Enlarge Rabbi Judy Schindler honored as 2011 Charlotte Woman of the Year

Posted: March 22nd, 2012 Tonya Jameson

The next challenge facing Charlotte’s leaders isn’t the fight for equality, but the fight to treat each other ethically. This is a struggle without an easily recognizable enemy. This battle doesn’t have separate but equal water fountains to dismantle, and it has even fewer laws to pass or overturn. It’s a fight that challenges us to uphold the principles that are the fabric of what American strives to be.

This battle requires us to acknowledge that we are different, to embrace those differences and to treat each other with human dignity.

On Tuesday, March 20, Davidson College President Carol Quillen discussed this new challenge during her keynote address at A Woman’s Place, hosted by Levine Museum of the New South at ImaginOn. Quillen’s talk was part of the celebration honoring Rabbi Judy Schindler as the 2011 Charlotte Woman of the Year.

During the program, Crisis Assistance Ministries executive director Carol Hardison highlighted Schindler’s steadfast efforts to make Charlotte a more humane city. She recalled Schindler’s efforts to help Hurricane Katrina victims. Hardison noted Schindler’s creation of the “Souls...” documentary series which advocates for students, teachers and affordable housing. Hardison talked about Schindler’s decision to step into the fray over same-sex marriage by marrying seven couples in Washington last year.

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Posted: March 22nd, 2012 Lakamar Austin

Neighbors, business owners and community leaders gathered Sunday, March 18, at Providence United Methodist Church to continue recent conversations surrounding affordable housing in Charlotte, and to discuss partnerships and projects available to curb housing solutions for the Charlotte's homeless population.

Nearly 30 attendees joined in roundtable discussions to share personal experiences and views.

Seated to my left was Ruth Montfort, a senior citizen from Charlotte. “I’ve been concerned about homelessness and the fact that people really can’t have a life if they don’t have a home, in particularly children. I cannot imagine not having a place to hang my toothbrush,” said Montfort.

To my right, Kay Read talked about walking to school as a child in Tennessee and feeling very safe growing up in her neighborhood. Across from me was Ron Miller, he was raised on a farm in rural Kentucky and attended a grade school with only 80 students.

To the right of Ron sat Stephanie Hand, associate pastor for Providence UMC and a Morehead City native, she remembers that within her neighborhood “there was a sense of community to help me and my generation grow up.”

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Posted: March 22nd, 2012 Lakamar Austin

Neighbors, business owners and community leaders gathered Sunday, March 18, at Providence United Methodist Church to continue recent conversations surrounding affordable housing in Charlotte, and to discuss partnerships and projects available to curb housing solutions for the Charlotte's homeless population.

Nearly 30 attendees joined in roundtable discussions to share personal experiences and views.

Seated to my left was Ruth Montfort, a senior citizen from Charlotte. “I’ve been concerned about homelessness and the fact that people really can’t have a life if they don’t have a home, in particularly children. I cannot imagine not having a place to hang my toothbrush,” said Montfort.

To my right, Kay Read talked about walking to school as a child in Tennessee and feeling very safe growing up in her neighborhood. Across from me was Ron Miller, he was raised on a farm in rural Kentucky and attended a grade school with only 80 students.

To the right of Ron sat Stephanie Hand, associate pastor for Providence UMC and a Morehead City native, she remembers that within her neighborhood “there was a sense of community to help me and my generation grow up.”

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Posted: March 20th, 2012 Lee Howard

Here are stories that caught our eye recently...

In the past two years, nearly 70 homeless families in Charlotte have been able to leave overcrowded shelters and step into fully furnished homes, courtesy of a partnership of nonprofits and government agencies. Much of the credit goes to a volunteer group of 75 women from St. Gabriel and St. Matthew Catholic churches.

The Democratic National Convention announced that it plans to spend at least one-third of its money with businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans, people with disabilities and members of the gay community. The efforts include an online vendor directory to help local businesses land work during the DNC.

The Critical Need Response Fund began as a one-winter-only effort to help charities swamped by needy people. But it’s burgeoned into its fourth year, raising money for nonprofits that provide food, clothing shelter and warmth. The United Way, which took over the program in 2010, predicts this year's campaign will raise $100,000 to $300,000 for those in need.

Voices of Love is one of many gospel choirs in the Charlotte region. But what makes this choir unusual is that most of its members are homeless. A core group practices each week at Charlotte’s Urban Ministry Center.

Tim Alden Grant, Emilia Fuentes Grant, Adam Hobbs, and a whole cast of other locals, produced the Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage video for Soomo Publishing. The video, which premiered recently to coincide with National Women’s Day, pays homage to Alice Paul and the generations of brave women who joined together in the fight to pass the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote in 1920.