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■ Christmas And People That Love!
Last week in this column we suggested
. that Christmas is a time for Caring, .
• Happiness, Rememberings, Inspiration,
Spirituality, Trustworthiness, Mercy, Abun
dance, and Sharing - words that clearly
personify the meaning of Christmas. We
witnessed and participated in making this
meaning a reality on Christmas Day at the
People That Love Community Outreach
Mission.
In order to appreciate and understand
what happened at the Mission, located on
Wyatt Street adjacent to the Fairview
Homes public housing development, on
Christmas Day last week it is necessary to
know a little about the historic beginning of
the Mission. Twelve years ago, the husband
: ;:of a young woman with three small children
i-Nvas shot to death on Wyatt Streiet near
I Oaklawn Avenue. The widowed mother of
1 three,'Barbara Brewton, says she began to
l receive a message from God to reach out to
■street people and drug and alcoholic
■abusers for Christ.
1 Starting in the' hack of her brother’s
•Auto-body shop on 7th and College Streets,
::l«rs . .Brewton began holding religious
:■-lvmi and helping poor and homeless
*ople - until the City of Charlotte closed
fcwn the building to construct a parking lot!
; la search for new facilities, Mrs. Brewton
fetes that £od brought two strong allies to
f side: Jeff Park, Director of PTL Home "
tesions at Heritage Village, and Faye
^'-lyrdin, Director of Metrolina Singles. Mrs.
' fwion says these ministries helped her to
a new work for God at 1812 Wyatt
ISHUt, just a few doors from where her
< *• Wand was killed.
^J|Mthin a month, a Love Center was
^^Spblished to distribute emergency food
jC^/l clothing. Hundreds of people in the
.V-//att Street and Fairview Homes neigh
/brhood area were fed on Thanksgiving Day
'-/&B3 Furthermore, over 300 area families
• ^received Christmas dinner and gifts in 1983
/through the activities of the new Love
//Center. Shortly thereafter scores of
' children were attending weekly Bible
< studies and choir practice.
f|x*ig-Ierm Solution •
■‘fcrvB?“the end of the firs^year, the^Love
Center ministry had outgrown its Wyatt
Street facility. People attended the reli
gious, services and revivals in such large
•' numbers that they packed every room and
stood outside in order to hear and partici
pate in the Mission's activities. Similarly,
.Bjble teachers had little space in which to
;teach the children. Nevertheless, with the
*:help of PTL, Mrs. Brewton had more than
100 childrep in attendance at vacation Bible
School ill the summer of 1985. While seeking
a long-term solution to the overcrowded
> conditions at the Love Center, Mrs.
. Brewton, again with help from PTL
•members, opened a transition center on
West Trade Street to receive homeless
people to help bring them to Jesus Christ.
About 100 feet from the Love Center, at
the corner of Wyatt Street and Oaklawn
Avenue, was an abandoned church building
that had been vacated more than a decade
ago. Mrs. Brewton said the building had
been “taken over by worldly elements, it
became a haven for drug distribution and
even prostitution.” For months, Mrs.
Brewton added, she and her staff “bounded
by the Satanic influence of this building and
claimed it for God.” Then, just a few days
before the owner’s death, Mrs. Brewton was
blessed with the opportunity to purchase the
building for a church and what she referred
to as a “lighthouse to the community.”
Nearly $20,000 in building materials and
both professional and other volunteer labor
had been used to rehabilitate the church. On
Sunday, December 22,1985, the church held
its dedication service with over 400 people in
attendance.
With all the work necessary to prepare for
the church’s dedication, Pastor Brewton
still found time to provide a Christmas Day
meal for nearly 200 poor and homeless
people and to give them donated Christmas
gifts and clothing to the needy.
Through the kindness of a local pro
fessional golfer, Mike Frigen, enough
turkey and assorted other food stuff was
provided free for the Christmas dinner at
the Love Center, now called the “People
That Love (PTL) Community Outreach
Mission,” to feed the 200. VotUnteers and
members of the new church set up tables
and chairs and served the hungry as they
entered the Mission. Two hundred more
people had been fed at the Mission on
Thanksgiving.
New Sense Of Hope
This story of loving and caring h««
brought a new sense of hope to a neigh
borhood in desperate need of a sense of new
direction and the blessing of Almighty God.
If people love, care, and have any belief in
the truer meaning of Christmas, how better
could it have been exhibited than by the
tireless efforts of Barbara Brewton. Her
love of God and her determination to serve
as an instrument for God’s purpose has
given a ray of hope and possible rising
' + 10 man* P®**1® atKl ha? created
light whfere ^larkness and ^espdiir once
This then personifies the true
meaning of Christmas - loving people aiwi
sharing whatever you have to demonstrate
your love.
These loving efforts led by Barbara
Brewton to help restore people broken in
spirit, hungry, often homeless and jobless,
should be a reminder to each erf us of (me
thing we should commit outselves to do in
the New Year of 1966. That is, whether we
make New Year’s resolutions or not, each of
us should pledge to do something, to help
someone or some group of people less
fortunate than we are in 1966. While banner
headlines may not recognize your deeds,
you will know, and more significantly, God
will know that you gave willingly to help
others. After all, it is only by the grace of a
loving God that we are the giver and not the
receiver.
i “While the rising incidence of crime has I
been a source of embarrassment to many 1
black leaders, far too many have I
remained ambivalent toward the pro-1
blem. Perhaps through fear of providing r
■' .comfort to racists masquerading behind
a mask of law and order, I recognize
m v/n
these risks But I also recognize an even
greater risk that Macks themselves may
confuse the right of Mack people to
protest their unsatisfactory condition ini
the United States with the opportunity for
criminals to prey on exposed citizens.”
-*Dr. Andrew E. Brimmer
i .
_ _ !✓/
Why Are New Year Resolu"' _s So Popular?
New Year’s resolutions -
hundreds of thousands of
people make them with the
coming of the baby New
Year. Why are New Year's
resolutions so popular? Be
cause everyone seems to be
doing it!
The real purpose of reso
lutions is to make conscious
effort to change or enhance
one’s being. Unfortunately
New Year resolutions are
gone by February or March
and quickly forgotten.
‘. What are some common
resolutions? The most po
pular is physical appearance
improvement. Millions state
that Oris is the year “be” is
off.°in!te plan of attack is
exercise and reduced caloric
intake. Fine, but' the plan
leaves out one big factor - a
physician. Doctors should
play a major roll in weight
loss. They can monitor subtle
changes in the body that can
and do affect the body’s
performance. A doctor can
(with the help of a dietician)
devise a balanced and wort
able weight loss program
that will give the desired
results.'.
Diet books, health spas and
friend support are okay for
some but the use of them
does not always elicit the
desired results. If your re
■ ^—»
Sabrina Johnson
Solution is weight loss, con
sider it something important
and strive to “do it right."
second most common
resolution is to save money;
i.e.^improve financial stand
ing. Sounds easy? Maybe not
so easy in actual working.
Today’s society is a consum
er society; saving is fast
becoming a trend of the past .
This society is concerned
with investing in stocks and
bonds with a high yield of
return so that the return can
be spent on something want
ed or other high return in
vestments. The writer has no
problem with that
everyone wants more money
to spend, including the
wri !
H ever, the future of
Social Security is shaking
more and more, maybe
THE CHARLOTTE PORT
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POSTMASTER
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I ^ler Says:
Missing Link Between Minorities ArJ Banking
By Sherman N. Miller
Special To Hie Post
Each time another bank
failure is announced, I feel it
increases the pressure on all
lending institutions to adopt
more conservative loan
postures. However, I am
haunted by the potential ad
verse impact these high bank
failure rates may have on the
evolution of minority busi
nesses in America. If banks
are forced to adopt very con
servative loan policies, will it
mean imminent failure for
many small minority busi
nesses or perhaps will it
make short-term growth for
them merely an illusion of
grandeur?
I have listened to many
minority business people la
ment over their Inability to
secure business loans
through mainstream lending
institutions. Racism is often
brandished by many minori
ty people as the reason why
they cannot gain access to
business loans. Although ra
cism is no doubt an impor
tant factor in granting mi
nority businss loans, I do not
believe it is the dominant
one.
I once served as 1st Vice
President and Chief Operat
ing Officer of a neighbor
hood credit union that made
loans to a range of custom
Sherman N. Miller
ers from small businesses to
welfare families. On oc
casion we' found it necessary
to become conservatively
skewed in our loan policy due
to high delinquency rates or
inadequate loan reserve re- :
quirements.
As I recount my credit
union's small business loan
experience, I am convinced
that neighborhood credit
unions are excellent vehicles
to make under $10,000 loans
to minority businesses. How
ever, my feelings are pre
mised on the fact that neigh
borhood credit unions can
attract large, dedicated de
posits for loans to small
minority businesses. Ac
cordirig tp David C. Rice,
Vice President of The
Cooperative Assistance Fund
(CAF) of Washington, D C.,
dedicated deposits are avail
able to local credit unions by
his organization.
• However, Rice reports that
his .organization’s primary
mission is to fill the chasm
between small businesses
and the mainstream lending
institutions. “Our role is to
fill the capital gap that small
businesses find when they
are trying to start a business
or expand a business,” says
Rice.
Rice says the bulk of their
loans range between $100,000
and $250,000.
Rice’s face seemed to
radiate an aura of pride
when he spoke of helping a
Michigan minority business
that significantly increased
its employment roll during a
highly depressed economic
period. He said its employ
ment roll rose from 40 to 300
after they made up the out
fall in an expansion loan
package.
Since the mainstream
lending institutions may *
become more conservative
in their loan policy, I queried
Rice on how his organization
helped small businesses gain
long-term access to capital
markets. He replied, “Our
role is to help the small *
business person establish a
banking relationship with
traditional sources...so they
can go out and secure
capital.”
Rice went i
they are
stream in__
primary loan_
make up the difference_
tween the initial loan and the
amount granted from the pri
mary lender. He said, "We
are willing to take second
position."
One might think that
CAF’s loan rates may be
exorbitant especially since
their loan portfolio contains
many high risk loans. Rice
says they merely charge the
prime Interest rate plus one
or two percentage points de
pending on whether it is a
community group or not.
Rice welcomes minority
business proposals from
throughout the United
States. He may be reached at
the Cooperative Assistance
Fund, 2100 M. Street, N.W.,
Suite 31S, Washington, D C.
However, Rice reports that
CAF will screen all pro
posals for their soundness
and they will take a very
hard look at the capabilities
of the ventures’ proposed
management. He highlighted
his concern over managerial
capability by stating, •
“Ninety nine percent of the
time those businesses that
went sour on us, it has been
weak management or poor
management."
A % ; * • ^ f - v . ,r
saving should become part of
today’s society. The (rid rule
of thumb is 10 percent of
one’s take home pay annual
ly. That is difficult fen* those
with families or living the
Yuppie-Buppie lifestyle. Jm
Getting away from the hard I
and fast rule of percentage of fl
income saved could be the-4
answer • how a bout> saying 1
what you can? Any aipdunt |
saved is an improvement.
Third on the agenda of
• resolutions is to improve the
mind for professional or per- i
sonal reasons. Either way tth
increases dr broadens one’s
of U*, world.
St three magazines' a
month and 12 novels-books
annually. Added up that is >
not a great deal of mind
improvement. However, it j
does makea difference in the
caliber of the person. It all
boils down to the more ex
posure to other thoughts the
increased ability for crcjati- A
vity. ■ 4
Also improving the JpindW
can include taking a course
in night school or-Joining an
organization that engages in
“mind activity”; i.e., the
Arts and Science Society.
The Public Library offers
everything from books to
seminars. Indulge!
Finally finishing that pro- ;
ject that was started some
months ago. The question to
ask is can the project be
finished? Maybe it requires
some additional skill or out
side help. Or maybe the level a
of interest is not there. What- I
ever the case, throw it out I
and start something new, "
New Year’s resolutions
can be fun also. Fun such as
doing more things that
makes one happy. Planning
more private or family time. '
Or joining the circus. Or
taking that dream vacation
to some exotic destination
and deciding to stay.
In case you are Wondering
what the resolution for the
New Year of the writer Is,
close friends and the writer
have decided to act like
grown ups when together in
stead of wild animals! Other
than that Just toe usual re
decorate and improve and if
the weather on the weekends
is not accommodating to
planned activities - change It.
Best wishes for a happy
and prosperous New Year
ArthrWt Interact l
There win be an Arthritis Inter
set Luncheon Session on Wednes
day, January 8, at noon at the
Community Health Services Build
in*. 1W1 E. Seventh St. Partio
pent* are asked to bring a big
lunch, drinks wiB be provided
Pre-registration is reciuired. Call
704-375-0171 to register.