Philanthropy

HousingFest 2016

May 16, 2016 by Lisa Leave a Comment

Housing is a basic human right, yet many in Charlotte metro area don’t have access to adequate, affordable housing. The numbers speak for themselves. In the Charlotte region alone, 1 out of 5** children that live within 8 miles of Uptown Charlotte are homeless. I can’t believe I just typed those numbers — 1 out of 5.

Chronic homelessness is a problem in the United States and in the Charlotte region. HousingFest is dedicated to help end chronic homelessness in the Charlotte region.

Graphic from Urban Ministry — Charlotte, NC

Chronic homelessness is a problem in the United States as well. As a country, we have made progress in the national effort to end homelessness with a nationwide decrease of 22%. Yet on any given night in January 2015, an estimated 83,170 individuals were living on the streets, chronically homeless. (https://www.usich.gov/goals/chronic)

Graphic from Urban Ministry — Charlotte, NC

Closer to home, we’re trying do something to help alleviate the problem of homelessness and help with housing those who are in need. HousingFest is music festival dedicated to ending homelessness in Charlotte. Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Josh Ritter will headline the May 28, 2016 concert at The Fillmore in NC Music Factory. Guided by the Housing First principle that recognizes housing as a basic human right, HousingFest began with the idea that music can unite the community to end homelessness. Proceeds from the event will support permanent apartments with supportive services for those experiencing chronic homelessness.

HousingFest is presented by the Urban Ministry Center (UMC), in collaboration with Live Nation and Maxx Music. The concert features Ritter, named one of the “100 Greatest Living Songwriters” by Paste Magazine, and Lindi Ortega, whom American Songwriter calls “the love child of Johnny Cash and Nancy Sinatra.”

Matrimony, the Charlotte-based band that Rolling Stone compared to “Mumford and Sons if they were weaned on middle-period Fleetwood Mac” will be making a rare appearance for HousingFest. North Carolina-bred, New-Orleans based Nikki Hill and her band will bring their roaring boogie, equal parts Staple Singers and AC/DC, to the show.

Jim Lauderdale is a two-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter. He’s collaborated with music royalty: Ralph Stanley, Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, and Willie Nelson among many others. Justin Fedor, founding member of The New Familiars and Ancient Cities, will be part of the line-up as well bringing his distinctive blend of Americana rock-and-roll.

Homelessness in the United States by the numbers

Graphic from Urban Ministry — Charlotte, NC

Buy Tickets to HousingFest 2016:

The festival’s $39 ticket price is equivalent to one night of housing with support services in UMC’s HousingWorks program.

Tickets are on sale now at LiveNation.com.

About

The inaugural HousingFest in 2014 featured Grammy Award-winning performers The Blind Boys of Alabama and Jim Lauderdale. Held at Charlotte’s Neighborhood Theatre, HousingFest 2014 was a sold-out event, with over 800 people in attendance. Partnering with 14 sponsors to launch HousingFest, UMC raised over $25,000 to house our community’s most vulnerable homeless men and women.

For more information about HousingFest, including sponsorship opportunities, and success stories of people housed with the Housing First strategy, please visit HousingFest.org, a new website created by Luquire George Andrews. For more information aboutUrban Ministry Center, its mission and programs to end homelessness, please visit UrbanMinistryCenter.org.

Rwanda Path to Peace 10th Anniversary

December 10, 2015 by Lisa Leave a Comment

Macy’s is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Rwanda Path to Peace line of baskets and their partnership with Rwandan artisans. Rwanda was a country torn apart by genocide in 1994. Nearly one million men, women and children perished within three months in this tiny country no bigger than the state of Rhode Island. The Rwandan genocide resulted from the conscious choice of the elite to promote hatred and fear to keep itself in power. This small, privileged group first set the majority against the minority to counter a growing political opposition within Rwanda. Yet, it seems fitting to be celebrating the Rwanda Path to Peace anniversary during this season of thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa, in the United States.

After the genocide, a few women came together and did what women in Rwanda do. They talked, they cried, and they wove baskets. There were women of both sides of the ethnic divide, practicing skills of weaving they all learned from their mothers and grandmothers. When Macy’s began carrying the baskets it was the first example of a major American retailers committing to a Trade-Not-Aid product line. Even though Rwanda is largely out of the news these days, Macy’s has kept that commitment alive.

The Rwanda Path to Peace baskets represent centuries of Rwandan culture. Celebrated by all sides of the ethnic divide, the baskets became the symbol that all Rwandans could embrace, becoming a vital tool that helped foster reconciliation among the Hutu and Tutsi tribes.

As a firm believer in trade-not-aid, I have collected several baskets from the Rwanda Path to Peace collection, which I use to decorate my home. They’re a constant reminder that my purchases give back to the people who need the income the most. Macy’s commitment has been one sustained over 10 years and is not the flash-in-the-pan organizations that go into countries promising help, yet doing very little.

This support has also included me adding pieces from Macy’s Heart of Haiti line, as well as pieces given to me by my dear friend Leticia purchased directly from the artisans on her trips to Haiti. They are unique talking points, which allow me to continue discussing these initiatives when asked about the pieces on display.

This holiday season, I’m using my baskets to display peppermints for guests; underneath the peppermints is a penny. When I was a little girl, the Little House books were my favorite. “Little House on the Prairie” contains one of my favorite Christmas scenes. “Laura and Mary never would have looked in their stockings again. The cups and the cakes and the candy were almost too much. They were too happy to speak. But Ma asked if they were sure the stockings were empty.” In the stockings was a shining, bright new penny for each of them. Can you imagine?

Doing this is a reminder of the simple things, to cherish them, that life is still lived that way, and conditions are much worse in other parts of the world. It’s an ego check and a reminder to never let my id take control.

About Macy’s Rwanda Path to Peace:

Macy’s Rwanda Path to Peace program brings the age-old art of Rwandan basket weaving to customers in the United States, with product available in select Macy’s stores and on Macys.com. The vibrant colorful baskets range from a classic 9-inch fruit bowls to a large 16-inch statement piece, with retail prices ranging from $30 to $60.

“As an early and dedicated advocate for this program, I am so proud of the decade of work we have been honored to do through our Rwanda Path to Peace project,” said Terry J. Lungdren, chairman and CEO of Macy’s, Inc. “Through this program, Hutu and Tutsi women, representing both sides of devastating genocide have come together to wave baskets of peace. From my first visit to Rwanda, my life was permanently change by the strength of the weavers I met – knowing what they have endured and all they have taught us about courage, forgiveness, and grace. I want to thank our customers for continuing to support this effort and for helping us make a difference in the world.”

For more information about Macy’s Rwanda Path to Peace visit macys.com/Rwanda.

Disclosure: I received a basket from Macy’s Rwanda Path to Peace.

Many thanks to TechSavvyMama for allowing me to use her photos. I’m reorganizing my photography studio and have everything in boxes.

On IndoJax, Surfing Life’s Waves and the Visually Impaired Camp

August 2, 2010 by Prof Pinch 2 Comments

It was a sight for sore eyes…

After the way this year has been with traveling, the hectic nature of modern family life and other things going on that I won’t mention here, it was great to go out and visit with the IndoJax crew and watch them run this camp for visually impaired children. We could’ve spent the time almost anywhere in the Wilmington, NC area. But we chose to spend it here. With these folks. Doing this…

My wife and I have known IndoJax’s owner Jack Viorel for a few years now. It was a total fluke how we met. We were on vacation a few years ago and I decided I wanted to get surf lessons. Having grown up in Maryland, I knew a thing or two about water sports, but I mostly stuck with boogie boarding and body surfing as a kid. But I really wanted to learn how to surf and was pretty pumped that Kure and Carolina Beach had small, fun-sized waves on a beach break, thanks to the sandbar just a little ways offshore.

At any rate, I signed up for lessons through one of the bicycle/surfboard rental shops on the island only to show up and find out that the rental shop didn’t tell me where to go and they didn’t tell Jack I was dropping in on his week-long class for an AM lesson. But I was drawn to his honesty, his positive energy and vibe overall. We hit it off that AM surf session and we’ve stayed in touch since then.

Have you ever been around a person who not only made you feel better about yourself and the world, but made you feel like there was a better version of yourself waiting to be discovered? And that you had the ability to discover that version of yourself? Well, Jack is that kind of guy to me. Because that’s how I feel when I’m around him and his crew.

And so for a child, who is visually impaired or medically fragile, I could only imagine the feeling of freedom they must feel out on the waves with a board under their feet. It’s so simple. So freeing. Yet inexplicable. I know for me, when I catch a wave it’s a feeling of pure unadulterated joy. But I don’t have health issues and I can express what it means to surf. I honestly have no frame of reference to compare what the experience of surfing is like to these kids.

But honestly, it doesn’t matter. The fact is these kids are being given a chance to experience something special. And it doesn’t matter if they can’t put it into words or may not even be able to place their experience into context. It’s their moment, after all.

Just watching them enjoy it is enough.

I’m going to leave you with this short clip the IndoJax folks put up on their YouTube page. It’s from last year, but you’ll get the idea what this camp is all about. I just ask you to watch it and read the comments…

Visually Impaired Camp \’09