Stories

Picture a preschooler. Big grin, backpack twice their size, eyes wide open to the exciting world. When you're three and four years old, the future is limitless. 

The wide-eyed preschoolers from the first graduating class of The Learning Collaborative are now in their mid-30s. Many of them have preschoolers of their own. That's how long TLC has been offering a high-quality early childhood education to underserved families in Charlotte. 

Your 21st birthday?

Awesome.

All the ones after that?

Ehhhh, not so much.

Another year in the rearview, another gray hair, another wrinkle, and maybe a few more pounds around the waist.

But your birthday as a kid?

That was pure magic.

Unfortuantely, for thousands of Charlotte children, their birthday isn’t much cause for celebration.

For homeless and impoverished children, it’s just another day to get through.

Did you know that September has been the most popular birth month for more than 20 years? And at a time of the year when birth rates are at their peak, it is important to know that there are local organizations offering support and services to expecting and new mothers. 

This month, we are using our Spotlight Series as a platform to highlight our local nonprofit partners who offer pregnancy and newborn resources. Read below how they serve our community and check out their SHARE Charlotte profiles to see how you can get invovled. 

Ginger and Malcolm Combs were high school sweethearts in High Point. According to the Combs family, Ginger saw Malcolm bagging groceries after school one day, and the rest is history. The couple raised two children and enjoyed traveling and spending time with their seven grandchildren. They retired to Lancaster County, South Carolina to be close to family. 

“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 

Written by Amy Andrews

You may not be familiar with the name Child Care Resources Inc. (CCRI), but the organization has been a tireless force serving children and families in the Charlotte region for nearly forty years. Their singular mission? To provide access to high quality, affordable early learning and school-age opportunities for all children and workforce and child care program capacity building.

"Now I feel normal."

There's no better way to show the impact of Beds for Kids than these four words from a nine-year-old boy after his family's home was furnished by the Charlotte-based nonprofit.

We don't often think about the power of furniture, but the team at Beds for Kids knows that getting a bed, a couch, or a table is life changing. They know because they've seen it. 

written by Amy Andrews

All children in Charlotte-Mecklenburg deserve the opportunity to shine, regardless of income, background, race or zip code. This is the fundamental idea on which Leading on Opportunity was founded. 

After a 2014 Chetty study ranked Charlotte last among the top 50 cities in the US in terms of upward mobility, there was an intense desire to change the narrative for Charlotte- Mecklenburg and our children. 

Being a parent is difficult. It’s difficult when you’re a two-parent family with lots of support. And it’s even more difficult when you’re a single parent. 

Written by Sarah Taylor

Philips Academy is unlike any school in the Charlotte area.

Philips Academy serves both middle and high school students with complex learning disabilities, cognitive disabilities, and autism through their life-centered approach to education that is both remedial and practical. Their approach is backed up by the impressive statistic that 95% of graduates from their program are working, volunteering, or pursuing further education.