For NC women, passion and service go hand-in-hand
January 24, 2011
Here are two stories about several North Carolina women who started nonprofits to meet the needs of others.
"MLK holiday inspires service to others" (From the News & Observer)
DURHAM -- As many Triangle residents spent their day off Monday doing community service projects to honor the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Sharon Elliott-Bynum, a self-described child of the 1960s, was right in the thick of things.
But as others resume daily routines today, Elliott-Bynum will pick up where many of the volunteers left off, doing what she does most every day.
The lifelong Durham resident uses her background in nursing, social work and theology to try to ensure that all in her hometown, not just those who can afford it, have access to health care, job counseling, substance abuse treatment, transitional housing, spiritual guidance and emergency food assistance.
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Elliott-Bynum is executive director of Healing with CAARE, a nonprofit organization that she and her late sister founded 15 years ago at the kitchen table. These days, their vision, inspired in part by King's "I Have a Dream Speech," has grown into a program that takes up two floors of a building on Broadway Street, near downtown, with room for expansion.
"I love Durham, and this is our way of giving back," Elliott-Bynum said Monday amid a break in the bustle. "The beauty of it, and the advantage of it, is you gain the trust of people. Trust is very important because they need to know that you're going to stay, you're not just helicoptering in..."
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"New nonprofit aims to serve new moms" (From Philanthropy Journal)
CHARLOTTE -- It was the “saddest, darkest, loneliest part of my life.” In May 2008, Emily Harry delivered a son who was stillborn at 36 weeks.
Now, she and two other women who delivered children who were stillborn or died within a few hours of birth are launching Baby Bundles, a nonprofit that provides new mothers in financial need with a bag or “bundle” of infant essentials.
With seed money donated by the three founders’ families and operating with a projected annual budget of $53,000, Baby Bundles is partnering with Presbyterian Healthcare and the Nurse-Family Partnership, a program of Care Ring.
The group in November made its first delivery, a handful of bags for the Nurse-Family Partnership, which provides support for first-time, low-income mothers. And its initial goal at Presbyterian is to serve 20 to 35 uninsured mothers a month at its main hospital, and later serve mothers there receiving Medicaid support, an expansion that would mean delivering about 200 bags a month.
Each bag, with contents valued at about $150, includes gently used and some new clothing, as well as an age-appropriate book and toy.
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