Enlarge Sheree Harper, Martina Jones, and son, Amari Jones

Posted: January 16th, 2012 Lee Howard

It’s admittedly a rough and disparate part of town. But residents of Eagle Woods Apartments off Farm Pond Lane in East Charlotte strove to bring people together on Saturday, Jan. 14. Old and young, white, black, Hispanic, Russian and Burmese. 

The tie that binds? "Thank You" cards to the inspirational people in their lives.

“We’re here to help strengthen the community overall,” said Sheree Harper, a UNC-Charlotte grad student majoring in school counseling.

Harper was one of the coordinators of the event, held at the Eagle Woods Apartments clubhouse. She’s also a member of CHARP, the Charlotte Action Research Project, a recent recipient of a Crossroads CharlotteAchieving Community Today Projects grant. A.C.T. Projects grants were designed to fund small initiatives that connect people across lines of difference. Members of the community submitted ideas, and the public decided which groups received funding by voting on Facebook. The winners received up to $500 to implement their projects. Other recipients have included the Enderly Park Neighborhood Association and the Love Project, whose members are survivors of domestic violence.

Harper described her motivation as she set up crafts tables that included colored construction paper, magic markers, scissors, beads and glue sticks. The art supplies were for making thank you cards for people who have been influential in the lives of those attending, whether those so honored were alive or dead, great or small.

“This is a community that has the ability to be sustainable,” Harper said, while acknowledging the area’s higher-than-average crime rate. “We’re trying to help build a sense of community.”

Amari Jones, 14, is an eighth-grader at Albemarle Middle School. He attended with his mom, Martina. Amari said he wanted to be part of the festivities, because community events help make him feel like he’s going in the “right direction.” The pizza helped.

“This kind of thing keeps (young people) out of trouble,” Amari said. “It keeps us from stealing and robbing and breaking into peoples’ cars and houses.”

Pamela Pate, a new Charlotte resident recently arrived from Ohio, lives in the troubled Windy Ridge neighborhood. She drove to Eagle Woods to show her support. Also a CHARP member, Pate says events that pull people together strengthen neighborhoods. The things that pull them apart? Drugs. Gangs. Children having children. And an aging population that must care for those children.

“It’s for the sake of our families that we do these things,” Pate said. “Cross-community senior and youth parties are a great idea, if we can keep people participating.”

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