted to give families in
need the opportunity to enjoy Christmas and
alleviate some stress that holidays often bring,
especially those with a limited budget.
Clients and families were thatikful for the
unexpected help they received, some expressing
their gratitude and surprise through tears and
hugs. “We can’t say enough how thankful we are
for the support we receive for our clients
throughout the year,” says Twana W. Roebuck,
Executive Director of ESR, “especially during
the holidays which can be such a difficult time
for many families.”
In collaboration with Liberty East
Restoration, ESR held their Road to
Empowerment Series in the Naomi Jones
Resource Center at in the LaDeara Crest neigh
borhood this fall. The Series consisted of three
classes and is a part of the United Way of
Forsyth County Place Matters Initiative.
Residents worked with ESR staff to determine
the classes they wanted to have at the center. The
classes were taught over a three-month period
by experts in the community and consisted of
Budgeting, Cooking on a Budget, and
Decorating on a Budget. - all with the goal of
empowering residents to take control of their
finances, save money, and manage their budget.
The final class - Decorating on a Budget -
was held on Monday, December 17 and taught
by Roslyn Evans, Edelina Oliphant, and Tonya
Bellanger. Residents learned frugal and creative
ways to decorate for Christmas and came away
with handmade gifts and decorations for their
homes.
Tonya Bellanger, ESR Board Member and
Finance Chair, volunteered at the final class with
her mom, Edelina Oliphant. “I believe in the
mission of ESR to empower people in our com
munity to become self-reliant,” says Bellanger.
“When we have the opportunity to make a posi
tive difference in this world, we should use it.
ESR gives me that opportunity every time I
attend an event and get the chance to interact
with people in the community.”
“It is truly a special place filled with people
who are doing good.”
Yolanda, a LaDeara Crest resident, has par
ticipated in all three classes and every Road to
Empowerment Series offered by ESR. “It is
something you can take with you throughout
life. Stop and think classes,” says Yolanda. “I
love being hands on in the community period, so
when ESR comes and brings these classes, it is
something extra to do. It is also informative. You
get to meet other people in the community. It is
something fun. We need something fun.”
Yolanda, who serves as the Community
Liason for the LaDeara Crest neighborhood,
sees participating in the classes as an opportuni
ty to de-stress and learn valuable information.
“This is brain food. [This is] something you can
take with you throughout life.”
“Never give up... Every body has their own
path they are going to go, but along the way,
there are people out here in the community that
care like ESR and different organizations and
such that can make the experience a little bit eas
ier.”
ESR would like to give a special thanks to St.
Leo’s Catholic Church and Psi Phi Chapter of
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. for their generous
donation and for providing hope to families this
holiday season, and to Liberty East Restoration
and the Road to Empowerment instructors for
empowering our community this fall.
ESR is a non-profit Community Action
Agency that focuses on empowering people with
low-moderate income to become self-reliant.
Programs help provide housing, teach clients to
save, budget, and improve credit scores, provide
assistance for education, and help clients build
assets like homeownership, as well as free tax
preparation. All clients must be working. For
more information on ESR’s services, visit their
website at www.eisr.org or call (336) 722-9400.
Signs of hope and
climate change
BY KAREN BEARDEN AND
KIM PORTER
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
As we enter 2019, we
find ourselves speeding
toward two different cli
mate tipping points.
\ The first is alarming.
As reported in October by
the UN Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change,
if humanity does not halve
its greenhouse gas emis
sions by 2030, we will trig
ger feedback loops that
cause warming to continue
no matter what humans do.
Photo courtesy ofAP News
Protesters calling for action on climate change outside the White House in 2017
To prevent this catastrophe,
scientists say emissions
must peak and start down
ward by 2020.
Yet if last year’s growth
in climate awareness and
activism continues, it could
lead to a tipping point at
which climate progress -
rather than climate disaster
- becomes inevitable.
The fate of civilization
hangs upon which tipping
point we reach first.
The past year brought
many “natural” disasters
that scientists agree were
significantly worsened by
climate change: hurricanes
and flooding in the US and
elsewhere; wildfires in
California, Scandinavia
and Australia; and the
hottest days ever recorded
in Japan, Pakistan and
Africa.
When such disasters
strike, low-income com
munities and people of
color suffer most, having
fewer resources to rebuild
and getting less attention
from those who rush to
help. They self-organize in
amazing ways, as did local
grassroots organizations in
eastern North Carolina
after Hurricane Florence.
But these people still suffer
disproportionately, both
from severe weather and
from the health effects of
fossil fuel facilities rou
tinely sited in communities
with the least power to
oppose them.
Pretty grim. But 2018
also saw signs of hope.
More than 400 mayors,
including 13 in North-
Carolina, have committed
to accelerated climate
action; 1,300 state and
local politicians have
pledged to refuse money
from the fossil fuel indus
try; and 90 U.S. cities, ten
counties and two states
have adopted 100% clean
energy goals. Six cities
already have hit those tar
gets. In October, North
Carolina Governor Roy
Cooper established the NC
Climate Change
Interagency Council.
Even on the Federal
level, there is reason to
hope. Incoming Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
(D-NY) and others are call
ing for a Green New Deal
to invest massively in clean
energy and other climate
solutions, creating jobs and
boosting the economy. One
poll found more than 80
percent of voters support
the Green New Deal. And
the market is ready, with
prices for renewables and
energy storage plummet
ing.
The fossil fuel divest
ment campaign, which
began in. 2012 with tiny
Unity College in Maine,
just marked its 1,000th
divestment, taking $8 tril-
John “Raymond” Oliver
was born on November
22, 1930 to the late John
Raymond Oliver, Sr. and
Emma Freeman Oliver.
He graduated from Atkins
High School in 1948 and
North Carolina Central
College in 1952. After
proudly serving his coun
try for four years in the
US Army, Raymond com
pleted one year of law
school at Howard Univer
sity, then earned his Doc
torate of Dental Surgery
from the Howard Univer
sity School of Dentistry in
1960.
Dr. Oliver married Ruth
Clark (Oliver). They re
turned to Winston-Salem
where he began his dental
practice serving the
greater Winston-Salem
area. While providing
quality and affordable oral
health care for the com
munity, he mentored sev
eral young dentists in his
office and assisted them in
establishing their own
practices. He continued to
practice dentistry for over
45 years until his retire
ment in 2006.
In the early 1960s Ray
mond Oliver, worked to
integrate various segre
gated venues in Winston-
Salem to include
Reynolds Park Amuse
ment area and roller skat
ing rink, K&W Cafeteria,
the Drive-In Movie the
atre and the Dixie Classic
Fair.
In 1968, Dr. Oliver pur
chased a shopping center
to provide an opportunity
for minority entrepreneurs
to operate businesses in
their community.
Dr. Oliver has been hon
ored for his contributions
to the quality of life of the
community. He was rec
ognized for his services as
a dentist, and the many
boards on which he served
including The Mayor’s
Biracial Goodwill Com
mittee, Winston-Salem
Civic Ventures, Citizens
lion dollars out of carbon-
intensive companies.
A worldwide move
ment is calling for a ban on
all new fossil fuel projects.
Twenty-one plaintiffs
aged 11 to 22 are suing the
U.S. government, asserting
it has violated their consti
tutional rights to life, liber
ty and property, and has
failed to protect essential
public trust resources.
Youth-led legal proceed
ings are also underway in
all 50 states and 13 other
countries.
Some utilities have
made significant commit
Budget Advisory Council,
East Winston Economic
Development Task Force,
Trustee of First Baptist
Church- Highland Av
enue, and the Board of Di
rectors of the YMCA. Dr.
Oliver served for ten years
on the Central and Local
Board of Directors for
Mechanics and Farmers
Bank. He was a member
ofnational, state and local
dental associations,
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity,
National Association of
Guardsmen, and the
Bachelor Benedict Club.
Furthering his commit
ment to public service,
Raymond Oliver men
tored boys through the
Best Choice Center for ten
years as well as passion
ately serving and support
ing the food pantry at First
Baptist Church.
Raymond Oliver is a
proud, sixth generation,
descendant of Peter
Oliver; a slave, skilled
craftsman and potter, who
bought his freedom from
the Moravians of Old
Salem. In addition to his
parents, he was preceded
in death by his sister,
Verda Oliver Morgan.
He transitioned on De
cember 26, 2018 and
leaves to cherish his mem
ory his wife, Ruth C.
Oliver and children An
gela Oliver Battle
(Samuel Battle), The Hon
orable Judge Aileen
Oliver, Roland F. Oliver,
Dr. John Mark Oliver (Dr.
Pamela Oliver); and
grandchildren, Jared Bat
tle, Ayanna Battle, John
Mark Oliver, Jr., Lauren
Oliver and Miles Oliver,
his brother Lawrence
Oliver (Colleen Oliver)
and many nieces and
nephews.
A service in his memory
will be held at 12:00 PM
on Saturday, January 5,
2019 at First Baptist
Church-Highland Avenue.
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity,
Inc. will give final rites at
10:30 AM, family visita
tion will begin at 11:00
AM. In lieu of flowers the
family requests that dona
tions be made to First
Baptist Church-Food
Pantry, 700 N. Highland
Ave. Winston-Salem, NC
27101. (Clark S. Brown &
Sons Funeral Home)
ments to renewable energy,
with several already gener
ating over 30% of their
power from renewables,
and one planning to reach
100% this year.
(Unfortunately, Duke
Energy gets only 3 percent
of its power from renew
ables in the Carolinas, and
plans only 8 percent by
2032.)
All of these advances
can be attributed to public
action. The economics and
technologies are in place
for humanity to avert cli
mate catastrophe. All that
is missing is the political
will. Let’s make this the
year that a critical mass of
people demands real cli
mate action and truth-
telling from our govern
ment, utilities and media.
Write letters to your elect
ed officials and media out
lets. Join a climate justice
organization. March in the
streets.
In the Words of Greta
Thunberg, the 15-year-old
Swede who addressed UN
leaders at the December
climate conference in
Poland, “Once we start to
act, hope is everywhere. So
instead of looking for hope,
look for action. Then, and
only then, hope will
come.”