National Volunteer Week. DO GOOD Week. United Way Volunteer Week.

It doesn’t matter what you call it, it matters that you get involved.

DO GOOD Week, powered by Duke Energy, and United Way Volunteer Week, presented to the community Wells Fargo, are both shining a spotlight on local volunteer needs in CLT during National Volunteer Week. April 5-13th both of our organizations will be celebrating service and rallying the Charlotte community to take action through the contribution of time and talent.

Both DO GOOD Week and United Way Volunteer Week offer multiple opportunities for community members of all ages to get involved with local nonprofits- check out the dates below to see all of the ways you can plug in and donate your time.

2019 is Charlotte's 250th anniversary (CLT250) and an opportunity for Charlotte to recognize our past, understand our present and imagine our future, together.  For SHARE Charlotte, imaging our future means supporting our local nonprofits, who play a significant role in strengthening our city.  So we invited our nonprofit partners to tell us how our community - local businesses, corporations, foundations, groups and individuals, can support their vision for CLT250.  

Lately, I have noticed more homeless women in Charlotte standing on street medians - I don’t have the data, just noticed more faces I, unfortunately, try to avoid. However, as a new friend and writer, Melissa LaCross reminded me, “Acknowledging someone’s humanity leaves space

For dignity

For grace

For growth.”

And I’ve just come across a SHARE Charlotte partner who is doing just that. My Sister’s House Transitional Living Program, which operates under the leadership of Friendship Community Development Corporation, first began at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church as an overflow shelter for the Center for Hope.

Charlotte in 1902 was a very, very different place.

No skyscrapers, no light rail, no Panthers, no greenways.

A small town with big dreams — and one organization that’s been here the whole way.

YWCA Central Carolinas has been serving Greater Charlotte for 117 years, and in that time they’ve seen first hand the exceptional change experienced here and around the country.

Through Great Depressions and World Wars, YWCA embraced those who needed it most as they worked to, “eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all people.”

For decades, they’ve been a helping hand to the hopeful and crucial ray of light for the hopeless. Offering an opportunity for a better life to those struggling the most.