Stories
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Donor Profile: Jim Emshoff
Read more: Donor Profile: Jim Emshoff“I don’t want to just sit and write about this, I want to do something. I have a passion to be involved.” If I had to use one word to describe Jim, it would have to be fascinating. As an educator and businessman, from the moment he starts speaking it’s clear he’s always been a…
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Q& A with the 2017 Shannon St. John Fellows
Read more: Q& A with the 2017 Shannon St. John FellowsIn the summer, the Foundation employs students to work on specific projects as Shannon St. John Fellows, named in honor of our first president. This summer we were lucky to work with two talented students, Shelli Grogg (S) and Ebony West (E), both pursuing their Master’s in Public Administration from the University of North Carolina…
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Camp Changes Lives
Read more: Camp Changes LivesMore than anything, Matthew wanted a friend. The transition from elementary school to middle school can be tough on any kid, but for Matthew, a child with autism, finding friends and fitting in was even more difficult. “His mother would tell me that they felt like they’d lost him,” said Kristy White said, chief development…
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Mental Illness: The Person Behind a Diagnosis
Read more: Mental Illness: The Person Behind a DiagnosisMental illness was a barrier that kept Brent Parrish from reading fluently. His childhood education didn’t address his mental health and kept him from reaching his full potential. Parrish, who is in his 50’s, watched President Barack Obama’s farewell address in January, and he didn’t understand some of the complex topics. He wanted to know…
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2017 What Matters Community Luncheon: Our Kids
Read more: 2017 What Matters Community Luncheon: Our KidsSonia Manzano grew up in an America where she never saw people of color on television. Where she was taught to “behave and memorize” in elementary school before struggling to catch up in a more difficult performing-arts high school. Where she made sense of the domestic violence and struggle of her home by watching “Queen…
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Third-grade reading proficiency: it matters
Read more: Third-grade reading proficiency: it mattersDaniel started third grade reading significantly below grade level, afraid of reading aloud and not able to make connections in the text. His teacher, Jean Skelton, a third-grade teacher in Durham Public Schools, worked with him for hours to help him over his apprehensions. “I had to step him up slowly,” Skelton said last month.…
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Many Barriers to Education for NC Children
Read more: Many Barriers to Education for NC ChildrenEducation is supposed to be the great equalizer, the thing that can end generational poverty and change the trajectory of a person’s life. “We often think of equality,” said Laila Bell, director of research and data for NC Child, a state-level advocacy organization in Raleigh. For example: “‘If we give every kid the same thing,…
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Importance of Wrap-Around Care
Read more: Importance of Wrap-Around CareBurma Spinks first came to the White Oak Foundation looking for help for her 87-year-old mother. But she ended up finding a community of support for herself as well. Spinks, who is currently in her 60s, and her mother visited the Foundation’s food pantry and attended many of the Senior Days Out. Her mother can’t…
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Giving Young Parents a Brighter Future
Read more: Giving Young Parents a Brighter FutureParenting a child while in high school makes college seem out of reach. But Beth Harrington got a boost when she needed it most — a scholarship that opened doors to higher education and a better life for her son, Nathan. The de Grange Scholarship paid for two years at Durham Technical Community College and…
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Triangle Community Foundation and United Way of the Greater Triangle Spearhead Regional Reading Proficiency Campaign
Read more: Triangle Community Foundation and United Way of the Greater Triangle Spearhead Regional Reading Proficiency CampaignThe North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation (NCECF) is partnering with the United Way of the Greater Triangle, Triangle Community Foundation and community coalitions in Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties to ensure children are on a pathway to grade-level reading by the end of third grade, giving them the tools to succeed in the…
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One Encounter Changed Him Forever
Read more: One Encounter Changed Him ForeverShe walked into the rural Florida emergency food center on the arm of a disheveled, swaggering man. She was noticeably younger, she didn’t speak, and her gaze only fleetingly raised to meet Tim’s that day. The man she came with did all the talking, and when they left that day, Tim describes that he was…
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Closing the Gap Through Art
Read more: Closing the Gap Through ArtSpending her professional career in public policy and city planning, Carol was no stranger to the opportunity gap, particularly as it related to children and access to cultural resources. But it wasn’t until she retired that she was able to combine this knowledge with her love of the performing arts – singing – to be…