N OT E D. GIVING BACK Through its Building Hope 2021 fall fundraiser, Hope Renovations raised $18,665 in donations by October to support the 10-week Trades Training Program, a preapprenticeship course that aids unemployed and underemployed women who want to begin new careers in construction trades. This initiative also offers career fairs and networking opportunities to help with job placement.
WHAT WE’VE HEARD AROUND TOWN … Compiled by Charlotte Goto
October to provide housing for families with low incomes. The funding is part of a $7.75 million donation to Habitat for Humanity International through Wells Fargo Builds and will be used to build a home off of Odie Street in Hillsborough. Habitat also announced in July that the organization had received the largest gift in its history from the F.M. Kirby Foundation. The $500,000 donation will go toward building Weavers Grove, a mixed-income community on Weaver Dairy Road. Club Nova, a nonprofit that supports
the needs of individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, received a $350,000 grant from the SECU Foundation. The grant will support the construction of a larger facility on Main Street in Carrboro, which will offer community programs, educational opportunities, crisis intervention training and a career center for its participants. Hillsborough residents Rich Preyer and Marilyn Jacobs Preyer donated $1 million in October to support the latest phase of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center’s ongoing Carolina Breast Cancer Study that began in 1993. This research examines how the causes, treatments and long-term outcomes of breast cancer differ between Black women and white women. The Preyers’ donation seeks to dismantle barriers and provide effective health care for all. The SECU Family House at UNC Hospitals hosted its annual gala on Sept. 10 and raised more than $320,000 through the event, the most successful gala fundraiser to date. The proceeds are enough to fund the affordable home for families traveling to receive care at UNC Hospitals for more than 45 nights. Habitat for Humanity of Orange County
received a $15,000 grant from Wells Fargo in
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In November, Dr. Thomas J. Dakermanji of Studio G Aesthetic & Family Dentistry in Chapel
Hill donated more than 100 blankets, hand warmers, ponchos and teddy bears for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to distribute to
people in need.
WHAT AN HONOR Commissioner Sally Greene was one of
five recipients of the M.H. “Jack” Brock Outstanding County Commissioner Award. The award was presented on Aug. 14 during the 114th North Carolina Association of County Commissioners’ annual conference.
December 2021
Sally was honored for her part in the 555 Committee, with four other commissioners, five attorneys and five county managers working on the settlement to develop a memorandum of agreement on the use of the state’s national opioid settlement funds. Chapel Hillian Terry Woodfin was recognized in June for administering the most COVID-19 vaccines within the Orange County Health Department. At the
time of the award, she had given 837 shots to people in the community in 2021 to protect against the virus. At a Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education meeting on Aug. 12, Chapel Hill native Stan Vickers was honored for his family’s part in the desegregation of schools in Orange County. Stan’s parents, Lee Vickers and Lattice Vickers, won a court case allowing him to attend Chapel Hill Junior High. A short video was screened, followed by an address from Stan. Valerie Curry, a revenue collections manager with the Orange County Tax Administration,
was named the 2021 Outstanding Tax Employee of the Year on Aug. 19 by the North Carolina Tax Collectors’ Association during its annual banquet. Chapel Hill startup LiRA won first place at the Covintus Tech Tank pitch competition in August. LiRA stands for “lip-reading assistant,” referring to the organization’s focus on lip-reading technology that helps individuals with voice disorders.