Unemployment up in every N.C. county
Unemployment increased in all 100 North Carolina counties in November, according to state figures released Tuesday, and the number of counties with at least 10 percent unemployment quadrupled.
Articles
Group works weekly to help the hungry
By RUTH SHEEHAN The News & Observer of Raleigh Posted: Dec. 27, 2008 RALEIGH, N.C. — The three nondescript cars pulled into a parking lot across from Moore Square. Before the teenagers inside clicked open their seatbelts, dozens of homeless men and women scurried over. By the time the high school and college students opened their doors, they were completely surrounded, causing the teenagers to beam. This is what they come for. Every single Sunday for the last three years, this small group of young adult volunteers, along with N.C. State adviser Anita Flick, has served bag lunches to a growing group of homeless people. Rain, shine, no matter. "You hear so much about young people who are abscesses on our culture," said Kay Fish, whose son helps with the project regularly. "There are so many who quietly do so …
Volunteer turnout far exceeds expectations
By Fred Clasen-Kelly frkelly@charlotteobserver.com Posted: Saturday, Jan. 03, 2009 Tom Duncan took the day off work, but faced a menacing job: Clean and paint a vacant apartment infested with cockroaches and covered in dust. Duncan was among roughly 200 volunteers Friday helping convert an idle 12-story uptown building into a temporary homeless shelter. “We will do what we can,” he said after pointing to food the former tenant left in the refrigerator. Volunteers spent hours repairing, painting and cleaning to prepare the Hall House for homeless women and their children. They will continue working from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today. Social agencies are trying to reduce a shortage of homeless shelter beds in Charlotte. More than 5,000 people in Charlotte-Mecklenburg are homeless on a given night, but there are less than 2,000 shelter beds. Officials were overwhelmed Friday by …
One family truly thankful for the roof over their heads
BRUNSWICK COUNTY | After living in a camper doomed for the dump, Tina Mattoon is thankful she doesn’t have to sleep next to the toilet anymore. That’s because on Tuesday, she moved into a three-bedroom mobile home with her four daughters. Even with no food, this Thanksgiving will be one to remember. And now, she can choose from two bathrooms. With doors. “I’m happy to be in a home,” said Mattoon, who became homeless when her roommate kicked her and her children out. “I don’t have anything for Thanksgiving, but I have a house. That’s all that matters.” Mattoon, a former waitress-turned-Bojangles’ worker, is part of a growing number of people losing their homes because of the slumping economy. Last year, 67 families were homeless in Brunswick County, said Joe Cannon, executive director of Brunswick Family Assistance Agency, a figure …
Here Now: Project gives hope to people struggling
Noel Edwards was homeless and staying at Good Shepherd Center when Sharron Cain found her. Shameeka Winfield was struggling with the effects of having a criminal record, the result of a mistake she made years ago. Both will graduate Friday from the fall classes of Project Uplift Career Pathways Academy, a training program for adults of low to moderate incomes. It’s operated by the Countywide Community Development Corp., which serves Brunswick, New Hanover, Pender and Columbus counties. Both have landed good jobs, Edwards at AME Zion Housing Development Corp. and Winfield at Family Perspectives LLC. They are among about 30 graduates of Project Uplift classes. One morning last week, Edwards and Winfield were in the office administration class at the Hillcrest Recreation Center off Dawson Street. About 15 women were working at computer terminals under the tutelage of Carmenitha Berry, …
Homeless veterans get more housing
By Martha Quillin martha.quillinnewsobserver.com Posted: Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008 DURHAM - An apartment complex expected to open next month will almost quadruple the number of beds for veterans at risk of homelessness in this city, and housing experts say it's not nearly enough. The nonprofit Volunteers of America built the 24-unit Maple Court apartments in Durham because a disproportionate number of the Triangle's 500 or more homeless veterans live there. Bob Williamson, who runs the health care program for homeless vets at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham, said vets are drawn to the area because of the VA and other veterans services, and the hope of jobs. For years, however, those who couldn't find or keep jobs have ended up sleeping in shelters, parks, abandoned buildings and under bridges. The VA has long recognized homelessness as a problem among …
Finding Hope
By PAUL CLARK Asheville Citizen-Times Posted: Nov. 15, 2008 ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Travis Robinson was headed for the streets when he heard about the Veterans Restoration Quarters. It may have saved his life, he believes. For months, he'd been having nightmares about his time in Iraq. Enemy fire and bombings were constant for the 37th Engineer Battalion as it set up support in hostile territory for soldiers coming from the rear. At home at his parents' house in Rutherford County, he'd wake up with a shotgun beside him. He was drinking, heavily. Because of it, his parents gave him a timetable for getting out of the house. He sought treatment at the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville, where he learned about the Veterans' Restoration Quarters, an old Super 8 motel on Tunnel Road that Asheville-Buncombe Community …
Homeless women organization prepares for a new home
By DEE HENRY Hickory Daily Record Posted: Nov. 16 12:03 p.m. Updated: Nov. 16 8:05 p.m. HICKORY, N.C. — The mosaic decoration on the kitchen wall, made of broken plates, bowls and cups, carries a strong message. "Even broken things can be made beautiful," said Debbie Haynes, executive director of the Safe Harbor Rescue Mission. The wall was created by former residents of the Ada Geitner Home on Second Street, SE, in Hickory. The Hickory Daily Record reports that the home, built in 1980 to serve as a home for abused and homeless women, will soon be used again for that purpose, as Haynes moves the Safe Harbor Rescue Mission to the house. The mission has been in the former parsonage for St. Paul's Lutheran Church since it opened as a day center in 2004. Haynes was …
Spare Change Grants Announced
ASHEVILLE – Spare Change grants announced The Asheville Downtown Association Foundation recently announced the recipients of grants from funds collected through the Spare Change for Real Change program. Spare Change collection boxes located throughout downtown serve as an alternative to giving to panhandlers. Many area businesses match funds collected in Spare Change boxes or supplement the program with significant donations. “Spare Change for Real Change was designed to reduce panhandling and channel funds to the organizations that are helping people get back on their feet,” said Dwight Butner, chair of the foundation. Receiving grants were: Homeward Bound of Asheville, $5,000 to fight homelessness. Western Carolina Rescue Ministries, $3,000 to provide services for the homeless. The Salvation Army, $2,000 to offer food, shelter, and assistance to the needy. The Spare Change program also unveiled a colorful …
Even Goodwill is hurt by tough times
By Clay Barbour cbarbour@charlotteobserver.com Posted: Monday, Nov. 03, 2008 The pickings are getting slim at one of Tina Partridge's favorite shopping spots, another sign of the country's tough times. About once a month Partridge and her five children head to the Steele Creek Goodwill retail store, where the young mother can find great deals on everything from school clothes to dirt bikes. But the slumping economy is taking its toll on selection these days, and that hits parents like Partridge particularly hard. “With a big family like mine, finding the stuff you need at a good price is a matter of survival,” she said. Goodwill officials said area donations were down 5 percent for the year, 10 percent over just the past three months. Meanwhile, the organization has experienced a dramatic increase in demand for its free …