A Wecloming City in Action | One Charlotte Immigrant’s Story
September 7 – 20, 2022
If you’ve ever moved to a new place, you know the experience can come with challenges: finding a place to live, landing a new job, setting up a new bank account, etc. But for many immigrants, the journey is even more complicated and the stakes can be much higher.
These are people who uproot their lives, often out of necessity, only to plunge into the unknown — a new country that may include significant cultural differences, language barriers, and a complex labyrinth of immigration policies and laws.
Sept. 9-18 is known nationally as “Welcoming Week,” a moment to celebrate diversity and encourage communities to become more inclusive places for people of all backgrounds, including immigrants. The campaign came from the nonprofit organization Welcoming America, which earlier this year formally designated Charlotte as a certified Welcoming Place, the first Southern city to be deemed such.
But why does it matter to be welcoming? And who does it actually benefit?
As it turns out — all of us.
Consider the case of longtime Charlotte resident Martha Warkie, age 78. Warkie became an American citizen in the spring — 22 years after arriving in the United States.
Patchwork Crosswalks | Announcing MoRA’s Newest Public Artwork
October 2020
Work begins this month on MoRA’s third major public artwork “Patchwork Crosswalks.” This project is a series of four crosswalk murals that will further connect the MoRA community, and continue to redefine the area through art installations along Monroe Road. These pieces will reflect the experiences and cultural backgrounds of the people who live and work here.
The new crosswalks will add to the cultural landscape of MoRA while making it safer for pedestrians as they explore the community. Slated for installation in Spring 2021, the public artwork will connect three different intersections along Monroe Road.
Bringing Community Together in Graham Heights
When the Bailey Concert Band, a drum corps of nine from the United House of Prayer, made their dramatic entrance at the Graham Heights Spring Festival Block Party, they struck the right beat for the day: perfect synchronization. The group captivated the 150 or so neighbors lining Ennis Avenue, just north of Charlotte’s center city, and illustrated the residents’ own coordinated efforts to create a successful community event.
The gathering, which was partially funded by a Crossroads Charlotte “Achieving Community Today” (A.C.T.) grant, was made possible by the efforts of dozens of volunteers. They recruited sponsors like Food Lion and other area grocery chains to defray food expenses, set up the borrowed tables and chairs, prepared and served the food, and organized a raffle for gift cards worth up to $725 apiece from Lowe’s South End to be used toward purchasing Energy Star Appliances.
6 of the best kept secrets of Park Road Shopping Center
March 15, 2016
When a Charlotte landmark reaches 60 years, you know there must be something special about it. We Charlotteans tend to knock down and rebuild in a NASCAR minute.
Park Road Shopping Center is still thriving with an eclectic range of restaurants and specialty shops. Here are six secrets you may have been missing out on.
(1) A time capsule was buried for 50 years on the grounds of the Regal Cinema. With festive flair, it was unearthed in May 2014 by then-Mayor Dan Clodfeldter.
Grown-up places your kids will love, too
May 12, 2016
Let’s face it, if you’re a parent, you probably spend a lot of time compromising on the places you go with your kids to keep the peace. But Charlotte happily is home to many destinations that can satisfy multiple generations. As the days get longer and summer break draws near, here are some fun grown-up locales that your kids will dig too.
Each destination is rated on a scale from 1 (worst) to 5 (best) for: *W* wriggle room (i.e., is it ok for your kids to move around, touch stuff, make noise?), *F* fab food options, and *L* learning while having fun.
The Key to the City
May 11, 2014
Sometimes the things you look forward to the most don’t turn out exactly as planned… That was today’s lesson, as we stood shoulder to shoulder with a crowd outside of Charlotte’s Regal Park Terrace cinema, waiting for a fifty year old time capsule to be cracked open.
To my surprise, I felt more like a Charlottean than ever before as sixties music filled the air and people browsed through a display of artifacts from the era — a local phone book from the ’50s, a vintage Battleship game, an air raid protocol poster, old records, a retro TV, a viewmaster, and more.
Liz Bertrand 