PEOPLE’S PAPER FEB. 6 - 19, 2025
What began as a small group of Triad women cleaning strangers’ homes for free has become a national movement. BY SAYAKA MATSUOKA | PG. 8
TCB closing PG. 7 A transgender story PG. 12 $1 lots for housing PG. 4
CITY LIFE
THURSDAY
Disney Descendants: The Musical @ Greensboro Day School (GSO) 6:30 p.m.
Come watch the students of one of the local private schools perform a musical based on a hit Disney Channel original movie series. This event is the perfect family night. Watch the kids face light up with laughter and excitement as they sing along to their favorite songs.
Sensory
Friendly Night @ Greensboro Science Center (GSO) 5:30 p.m.
Individuals with sensory-related issues are invited to explore the Science Center after hours. The aquarium and museum will be set up with sensory backpacks and
FRIDAY
Grand Opening: Hangry Joe’s High Point Hot Chicken (HP) 11 a.m.
Come have lunch at High Point’s newest chicken joint, specializing in hot chicken. The first 100 guests will receive some cool prizes. Click here for more information.
World’s Toughest Rodeo @ LJVM
Coliseum (W-S) 7:30 p.m.
The world’s toughest wranglers and riders will be touring in a bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding
Scan the QR code to find more events at triad-citybeat.com/local-events
SATURDAY
Line Dance Bloc Party @ The Artist Bloc (GSO) 7 p.m.
Come show off your moves or maybe even learn some new ones at this line-dancing event. Enjoy signature house drinks, delicious food and music by DJ Chan. All ages welcome.
Valentine’s Couple Cake Decorating @ Uncle Cheesecake (HP) 7:30 p.m.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day early and learn new skills with your partner in this intimate cake-decorating class. This class is beginner friendly and a great option for those 6
CITY LIFE
SUNDAY
Gospel and Groove @ Country Park (GSO) 11 a.m.
Strengthen your mind, body and soul with this highenergy fitness session. Get your body moving and grooving to uplifting gospel music as you push through your workout.
Super Bowl Sunday Watch Party @ World of Beer (GSO) 5:30 p.m.
Reserve a table outside on the heated patio or inside the restaurant to watch this year’s Super Bowl game and indulge in some delicious wings (included with reservations).
minutes before deciding to get to know each other a little better. This event is open to ages 40-59.
WEDNESDAY
Feelings & Friends – Queer Speed
Dating @ Little Pep (W-S) 6:30 p.m.
It can be hard to find someone to date in the LBGTQ+ community. No need to worry though. Here is a speeddating experience catered just for you. Grab a drink and start the night with activities to break the ice before leading into opportunities to find your perfect match whether that be a new group of friends or potential lover.
13
11 9 14 12
TUESDAY
Speed Dating for Singles @ Hidden
Gate Brewing (GSO) 6 p.m.
Give the online dating platforms a break and meet 5-12 potential matches in person just in time for Valentine’s Day. You will talk to each candidate for a total of 6
THURSDAY
Galentines Mocktail Course @ GLOW Nutrition (GSO) 6 p.m.
Learn to craft an impressive mocktail from an expert mixologist for your next gathering or to incorporate into your weekday evening ritual. Raffles will be drawn throughout the event
allen@triad-city-beat.com
OF COUNSEL
Jonathan Jones
MANAGING
Sayaka Matsuoka
sayaka@triad-city-beat.com
CITYBEAT REPORTER
Gale Melcher
gale@triad-city-beat.com
Chris Rudd chris@triad-city-beat.com
AD MANAGER
Heather Schutz
heather@triad-city-beat.com
TCBTIX
Nathaniel Thomas nathaniel@triad-city-beat.com CONTRIBUTORS
Carolyn de Berry, John Cole, Owens Daniels, James Douglas, Michelle Everette, Luis H. Garay, Destiniee Jaram, Kaitlynn Havens, Jordan Howse, Matt Jones, Autumn Karen, Jen Sorensen, Todd Turner
Aiden Siobhan aiden@triad-city-beat.com
Tarot & Jazz Night – Celebrating Love & Connection @ Oden Brewing Company (GSO) 7 p.m.
Enjoy a live performance by UNC Greensboro’s Jazz Band and $20 tarot card readings. Bring your friends or significant other and find the answers to your unanswered questions about life including self-realization and relationships.
FRIDAY
Red & White Valentine’s Ball @ Galilee Missionary Baptist Church (W-S) 7 p.m.
Ages 18 and older are invited to enjoy a dinner that is said to satisfy your taste buds while listening to live music by the Candi Land Band. The ball will be open to both couples and singles looking for fellowship in a positive atmosphere, but tickets are limited.
Valentine’s Ballroom Evening Dance Class @ Best of Ballroom Dance Studio (W-S) 6 p.m.
Sweep your significant other off of their feet with the romance of champagne, chocolates and ballroom dancing. Beginners are encouraged to participate. This is the perfect opportunity to spice things and set the mood for Valentine’s Day. Secure your spot today by clicking here
Photo by Carolyn De Berry Design by Aiden Siobhan
PHOTO BY GALE MELCHER
Winston-Salem’s new homeownership project allows the city to sell vacant lots sold for $1 to build affordable housing
by Gale Melcher | gale@triad-city-beat.com
The city of Winston-Salem owns a lot of empty lots.
And in order to get that vacant land into the hands of developers interested in building affordable housing, they’re selling parcels for $1 apiece
In late January, Winston-Salem plunged into 23 degree weather.
Huddling in the biting cold on the morning of Jan. 23, city staff, contractors and clergy came together on a corner of property in the Southwest Ward formerly owned by the city. Now it’s owned by the Moravian Church, which has taken on the task of building four affordable homes there. It’s part of the Equitable Homeownership Project, an initiative bringing together the church, local leaders, government agencies and nonprofits to build new, affordable housing for first-time homebuyers making less than 80 percent annual median income.
In Winston-Salem, the median household income is $54,416 according to census data.
How did this come together?
When the church originally came to the council with their request, they asked for 19 lots. Due to their lack of experience in constructing housing, they were given four. In June 2024, city leaders unanimously agreed to sell the land to the church, handing them $160,000 in ARPA funding
assistance.
These parcels of land are some of the last $1 lots in the Southwest Ward — the only remaining plot is located across the street at 1542 Sunbridge Court.
The team made headway quickly — the Southwest Ward’s councilmember Scott Andree-Bowen told TCB that the homes look drastically different now from when he visited them in mid-December, when they were “just wood.”
On Jan. 23, a Bobcat tractor growled across the terrain, kicking up dust and gravel. Remnants of ochre dust had settled into the concrete and skeletal trees rose over the four houses, which stood stalwart in various states of completion.
The two-story, 1,500-square-foot homes come with three bedrooms and 2.5 baths, and are valued between $280,000 and $300,000. But their price will be capped at $194,500.
If the homeowners want to tack on an extra living space — an accessory dwelling unit, or an ADU — they can, thus helping them increase the value of their home. In 2022, to encourage more affordable housing, city leaders changed their guidelines for ADUs and no longer require people to seek permission from the city council in order to build an extra unit. Residents just need to meet certain conditions and get approval from city zoning staff.
This is just the first set of new homes for the Equitable Homeownership Project; they recently submitted a proposal to the city in the hopes of building 10 homes. The city still has dozens of vacant lots available, mostly on the east side of the city.
The city of Winston-Salem is selling vacant lots to developer for $1 to build affordable housing. These houses were developed with the help of the Moravian Church in the Southwest Ward.
With this project, the homes are built in an area that’s close to grocery stores, schools and places to worship, and has access to sidewalks and bus lines.
What’s the mission?
According to Neil Routh, president of the Provincial Elders Conference of the Moravian Church, the Equitable Homeownership Project is about “restoring” what Moravians have “broken.” These homes are ways for the church to make amends for past harm.
Starting in 1753, the Moravians wove a thick thread through the city’s tapestry, settling and constructing dozens of new buildings within their first 20 years on the soil. But in addition to owning slaves, the Moravians “were silent” when Black communities were bulldozed to make way for highways and “improvement,” Routh said.
Now working to rectify those past mistakes, the church is partnering with Piedmont Federal Bank to offer affordable loans to families.
“Not one single dollar” will come back to the Moravian Church, according to Routh.
“It’s a project to help homeowners stand on their own, and stand in a bond of friendship with this whole community,” he said.
Rev. Russell May with the Moravian Church and Anthony’s Plot Community, a ministry serving the city’s Sunnyside District, is another leader with the Equitable Homeownership Project.
The goal is to create “mission-driven housing,” not market-driven housing, May said.
When a family can’t own their home, that’s a loss to the community, he explained. And children can become stressed when they have to move around a lot.
“You have these family stresses that come out of this trauma of this housing crisis,” he added.
Allonda Hawkins, a real estate professional with the Hawkins Group, said that over the years, she’s grown frustrated with the lack of affordable housing in the area.
She’s working alongside families on this project, not just to help them find a home, but to help build trust, too. To that end, the project has worked to listen to people’s life stories and look at their financial records to give a chance to those who might have been passed over for a home in the past.
“The families who are going to move into any of the homes we sell are already some of the most resilient, savvy and incredible people in our community,” May said. “They have made things work and made a way where there was no way.”
They might be struggling, but when you change one thing — homeownership — May said, it “unlocks” opportunities and changes the trajectory for that family.
“Far too often, people in our communities are overlooked,” Hawkins added. “Not because they lacked the desire to own their own home, not because they lacked the ability to skip out on a Starbucks or avocado toast, but because the system wasn’t built to support them.”
Winston-Salem’s landscape was designed in part by racial covenants — deed restrictions that prevented people of color from buying certain property, and that has led to inequities in generational wealth. Block-by-block segregation and racist ordinances imposed by city leaders in the early 1900s dictated where families were allowed to live. In the 1950s, urban renewal projects pushed aside the homes of Black people to make way for Highway 52 and Business 40. Today, most of the wealthy census tracts are on the west side of the city while the poorest are to the east.
According to 2021 census data, white householders have 10 times more wealth than Black householders.
This project provides a “direct material means to begin to shrink that racial wealth gap,” local activist and pastor Paul Robeson Ford said, and gives people a chance to start building generational wealth.
“The desire to help heal the hearts of those who have been unfairly targeted is just mind-blowing,” Hawkins said.
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Triad City Beat is closing
by Sayaka Matsuoka
Hi everyone. Thanks so much for your generous support of Triad City Beat these last few weeks.
The outpouring of love has been so touching to see and reaffirms why and how this little paper has been able to keep going throughout the last decade.
Your contributions made it possible for us to continue into the first two months of 2025, ensuring our staffers got paid and allowing for the newsroom to focus on what comes next for Triad City Beat. We truly appreciate your support.
full-time for UNCG. He was tasked with making difficult life changes after a devastating car accident last year forced him to find a new job. We appreciate the years of dedicated leadership that Brian gave to this company and wish him nothing but the best moving forward.
As for our reporters, myself and Gale Melcher, there are plans in progress to keep our expertise and skills in the Triad area to continue reporting in the local community. We will give more details in the next few weeks but want to assure everyone who has supported us that we will do what we can to keep journalism alive here.
It is with a heavy but grateful heart that we are announcing the official closure of Triad City Beat.
It is with a heavy but also grateful heart that we are announcing the official closure of Triad City Beat in February. We will put out two more print issues on February 6 and 20, but after the end of February, we will cease publication on both our website and in print. We are looking to maintain our website and keep the archives up for posterity.
Despite the donations and the community support, there have been insurmountable obstacles to keeping the organization operational including lack of a business leader and inadequate future funding.
Our co-founder and publisher, Brian Clarey, resigned from Triad City Beat earlier this month and is now working
While we are deeply sad about losing TCB as an entity, we are confident that we will be able to continue to provide high-quality journalism that stays in the community. More on that to come.
To that end, we want to invite everyone who has ever supported TCB to our Last Anniversary Party which will take place at Scuppernong Books in Greensboro on Friday, Feb. 28 starting at 6 p.m.
We will be gathering to reflect on the last 11 years of TCB, share stories and hopefully shed light on where you can continue to find local reporting in the future.
We have loved working at this paper and have loved every minute of being able to serve you. Thank you so much for your support over the years. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Courtesy of NC Policy Watch
‘Hot Mess Express’ Transforms Lives — One Swiffer at a Time
by Sayaka Matsuoka | sayaka@triad-city-beat.com
When Katie Hill first moved her family from Georgia to Winston-Salem in 2019, she didn’t bring much with her—some clothes, kids’ toys, the basics. She was moving in with her sister, so she didn’t see the point in bringing more.
When her sister’s family moved out the following year, Hill decided to start with some homey touches. At first it was a little trinket she found at Goodwill. But soon it turned into anything that caught her eye. Now five years, four kids, four dogs, and two cats later, her home had become overwhelmed with stuff.
The situation was so bad that some parts of the house started to fill her with dread. Over the years her walk-in closet, once a sanctuary with a window to take some time for herself, became a dumping ground.
But where Hill saw a hopeless situation, the mothers of Hot Mess Express saw a mission.
The organization started in August 2021 when local mother and TikTok influencer Jen Hamilton saw another woman’s online post about struggling to maintain her home and asking for some help. Hamilton heeded the call, taking to TikTok to float the idea of women organizing to clean each others’ homes for free. During that first “mission,” about eight women from around the Triad helped clean the woman’s house from top to bottom. They organized her space, filled her fridge, even cooked dinner in a Crockpot. For the mother, the transformation was life-changing. For the women involved, it was both a serotonin boost and a way to give back.
“The mom was struggling with the state of her home,” said Brittinie Tran, the
organization’s president and board chair. Tran also helped clean that very first house. “She was asking for affordable cleaners. She needed help and a village. So eight of us came together for that first mission.”
The group, which now counts more than 1,600 members nationally and 109 in the Triad, is entirely volunteer. During their weekend missions, anywhere from 10 to 15 women show up to strangers’ homes armed with cleaning supplies. The organization covers some supplies through donations and an Amazon wishlist, but volunteers often bring their own.
The group became a nonprofit in 2023, funded by affiliates’ membership dues which are $60 per year. Anyone can apply to start an affiliate, which results in a four-week onboarding process complete with training workshops and financial management training.
By 2025, Hot Mess Express had 33 affiliates around the U.S., including local groups in Florida, Texas, and California. Last month, they onboarded another 80 new affiliates; this month, they’re shooting for another 300. There’s even talk of expanding to Canada.
To keep the organization sustainable long-term, Tran said that they are looking at getting a few full-time positions on payroll by raising funds. But for the recipients, the work of cleaning homes will always be free, she said.
“I feel very, very strongly that we all go through periods of our lives when we just need a little bit of help,” Tran said. “It’s normal. We’re not lazy. We’re not bad parents because we got behind on stuff. But we’ve been programmed to not ask for help.”
Hot Mess Express volunteers work to move donations and trash out of Katie Hill’s home in Winston-Salem.
PHOTO BY CAROLYN DE BERRY
Calling in Backup
Abig hurdle, Tran said, is the shame many women feel when things in their home get out of control.
“Women typically find their value in the state of their homes,” Tran said. “We’re trying to break that idea. Just because you’ve fallen behind on your home doesn’t mean you’ve fallen behind on life.”
Recent Pew Research Center and Gallup polls found despite earning as much as their male partners, heterosexual women were still spending roughly double the time on household chores and childcare than their male partners.
That’s why Hot Mess Express was founded by and is largely aimed at helping women, particularly moms.
Volunteer Kayla Henderson understands the pressure personally. She’s been with the organization since 2021, but she was first a recipient of its services—the second in the Triad.
“Moms get stuck in the care role for other people and tend to forget about themselves,” Henderson said. “And it’s like the saying, you have to fill your cup before you can fill other people’s cups. And when a mom just starts doing mom stuff, she kind of loses her identity and gets lost in the day-to-day things.”
In her case, the stuff piled up around her home and had become a physical manifestation of her cluttered life, her mind, her marriage. Getting the house cleaned was a first step toward a fresh start. She got divorced, moved to a new home, and has been able to implement organizational techniques she’s learned from other women in the group.
“Joining has helped me be able to say, ‘It’s okay that some things can be cluttered and you will get to it; don’t beat yourself up for it,’” Henderson said.
‘You’re Not Alone’
Hot Mess Express has now helped more than 30 other women in the Triad, and there are about 70 homes on the wait list currently. Anyone can nominate themselves or someone else for a cleaning.
Once someone is on the list, the group sets up a walk-through of the home and conducts an interview with the nominee to discuss their priorities. Sometimes they help clean single-bedroom apartments. Other times, they take on larger homes.
“A lot of women we help have gotten themselves into a mental block,” Tran says.
“They don’t know who to ask because they’re afraid of judgment. They may have ADHD, postpartum depression, anxiety. We don’t come with any judgment.”
Some volunteers will bring pictures of their own messy houses to validate their experience.
For Katie Hill, the issue wasn’t just that there were so many people and pets living in one house. She and her sister had been taking shifts caring for their mother, who has
had chronic health problems since the sisters were in middle school and now deals with liver and kidney ailments.
“When I started taking care of my mom, it went from 30 hours a week to, I think 78 now,” Hill said.
When she got home, she didn’t have the energy to do deep cleaning. She would try to tidy up or spot clean, but a few hours later it would just become messy again. She had reached out to a few cleaners for quotes but found it would cost about $700 to clean even a fraction of the home at that point. Her sister had told her about Hot Mess Express a few years ago. After going back and forth, Hill decided to nominate herself.
“I thought, ‘The worst they could say is ‘no,’” Hill said.
Cleaning Up, Building Community
When the cleaning team arrived at Hill’s house last Saturday morning, it was difficult even to navigate the space.
Piles of clothes covered the large couches in the living room while accumulated clutter sat on a geometric blue coffee table.
The dining table was hidden beneath plastic water bottles, snacks, kids’ toys, and pet food bowls. Boxes of unopened Velveeta, Campbell’s soup cans, and travel mugs cluttered the kitchen counters.
Upstairs, piles of clothes and toys filled the kids’ bedrooms. Hill’s walk-in closet was stuffed to the brim with items she meant to donate.
The group of about 10 women wearing purple latex gloves and armed with Windex, Clorox spray, garbage bags, vacuums, and Swiffers entered the home undeterred. While they’re all members of the Triad group, at least one had driven in from Charlotte to help. Some have volunteered for years. For others, it was their first mission. They quickly set to work.
A few started downstairs in the living room, kitchen, and laundry room while the others set out to tidy the kids’ bedrooms and Hill’s walk-in closet.
They started by moving piles of clothes, toys, furniture, and decorations outside, then sorted through to see what could be donated and what needed to go in the trash.
Over the next few hours, the pile destined for the landfill slowly grew.
At one point, a handful of the women teamed up to haul the items to be donated into a trailer that volunteer Jena Johnson, herself a recipient of their services last year, brought along.
For Johnson, the focus had been her basement. A foster parent to close to a dozen children, she and her wife had taken on caring for a young woman with special needs who had aged out of foster care. Johnson and her wife intended to convert their cluttered basement, which they had been using as storage, into a bedroom.
“Hot Mess Express came in, and they totally organized everything,” Johnson said. They cleared out the basement, hosted a yard sale, and got it ready for a contractor to
The before state of the living room, dining room and kitchen before Hot Mess Express.
PHOTO BY CAROLYN DE BERRY
The after state of the dining room and kitchen.
PHOTO BY CAROLYN DE BERRY
PHOTO BY CAROLYN DE BERRY
come renovate the space. None of that would have been possible without Hot Mess Express, Johnson said as she swept dead leaves off Hill’s patio.
Soon the team carried out a heavy wooden mirror, two coffee tables, and lamps into the trailer. Removing the clutter took about three hours, and most missions last about five. But the volunteers said they go by fast.
After a quick lunch break outside, the group started the process of deep cleaning. The sound of vacuums sucking up rocks and dirt meshed with Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” which played from a volunteer’s phone in the kitchen. In an upstairs bathroom, two volunteers got on their hands and knees to scrape what looked like hardened purple wax off the floor. First-time volunteer Whitney Snow got to work scrubbing the walls buttressing the stairs, and eventually the steps themselves.
Snow, a mom of three, said she found out about the group on Facebook.
“I just love the serving piece of it, you know?” Snow said. “Being able to serve people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to. I just think there’s something personally rewarding in that.”
While her kids are older now, Snow said she remembers being a young mother and feeling overwhelmed with the responsibilities of working and taking care of a family, pets, and a house.
“Moms have a unique understanding of what they do,” she said. For volunteers like Kellyann Pacheco, the group has been a way to find community.
“I joined because I wanted to find friends,” said Pacheco, who has been volunteering since 2021. “I wanted to do something with my time with people who have the same mentality as me.”
For Beth Cox, the organization allows her to use her skills. “I don’t have a lot of money, so time is what I have to give,” said Cox, who started volunteering six months ago.
Raneesha Collins, who has volunteered since 2021 and also serves on the group’s board, echoed the sentiment.
“My mom always volunteered a lot, and I saw her do it, so I wanted to give back in my own way for my kids to see me doing it,” said Collins, who worked to clear the pantry and organize the kitchen. “It was to be more community-minded.”
By 3:30 in the afternoon, their work was done. The pantry had been reorganized, bedding laundered—even the microwave had been wiped down.
‘I don’t know them, but I love them’
When Hill returned to the house with her kids and four dogs in tow, the volunteers waited anxiously at the threshold to see her reaction. At first she walked in slowly, setting her eyes on the openness of the living room.
“There’s so much space,” she said.
Her elementary school-aged son, who popped onto the newly bare couch, said, “You can see the windows now!”
Upstairs, the kids marveled at the emptiness of their rooms, the organization of their books, and the cleanliness of the space in front of the TV.
In her bedroom, Hill took in the way her electronics cables had been organized into clear plastic bins and the lightbulbs in her bathroom had been switched out.
But the crowning achievement was the transformation of her closet into a fresh, new sitting space. Inside, a black dish chair ordered by Hill’s sister sat in the back corner next to a side table with her record player and a candle. Her clothes had been neatly hung, her shoes organized on a new shoe rack.
As soon as the door opened, she broke down. Tears streamed down her face as she looked around at the transformed space.
“Oh my god,” she whispered softly.
The women gathered around to present her with a care basket complete with a blanket, candle, snacks, and information about other resources in the area.
It’s part of the group’s ongoing mission to ensure that their work carries on into the future. Soon, they’ll be providing online videos with tips on how to keep things clean.
On their Facebook groups, which anyone can join, members post inspirational photos and ideas for cleaning like a recent “Throw Out Thursday” in which moms were encouraged to document their decluttering process.
Recipients are also encouraged to volunteer for future missions. “We’re trying to grow a village,” Tran said.
After volunteers left, Hill reflected on the transformation.
“I didn’t really have expectations when they started, but if I did, they have done more than enough to exceed,” she said a bit tearfully. “They’ve done a wonderfully fantastic job. I don’t know them, but I love them.”
She planned on lighting a candle in her new sanctuary room and relaxing—because for once, there was nothing she needed to do.
“It doesn’t feel like my house anymore,” she said, “but in a good way.”
Mother of four Katie Hill sits in her newly organized walk-in closet that will now serve as her own sanctuary space. Before, the room was a dumping ground for items that needed to be thrown away or donated.
CULTURE
In ‘Becoming More,’ trans musician Stephen A. N. Emberley tells their story, inspires others in upcoming one-night only show
by Sayaka Matsuoka | sayaka@triad-city-beat.com
As a child, Stephen A. N. Emberley lived a sheltered life.
They grew up in New England as part of a fundamentalist nondenominational Christian household. Their grandfather was the elder for the church their family attended while their dad also served as the school’s Sunday teacher. Multiple family members served as pastors.
“My parents were extremists,” says Emberley, who is transgender and goes by they/ them pronouns. “Even within fundamentalists they were considered more extreme. Who I was, was not talked about. It really wasn’t until I moved to Greensboro that I was able to.”
That was a few years ago before the pandemic. Emberley had graduated from James Madison University and taught and performed piano in a variety of places including Australia, France and Canada. It was around that time that Emberley moved to the city that they had a personal awakening. They had the space to delve into their identity and identify what felt authentic to them.
“I had been doing research, and I learned names and words,” they say. “Having the language to know, this is me. This is what’s going on.”
That story of self discovery is now embodied in a stage performance created by Emberley and Greensboro musician Lyn Koonce. Titled, “Becoming More,” the multidisciplinary event will take place on Feb. 22 at the Congregational United Church of Christ in Greensboro and tells the story of Emberley’s life and coming-out process, but also the importance of community, love and found family.
‘Becoming More’ will premiere on Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. Doors open at 2 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased at eventbrite.com/e/ becoming-more-tickets1093816447439.
“The idea for this is to curate empathy and understanding,” says Koonce, who first started collaborating with Emberley a few years ago.
The base of the performance is rooted in choral music. As a former choral music director, Koonce worked with Emberley to pair established choral pieces with parts of Emberley’s life story. In between the performance of each song, which will be accompanied by dancers, Emberley will narrate a part of their life. Koonce likens it to the popular radio show, the Moth Radio Hour, but with song.
At the end of the event, there will be a panel discussion to talk about the importance of trans identity, acceptance and the attacks by the current administration on LGBTQ+ rights.
As has been reported nationally, President Trump has issued multiple orders targeting LGBTQ+ people. On his first day in office, he noted that the federal government would only recognize two genders: male and female. He also ended the process by which people could update their passports to their identifying genders. As a result of one of his executive orders, hospitals around the country have stopped providing genderaffirming care to queer youth under the age of 19.
The slew of targeted actions has resulted in a spike in crisis calls by LGBTQ+ people to the Trevor Project, a national hotline that helps queer people. According to a Jan. 21 release, the organization saw a record-breaking 700-percent increase in calls after the 2024 elections and a 33-percent increase on Jan. 20, inauguration day.
“People in the community are looking for hope,” Emberley says. “People who are not part of the LGBTQ+ community are looking for what to do. I think this will help people.”
As part of telling their story, Emberley says they wanted to push back against the
stereotypical, sad tale of a trans person being disowned by their family and that being the end of their story.
“I wanted to focus on the joy,” Emberley says. “I wanted to focus on what happens when you find community, when they use your name. I wanted to use this project to present that there is a before and after. That there is a path forward after these things; that there’s community for you.”
To put the show together, the duo is fundraising, aiming to raise about $20,000 to help pay the 30 or so musicians and dancers who have come together for the performance. They have a fiscal sponsor through the Guilford Green Foundation, Greensboro’s LGBTQ+ center, and are still looking for more financial support from area institutions.
Because the performance is one night only, Koonce and Emberley hope that anyone who is curious about the topic will attend.
“We want LGBTQ+ youth, allies, people who are just curious and want to know more,” Koonce says.
And it’s not just for people who identify as queer or not know someone who is. The story is relatable to anyone, Koonce says.
“This performance art piece is centered around Stephen’s story, but as Stephen has said, we’ve all felt othered,” Koonce says. “We’ve all felt not good enough. This production speaks to us in that way. It’s a salve where we don’t feel alone.”
And being on the other side of alienation and isolation, Emberley wants this performance to act as a reminder that there is good and hope in the world, and that things are always evolving. They ground themselves in the work of their ancestors, particularly LGBTQ+ activists who paved the way for the rights held by others today. That’s why the title is the way it is.
“We’re all becoming more,” Emberley says. “There are all the things that I was told I was supposed to be. But we don’t stay stagnant as humans. We’re always slowly turning into the person we hope to be…. And if there’s one thing that I hope for myself, it’s through love, we’ll continue to grow and all become more.”
Local musicians Lyn Koonce and Stephen A. N. Emberley have teamed up to create a show that center Emberley’s transgender identity.
PHOTO BY LYNN DONOVAN
SHOT IN THE TRIAD
BY CAROLYN DE BERRY
West Market Street, Greensboro
February morning in America.
PUZZLES & GAMES
Across
by Matt Jones
CROSSWORD SUDOKU
by Matt Jones
1. Classic auto, for short
6. Pancake order
11. Keeps in the loop, in a way
14. In ___ fertilization
15. Ali’s boxing daughter
16. Panama, e.g.
17. Easter egg found within a subway system?
19. Former Notre Dame coach Parseghian
20. Nonspecific number
21. Mauritians of long ago
22. Bashful coworker?
24. Sidekick
25. Puts down on paper
26. Herb specifically designated for a tomato sauce?
32. Makes level
33. 2000s corporate scandal
subject
34. Spit some bars
37. Scan the print
38. Notions
39. Circle dance at some weddings
40. Onetime Dirk Benedict costar
41. Ordinary
42. Ring-collecting Sega character
43. Atypically sunny weather at the highest peak of the Alps?
46. Donnie ___, 1997 Johnny Depp role
48. Surprised cry
49. Not as frequent
50. “Let’s Make ___”
53. ___ Lankan
56. Media attention
57. Short break from reading fables?
60. Bronze, for one
61. Cliched
62. Adjusts accurately
63. Badminton divider
64. Clear, as a whiteboard
65. Striped equine
Down
1. “Severance” rating
2. “Muy ___”
3. Teensy
4. Telugu-language 2022 movie that was big in the U.S.
5. Thingamabobs
6. Wheelless vehicle
7. Salsa holder
8. Pretentious manner
9. Progressive Field team, on scoreboards
10. “Agatha All Along” star Hahn
11. Book opener?
12. “___ diem”
13. Lingers
18. Without help
23. Goal
24. Fishing hole
25. “___ gonna tell them?”
26. Long-lasting hairstyle
27. Walkie-talkie signoff
28. Place to stake out some steaks
29. Do the audio again
30. Shaq’s surname
31. Cheery refrain
35. Operatic performance
36. Agreement
38. “It ___ laugh”
39. Ding Dong alternative
41. Remove from a large container
42. “The beer that made Milwaukee famous”
44. Sugary suffix
45. Baumbach who frequently works with Adam Driver
46. “Family Guy” dog
47. Grazing area
50. Continent with the longest coastline
51. They may get connected
52. Fencing sword
53. Concertgoer’s souvenir
54. Someone sorry
55. “Insecure” actress Rae
58. Need correction
59. Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys ___ Back in Town”
© 2025 Matt Jones
Thu 2/06
King's Highway Band: Oak View Baptist Church @ 6:30pm Oak View Baptist Church, 810 Oakview Rd, High Point
Cashavelly at GasHill @ 7:30pm
The Ramkat & Gas Hill Drinking Room, 170 W 9th St, Winston-Salem
Fri 2/07
The Eternal Rave and the Life Abundant @ 7pm
It is the �rst Friday, so Gallery Hop and Trade Street will be closed down. It is going to be a party with drinks and a DJ and of course, some of the coolest art you have ever laid eyes on! Delurk Gallery, 207 West 6th Street, Winston-Salem. danielumlauf@ gmail.com, 336-406-8512
BandemicGSO: Joymongers First Friday @ 7:30pm Joymongers Brewing Co., 576 N Eugene St, Greens‐boro
Sat 2/08
Dragon's Hoard 2Year Celebration Event!
@ 10am
Celebrate Dragon's Hoard's 2nd Anniver‐sary all weekend long! Dragon's Hoard, 4645 West Market Street, Greensboro. sherri@dragon shoardnc.com, 336-617-5668
Housewife @ 7:30pm
Hoots Beer Co., 840 Mill Works St, Winston-Salem
Relay Relay: Little Brother Brewing @ 8:30pm
Little Brother Brewing - Greensboro, 348 S Elm St, Greensboro
Sun 2/09
Nia Allen: SUPER SUNDAY at Evangel @ 10:30am
Evangel Fellowship Church of God, 2207 E Cone Blvd, Greensboro
GREENSBORO to BROADWAY; UNCG
Musical Theatre Student Cabaret @ 2pm / $16-$16
The Virginia Somerville Sutton Theatre at Well·Spring, 4100 Well Spring Drive, Greensboro
Abigail Dowd @ 4pm
Scuppernong Books, 304 S Elm St, Greens‐boro
Down East Boys @ 6pm
Grace Baptist Church, 2008 Fairfax Rd, Greensboro
Wed 2/12
Date Night @ 6pm / $63.04
Reto's Kitchen, 600 South Elam, Greensboro
VMI Keydets at UNC Greensboro
Spartans Mens Basketball @ 7pm
First Horizon Coliseum, 1921 W. Lee Street, Greens‐boro
Soulful Sounds in Greensboro! @ 8pm / $30
Amber Allure, 2300 W Meadowview Rd, Greensboro. info@acutein�ections.com
Thu 2/13
ACCHL M2 Elite 1st Round @ 7:30pm / $20
Winston-Salem Fairgrounds, Winston Salem
Fri 2/14
Glasswaves
@ 7pm
Hangar 1819, 1819 Spring Garden St, Greensboro
Tim Elliott @ 9pm
Village Square Tap House, 6000 Meadowbrook Mall Ct #16, Clemmons
Sat 2/15
Geeksboro MarketMystic Masquerade: Love, Loot, & Legacy @ 10am
Mardi Gras of Magic: Dragon’s Hoard Turns Two! Geeksboro Mar‐ket, 4645 West Market Street, Greens‐boro. sherri@dragonshoardnc.com, 336-617-5668
Canadian Brass with Piedmont Wind Symphony!
@ 7:30pm / $35.22
Wait Chapel, 1834 Wake Forest Road, Winston Salem
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Canadian Brass Performance with the Peidmont Wind Symphony @ 7:30pm
Wait Chapel, 1834
Wake Forest Rd X, Winston-Salem
Sun 2/16
Broadway in Love @ 2pm
Well-Spring Theatre, 4100 Well Spring Dr, Greens‐boro
Canadian Brass Performance at Univ. of North Carolina School of the Arts in Watson Hall in Winston-Salem, NC. @ 7:30pm
University of North Carolina School of the Arts, 1533 S Main St, Winston-Salem
Tue 2/18
MJ (Touring) @ 7:30pm / $49-$289
Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts, Greensboro
Wed 2/19
Charleston Southern Buccaneers at High Point Panthers Mens Basketball @ 7pm
Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena, 1050 Panther Drive, High Point
Tall Tall Trees @ 8pm
The Ramkat & Gas Hill Drinking Room, 170 W 9th St, Winston-Salem
Calendar information is provided by event organiz‐ers. All events are subject to change or cancellation. This publication is not responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in this calendar. The best place to promote your events online and in print. Visit us @ https://triad-city-beat.com/local-events powered by
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