Education doesn’t stop after grade school or college.

Both local nonprofit, Classroom Central, and Charlotte based business, Skillpop, share a particular passion for lifelong learning. This mutual passion for education gave way to a collaboration for GOOD during this past #GivingTuesdayCLT.

Skillpop provides pop-up classes around Charlotte that make learning a new skill social, accessible, and engaging. From learning how to paint abstract floral artwork to the basics of buying a home, Skillpop provides introductory courses that teach you valuable skills while encouraging you to meeting new people in the community.

Tuesdays are kind of a big deal for Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. As a #GivingTuesdayCLT participant since year one, CIS has added valuable volunteers to its Success Coach and Social Capital Bridging programs, among others. The organization has also gained community awareness by using the #GivingTuesdayCLT toolkit that SHARE Charlotte offers to all participating nonprofits.

On this particular Tuesday, June 11, CIS joins the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community in celebrating hundreds of high school graduates, who will don caps, gowns and grins as CMS graduation week kicks into high gear.

Did you know there are an estimated 1,076,837 people who call Mecklenburg County “home”?  With native Charlotteans being referred to as “Unicorns” because they are so hard to find, it's no surprise that the majority of people who live in our vibrant city migrated here from elsewhere. Many of those people being immigrants and refugees who are resettling here for a new life and bringing their own culture and traditions to our ever-growing city.

Since the mid-1990’s, approximately 17,000 refugees have resettled in Charlotte, North Carolina. Additionally, an estimated 130,000 immigrants live in our wonderful city, making up about 14% of Mecklenburg County’s total population,

Written by Amy Andrews

Charlotte Family Housing challenges just about every preconceived notion you might have about a shelter.

They are the only nonprofit in the Charlotte area that keeps the whole family together – children, mothers and fathers – in fresh, bright, dignified spaces with an empowerment model that is central to their existence.

What does that mean? In order to qualify for shelter, parents must be employed and work with Charlotte Family Housing staff to create a budget, save a portion of their income and attend classes about financial literacy. For families with parents who are often working more than one job and still struggling to make ends meet, Charlotte Family Housing provides a much-needed path to self-sufficiency.