YWCA

I deal with families in crisis, families scrambling to adjust to new schedules and demands. When the YWCA of the Greater Triangle closed its doors, an important resource for those families disappeared -- overnight -- after 110 years. While I understand that financial realities may prohibit the YWCA from reopening, the families that it served, remain. They continue to need before and after school care for their children, so that they can work. Children raising children still need the help and education that the teen parents' program was providing. Seniors still need a place to gather and a place to get a hot meal. The vigil held this evening at the YW on Hargett Street was a moving and uplifting event. And on the theory that every little bit helps, I was happy to donate some baby products and some chilren's snacks, for the former employees to use in trying to bridge the gap between the now absent programs and whatever programs grow to help fill the need. As one of the speakers mentioned, many of the families that the Y has served have already had many upheavals in their lives. This is yet another to be weathered.

Spare Some for Autism

This afternoon I dropped in and watched as a community came together to "spare some time . . . spare some love . . . spare some hope." The Fifth Annual SSfA Celebrity/CEO Kids Bowling Challenge was held at Sparians Bowling Boutique and Bistro. In addition to raising money to help children with ASD improve their quality of life, the event was fun. Games, bowling, Italian ice and refreshments, face-painting, even an auction, made for a lively and hopeful afternoon.