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Wednesday, February 4, 2009
‘Legally blind’ resident
has new vision for future
. Dione Chambers found hope in new trade through Goodwill
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
Her house sits in Kings
Mountain. Her mailbox
stands in Bessemer City.
And although she may have
had trouble seeing tomor-
row, thanks to Goodwill -
that is where her hope lies.
Dione Chambers had
been a successful hairstylist
for five years, when at the
age of 27 she began to lose
her eyesight. Back in 2000,
she said, she had some fluid:
on her brain which dam-
aged her optical nerves.
“It took away a lot of my
vision,” she said.
Chambers was diag-
nosed as “legally blind.”
She could no longer drive a
car and her attention to de-
tail as a hairstylist became
too blurry to continue in her
profession.
Over the past eight
years, she began to give in
to the overwhelming feeling
of hopelessness which sur=
rounded her. She could still
make out shapes and colors.
But her vision of the future
began to lose its form.
One of her friends told
her to see if North Car-
olina’s Division of Services
for the Blind could’ help.
Chambers called the agency
and was directed to Eddie
Everett, district coordinator.
In their conversations, a
heavy question entered the
room - “what do you want
to do?”
She said she had not
given much thought to what
she wanted to do, feeling
there was little hope for
doing anything.
“I asked, ‘Well, what can
I do?’ He said, “You can do
anything but drive,” she re-
called with laughter.
She decided that she
wanted to do something
with customer service. “I'm
a people person. I like
working with people,” she
said.
Everett introduced her to
a customer service job train-
ing class offered through
Goodwill. . The - course,
which is offered to qualified
citizens for free thanks to
donations at local stores and
public support, helped
Chambers regain her hope
in a new trade.
At the end of the four-
week-long class and at the
age of 35, she graduated
with 60 other students at the
Goodwill district headquar-
ters in Charlotte on Friday
morning.
She gave the class ad-
dress, sharing her inspiring
story with a packed room of
graduates, faculty, friends
oe A eT
The Kings Mountain Herald
Dione Chambers, center, stands with her proud
sons Sadarius Chambers,
left, and Taqualin
Chambers after receiving her completion certifi-
cate and a couple of awards in a Goodwill job
training graduation ceremony Friday morning.
and family.
Before deciding on pur-
suing a profession in cus-
tomer service, she said that
it was her sons who gave
her the initial idea. They
fussed that she was always
on the phone.
“I said, ‘Well, why don’t
I do something I like doing
and get paid (for it),” she
told Friday morning’s
crowd as they laughed and
clapped. With hope, will
and determination, she
added, the possibilities are
endless.
There were a few times
when she worried how well
she would do in the class.
She credits her teachers for
their support.
“They saw me. They
didn’t see the disability,”
Chambers said.
“Nobody ever realized
that she had a disability be-
cause she performed so
well,” said Tracy Wilson,
one of Chambers’ instruc-
tors. “Her attitude was al-
ways positive. She was
really like a class-motivator.
She motivated everybody.”
Her teachers were in-
spired by her determination
and how, unlike others in
her situation, she chose not
to give up. They weren’t the
only ones. In addition to her
certificate of completion
and an award for perfect at-
tendance, Chambers was
bestowed the Team Player
award, which was voted on
by the peers in the class,
“She got the Team
Player award because she
was always the one when
you say you want some-
body to volunteer to do
something, she would say
‘I'll do it,” said Leslie
Clay, another one of Cham-
bers’ instructors.
Both teachers believe
that Chambers will do well.
Goodwill Industries of
the Southern Piedmont of-
fers three job training
classes in the Charlotte area
on Banking and Customer
Service, Construction, and
Hospitality and Tourism.
The agency also offers a
class in Gaston County
through its Customer Serv-
ice Call Center program,
which Chambers com-
pleted.
“A lot of people are
being laid off and they don’t
have the skills (required for
some of the jobs that are
still out there),” said Ar-
mando Barragan, communi-
cations and promotions
manager of GISP. “But peo-
ple can come to our free
program and be more mar-
ketable.”
“Goodwill’s Occupa-
tional Skills Training pro-
grams are unique within the
greater Charlotte area. Stu-
dents not only.receiVe train-
ing for careers in targeted
industry sectors, but they
also receive counseling and
career development serv-
ices leading to personal and
economic independence,”
according to Goodwill offi-
cials. “Over the past 15
years, Goodwill’s OST pro-
gram has changed the lives
of more than 1,500 people,
who today hold positions of
responsibility in the com-
puter, banking, call center,
customer service, retail,
construction, hospitality
and tourism industries.”
The graduating classes
of GISP have continued to
grow over the past few
years. Friday's class of 60
was one of its largest.
“Goodwill operates 19
retail stores and has 37 total
donation sites in Mecklen-
burg, Gaston, Lincoln,
Union, Cleveland, York and
Lancaster counties. Pro-
ceeds from the sale of do-
nated goods fund
employment and training
services for individuals fac-
ing barriers to employ-
ment,” according to
Goodwill officials.
For more information,
visit www.goodwillsp.org
or call 704-372-3434.
HOSPICE
From Page 1A
STE WCET a 1 ve EY
Page 3A
With the Kings Mountain addition, she said, Hospice Cleveland County will be the
only hospice in the state with two separate free-standing facilities.
Robbie Reynolds, president of the Cleveland Hospice Board of Directors, gave the
opening prayer and Reynolds, McGinnis, Kings Mountain Mayor Rick Murphrey, Rhodes
and Joseph Tysinger, chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee used shovels to break
ground.
The 15,000 square foot Hospice House in Kings Mountain will have eight spacious pri-
vate patient rooms,, each with a private bath and an outdoor patio. A living room, dining
room, family sitting areas, children's playroom, a patient spa and a small chapel will allow
space for patents and families to gather and additionally a large conference room, outfit-
ted with audiovisual equipment and a commercial kitchen will be available for commu-
nity use. Outdoor courtyard spaces will integrate Kings Mountain's natural landscape into
the experience of Hospice House, a relaxed and homelike atmosphere and alternative to
hospital admission and nursing home placement where patient sand their families can re-
. ceive premiere end-of-life care wit a focus on comfort and quality of life..
LEGISLATURE
From Page 1A
approved by a department head" (which
does not apply to tools needed for class-
room instruction); suspend all travel and
training plans except for matters of public
safety, public health, job requirements, eco-
nomic development opportunities or emer-
gency situations; hold off on any
"pay-as-you-go appropriations for capital
improvement repair and renovation proj-
ects"; and to temporarily freeze any vacant
fon in which no prior. commitments
ave been made.
‘While the state hopes these cuts will
cover the balance, other legislators have
proposed more taxes to bridge the gap. Sen-
ate leader Marc Basnight proposed a raise
in the state's "sin taxes" (on alcohol and cig-
arettes), which would provide the state with
a few extra million, but not $2 billion.
"I plan to keep the pressure on not to
raise taxes," said Sen. Debbie Clary. "It's
going to be a tough budget session and the
ultimate goal is to be responsible in making
necessary cuts with(out) causing harm."
"This session must focus on ways to
bring jobs to North Carolina," said Rep.
Tim Moore. "Our region is experiencing
high unemployment because the manufac-
turing sector has cut back because of the re-
cession. I have friends and family members
who are unemployed and know this is a
tough time for a lot of families."
Rep. Pearl Burris-Floyd, who began her
first term in Raleigh last Wednesday, said
that her top priorities include the state of
NC's economy, jobs and workforce devel-
opment. :
"It took a while for our economy to get
in this mess and it will take some time to
fully recover, however, at the state level we
must continue business recruitment initia-
tives and expand worker retraining pro-
grams,"
ensure that unemployment benefits are ex-
tended to help folks who are having trouble
finding a job."
"The first priority is job creation and re-
tention," Clary said in an e-mail. "We need
to be more aggressive in our job retention
efforts with small business. Job credits,
lowering the corporate: income tax and re-
search and development support systems
are all on my agenda."
While Burris-Floyd familiarizes herself
with Raleigh, the two things she hopes they
will be able to accomplish this session are
balancing the budget and bringing jobs to
the district.
Aside from jobs, Moore said that he
plans to fight for the region to have a piece
of the federal stimulus "pie" for "infra-
structure development."
"We also need to find ways to reduce the
cost of government since the (economic)
downturn will mean lower tax revenues for
the state," he said.
All of these ideas and more may be
needed this session to put a crumbling
economy back together again.
MEMORIAL
From Page 1A
Day came, he returned to Norfolk Naval
Hospital and Naval Air Station on the
cruiser Memphis.”
“Sidney Dixon was also in the U.S.
Navy, assigned in 1942 to the battleship
USS Montpelier, his home for four years,”
according to information compiled by the
KM Rotary Club. “The ship carried Dixon
through nine of the 13 major engagements
fought in the Pacific Theater. The ship spent
14 months being bombarded while fighting
night and day in the air/sea battles, and then
headed north to the Marinas, Saipan, Tin-
ian and Guam, where they engaged in the
Battle of the Philippine Sea. The Philip-
pines were recaptured in 1944 with the help
of the crew of the USS Montpelier. They
were based in Okinawa in 1945 when the
first atomic bomb was dropped on Hi-
roshima, followed by the second atomic
bomb dropped on Nagasaki that ended the
war in the Pacific Theater. The ship then
went to Kobe, Japan, to remove the prison-
ers of war and the survivors in the Philip-
pines. The USS Montpelier traveled more
than 200,000 miles and fired more rounds
of ammunition than any ship in the U.S.
Navy during World War II.”
Both heroes are deemed more than wor-
thy to be counted among the 100 in April’s
“Flight of Honor.” In addition to the special
visit to the WWII Memorial, veterans will
be served lunch and bussed to the Lincoln,
Vietnam and Korean War memorials and
will visit Arlington National Cemetery,
where many of their fallen comrades lie, to
observe the changing of the guard at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Afterwards,
they will travel to the airport for the trip
back to Charlotte, where they will be wel-
comed home by family and friends.
The cost of the trip, estimated at $500
per veteran, will be free to the heroes who
embark on it.
The KM Rotary Club decided to join the
efforts of Rotary District 7680, represent-
ing several mid-western NC counties, to
send these veterans on this “Flight of
Honor.” :
If you would like to contribute to this
special cause, honoring local heroes, con-
tact the KM Rotary President Earl Lutz at
704-482-9783 or by email to
lutze@ibankatfnb.com or the project coor-
dinator, Steve Padgett at 704-418-0181 or
by email to shpadgett99@earthlink.net
Watch future “editions of the Kings
Mountain Herald for feature stories on
these brave heroes and some of their tales
from when America saved a world at war.
Moore said. "We also need to
RATES
From Page 1A
than doubled since a year ago.
Among the county's projected labor force of
50,937 workers, 6,116 were without a job last month,
according to the ESC.
A glimmer of hope came for some in the county
when Napoleon Brewer announced that his call cen-
ter, Ultimate Concert, Inc., would bring around 2,800
jobs to the area. The new employees were supposed
to begin their job training on Monday. Brewer
"closed shop" on Friday, canceling his plans of doing
business in Shelby - at least for now.
Investigations have shown that Brewer allegedly
owes thousands of dollars in back taxes for other
businesses he started up in California. The ESC and
other agencies, like Cleveland Community College's
Workforce Development center, have urged job seek-
ers to do their homework on companies before ap-
plying for positions.
The research will not only give applicants an edge
or an idea of what to expect from the company, it may
also help protect the unemployed from possible
schemes or identity thefts.
The state and local communities continue to re-
flect the economic crisis of the nation, where unem-
ployment has reached 7.2 percent - the highest since
1993,
North Carolina’s unemployment rate increased to
8:7 percent in December, according to statistics re-
leased by the NC ESC. It is the highest rate since
June 1983 when 9 percent of workers were unem-
ployed. Although the work force has grown by about
31,240 laborers since then, figures show that 396,846
workers across the state are currently unemployed.
"Every corner of North Carolina is feeling the ef-
fects of our national economy. Layoffs and cutbacks
have taken a toll on many of our sectors, including
Retail during the holiday season, Professional and
Business Services, along with Construction and Man-
ufacturing," said ESC Chairman Moses Carey Jr.
Help is available for those looking for jobs at Di-
versified Staffing, on Battleground Avenue in Kings
Mountain, and at the ESC offices in Shelby and Gas-
tonia or on-line at www.ncesc.com
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FUGITIVE
From Page 1A
the name "Kissa Lavender."
When that name failed,
Worley apparently tried the
name "Patricia White."
Both names are listed as
aliases on the arrest report.
* When her true identity
became available, officers
ran her information through
the system and learned that
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she had been listed as’ an
"absconder" (a run-away
fugitive) from Buncombe
County since 2001.
Worley was arrested and
transported to Cleveland
County Jail where she was
placed under a $90,000 se-
cured bond. She was trans-
ported to Buncombe
County Jail on Jan. 28.
Worley was released on
bond on that same day.
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