CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Neighborhoods along the Beatties Ford Road corridor sit in the shadow of Uptown Charlotte, and this community rich in Black history has many people who have lived here a very long time.
But many of these longtime residents, who are older, are struggling to pay bills, buy food and do home repairs. That's where For the Struggle, a Charlotte-based nonprofit, comes into play. This group, which was highlighted by WCNC Charlotte's Bill McGinty in April, works to help these residents with their everyday and long-term needs.
McGinty met three people who have gotten help from the charity. All of them were eager to talk about their neighborhood, one of the last remaining communities with active ties to Charlotte's past.
"I need to be where God wants me to be, and I just knew I was in the right spot," Whitney Lumas said.
Eight weeks after sharing their stories, McGinty checked in to see how these folks are doing, and if highlighting their struggles made an impact for the charity.
“It surely has, and so thank you for covering all the important work we are doing here on the ground” said Alesha Brown, who is head of For the Struggle, and coordinates all that gets done.
“Through all the coverage you all provided, we have had so many donations coming in, and we have even formed a partnership with Target," Brown said. "Target saw the coverage and we formed a partnership with them. We have a group of men that does repairs at their various facilities in the area, and so when we have smaller repairs, those guys will come out and help us get those repairs done so we won’t have to pay a contractor to come out and do them."
One of those repairs was small but necessary in the form of a new screen door. The donations were put toward even bigger projects.
“We’ve also been able to replace a roof, a full roof replacement for an 86-year-old senior on Beatties Ford Road,” Brown said.
And the work is so appreciated by older people in the area. Small repairs like most of these are baby steps, but new partnerships are committed to keeping seniors in their homes, with dignity and without fear, knowing they can age in place, surrounded by faces they know.
“So thank you all for the coverage, because it really has impacted us in a meaningful way,” Brown said.
Contact Bill McGinty at bmcginty@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook.