Our Members Meet the First Wednesday of the Month
NEXT MEETING WEDNESDAY 11/6
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Members meet on the first Wednesday of every month to connect, learn, and advocate. Our 2024 meeting schedule is:
11/6; 12/4
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Our meetings are hybrid - Zoom and in-person at Ascend Nonprofit Solutions building in Uptown.
December 4, 2025
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Year in Review - Member Wrap up. In-person Only.
2024 Speakers
January:
Kim Henderson, Director of Child, Family Adult Service – DSS
James Taylor, Ascend Non Profit
February
Mecklenburg County - Community Support Services | Housing Innovation & Stabilization Services
Karen Pelletier, Division Director
Pat’s Place Child Advocacy Center
Adam Levine - PPCAC’s anti-human trafficking program for adolescents
March
NAMI in Charlotte - Kate Weaver
Child Abuse Awareness Month Update
K'neadee Lester-Jackson, MSW, LCSW-A and Angelica Foster, GAL
April
OurBridge for Kids --- Sil Ganzo, Executive Director
Arriving in a new community is always difficult. Refugees and immigrants face an especially tough time when they navigate new systems. Even though Charlotte is continuously improving its support services and its accessibility, refugee and immigrant families still have a hard time connecting with the basic resources they need to reach stability, develop a sense of belonging, and thrive.
We started ourBRIDGE for Kids in response to these challenges. Our goal is to address the social service gaps in order to help newly-arrived children and families start a new, fulfilling life in the Queen City.
Safe Alliance - Survivor Resource Center --- Irene Massey - Survivor Resource Center Manager
The Survivor Resource Center is a temporary precursor for the highly anticipated Charlotte-Mecklenburg Family Justice Center, named The Umbrella Center. The Umbrella Center will be comprehensive in scope, offering a full range of services to survivors of domestic, child, sexual, and elder abuse as well as human trafficking. This center will serve as a walk-in center open to anyone who self-identifies as a survivor of abuse or victims who are referred.
May
Member Spotlight - Foster Care Awareness Month
Congregation for Kids (CFK) –
Nicole Taylor, Executive Director & Gen Bowden, Director of Programming & Development
CFK mobilizes the community to be Champions for kids in the foster care system.
CFK has four simple pathways to help you become a champion for kids in foster care: Foster. Mentor. Serve. Give.
Foster Village of Charlotte –
Becky Santoro, Co-founder/Co-director, Director of Growth & Development
June
Institute for Family – Children’s Home Society of North Carolina
Claudia Perry, Director
Institute for Family recognizes the foundational role that family plays in the lives of individuals, communities, and society. This is why we advocate for the well-being of all families. This is why we celebrate family in its many different forms.
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August
NC Legislative Update:
Tiffany Gladney, NC Child
https://ncchild.org/what-we-do/can-update/
Back to School – CMS: Update on Student Programming and Prevention for 2024-25
Anna Priester, Crisis Prevention & Response Manager & Jessica Jacobs, Crisis Prevention and Response Coordinator
Partnership with NC Child – Becoming a Children’s Advocacy Network (CAN) HUB
We are talking with NC Child about becoming the Mecklenburg CAN HUB. The Leadership team has had several meetings with the NC Child team and the New Hanover CAN Hub. Based on these conversations, we would like to recommend that we sign a contract with NC Child for our membership.
In this meeting, we will discuss the following:
What is a CAN HUB, & Why does this make sense for our group?
What does that mean for our membership/does it mean we support only NC Child’s Legislative Priorities?
How would we make it work?
September
Victor Armstrong, Suicide Prevention
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