this is a productionof pbs charlotte. just ahead on carolina impact. about 40 people stay at thishomeless shelter every night. coming up, we'll tell youabout a small organization that has a major impacton fighting homelessness. coming up, students geta lesson in aquaponics. i'll explain how this isall part of one man's dream to leave behind a legacy. and have you ever wonderedwhat your body looks
like from the inside? we're all thinner, i promise. and i'll prove it to by takingyou inside a special exhibit currently at discoveryplace don't go anywhere, carolina impactstarts right now. pbs charlotte presents,carolina impact. covering the issues, people,and places that impact you. this is carolina impact. good evening, thanksso much for joining us.
i'm amy burkett. when we talk abouthomeless issues we often think it's only aproblem in our urban areas but that's not the case. according to thelatest statistics, more than half amillion people were homeless on any givennight across the us. tonight carolinaimpact's, jeff rivenbark, visits a union countyshelter to learn
how a group movespeople from homelessness to self sufficiency. [music- genesis,"man on the corner"] phil collins [singing]: see alonely man there on the corner. just a few blocks awayfrom downtown monroe stands a small brick building. if you drive around back,you'll spot a number of people who call this place home. wesley keziah came to theunion county community shelter
after his life hit rock bottom. the money that came with beinga good worker just, you know, was too much for meto handle at the time. and having anaddictive personality, and trying new things. i was-- been addictedto heroin and cocaine for about nine years of my life. his addiction to drugs ledto an arrest, and eventually-- union county jail.
wesley felt desperate becausethere was no security net to catch his fall. some people just don't have thesame start as everybody else. and they don't have the sameconnections or the same group that'll lift them up. like most communitiesthroughout the charlotte region-- union county is notimmune to poverty. as executive director of theunion county community shelter,
kathy bragg can be foundgiving tours, or fund raising, or you may find her thankingcommunity volunteers. hey, guys, thanksfor being here today. everyone willenjoy this so much. in 2015, the unioncounty community shelter provided services to morethan 560 individuals, including 67 families. with the temperature in thelow 30s, on this cold february day--
can i get a mealfor you all today? barbecue chickenand all the fixings. dozens of homeless people crowdinto the shelter's dining hall for lunch. down the hall, in themen and women's dorms, there's barely enough spaceto walk between bunk beds that fill the rooms. the residents herehave minimal space to store their belongings.
imagine if everything you owncould fit inside a plastic bin. that's exactly whatthe clients have to do. and they're allstored in this closet. we have 20 men sleeping elbowto elbow in a room that's only about 520 square foot. we're preparing 47,000 mealsout of a kitchen that's smaller than your kitchen at home. while anyone in needcan get a free meal, the residents who live heremust help with the daily chores,
from sweeping tokitchen clean up. so when people thinkof a homeless shelter they think of what wecall a hot and a cot. a hot meal and a place forsomeone to sleep overnight. but here at thecommunity shelter we know that we have to tacklethis problem comprehensively. and in order todo that, bragg says it involves case managerson staff who work one on one with adult clients, helpingthem to become self sufficient.
paris toffey nowworks at the shelter but remembers when she andher children were homeless. one things for sure abouthomeless people, you know, you never can judgea book for its cover. i always dressed nice. i would go into myjob with a smile. nobody ever knew my struggle. a part-time joband two children, paris couldn't make ends meet.
it was just a struggleto think about what were we going to do next. but they were able toput paris and her children in a local motel,for a short time, until she could findmore permanent housing. each of the shelter'sclients have to meet with thecase manager weekly. we're going to take a snapshotand see what's not working, and try to addressthose pieces quickly
to get you back into housing. and then, throughour post-housing, which is 12 months, we'lladdress the bigger issues. bigger issues like substanceabuse, unemployment, or access to health care. i felt like the worldwas going to end. and, you know, just being hereis a life changing experience all around. we're always goingto have poverty
but we can put somesystems in place, and some real programming inplace that can lift people up. and perhaps they canbreak the cycle of poverty with their children. as for wesleykeziah, these days he stays busy repairing brokenpipes and plumbing problems. the shelter helped him finda job with the local plumbing company. he now has a home and ismarried and continues working
to repair broken relationships. there are somehomeless people that are just, just had a badrun with their situation. they, you know, might havehad family members die and their depression kickedin and they just couldn't function in a normal society. wesley sharescompassion for others dealing with homelessness. and he's grateful forthe people who helped
him get his life back on track. for carolina impact, i'mjeff rivenbark reporting. thanks so much, jeff. the union countycommunity shelter recently kicked off a $3 millionfund raising campaign to build a newfacility in monroe. the 20,000 square footbuilding would nearly triple the size ofthe current facility. we're going to continue ourconversation about homelessness
now. and a special guest joins me. dennis marstallis vice president of communityinvestment and impact for the united wayof central carolinas. dennis, thanks somuch for your time. we appreciate it. well, glad to be here. now you have a prettybig initiative going on
that you are trying toend veteran homelessness by the end of this year. tick tock, tick tock timesticking, how are you-- how are you doing it? well, actually really well. there's a couple of initiatives. and make sure it's acommunity initiative. i mean, so united way isjust one small player. but if you look outside thefederal government, and even
local state government,they're the biggest players in helping solvethe homeless puzzle. you're bringing in united wayresources, the faith community, other individualswho really want to help get at homelessness. but what we'vealso done is we've said, how can we look atthe different segments with differentpopulations of homeless? you have chronic, whoare long-term homeless.
you have the veteran. you also havefamily homelessness. you kind of look at someof the youth issues, those who may be in school thatare couch surfing or living in motels. so we really are tryingto systematically look at how we can look at differentsegments of the population. and i really give the federalgovernment a lot of credit. the veterans homelessnessinitiative, we really
actually did it throughthis past december. and so we're now at aplace where we can say, functional homelessness,meaning out functional zero. where we have enoughbeds, support, services for the veterans whocome in facing homelessness. so there's really an immediateservice, an immediate bed to help those veteranswho really need the help. but the biggest challengei think sometimes is you don't knowwhere they are.
they don't always selfidentify and ask for the help. and they end up on thestreet somewhere not knowing how to turn to getthe resources that they need. that's true. but we do have anamazing network of social service, healthand human service agencies in our community. one government, but reallya lot of the agencies the united way works with.
about really, iwould say, everyone that you may see thatare street homeless we do know who they are. and this whole effort toend chronic homelessness, we are working from a registryof 400 and some population that we are keeping track of. when we firstinteracted with them, when they're getting thehousing service, and how they've being stably housing.
kind of rolling them off thelist as being a success story. and so we really do have a goodhandle and a lot of services to offer those whoare street homeless. but then when you go to thosewho are living on the edge, those who may be a illness, joblayoff, or some other family crisis away from homelessness. and there's aworking poor issue. we have a lot of folks who can'tafford the long-term rent, who are doing friends andfamily, and doubled up.
and so those are the ones wereally want to try to reach. i mean that's alarger population who may not be classifiedas homeless today, but really need the assistanceto make sure they don't become homeless. and our whole goalof prevention, if we can keep people fromentering the homeless system at the shelter,or going to crisis assistance forsome other service,
how can we keepthem from staying? or how do we keep themstaying where they're at? your support network. what are some of those thingsthat you are currently doing? couple initiatives. um, one is the chronichomeless we're looking at. we said the veterans. but really we have awhole system in place now. so coordinated assessment.
we want everyone who isfacing the housing homeless crisis to go to one of threesites in our community. urban ministry center, thisis now charlotte focused. but they coordinated it so it'surban ministry center, crisis assistance ministry,and salvation army. but this has been astatewide and federal issue. so there is coordinationwhere if you're homeless in our community,or around the region, you go to one ofthese three stops.
and you get the assessmentof what is the underlying issue of your homelessness. and then, what is thebest service they can help address your underlying issue? and maybe, a shelter stayfor the night, or two nights or, three nights. it may be rapidrehousing where you do need some rental assistance. maybe just a downpayment assistance
or utility assistance. so there's somefinancial but really the whole issue iscase management. how can you get someone to sitdown, listen to your story, understand your needs, and thenconnect you to the right way? it may be mentalhealth services. it may be a health service. it may be a job training. so really looking atthe holistic needs
of the person or the familyand getting them back, connected, to getthem their supports so that they can addresstheir current crisis. let's talk about-- so we'veall been in uptown charlotte and seen the unfortunatesituation of those folks who are homeless. when, when can weannihilate that? when do we think there'llbe a day that we won't need to see that and theywill get these services
as you described? well, i hate to bethe bearer of bad news, but i would say homelessnesswill always be an issue. because those whoare homeless today will not be those whoare homeless tomorrow. meaning that those who dohave that job loss, those who have that health issue,maybe in 5 or 10 years, they may need theseservices and may end up being some of those homeless.
so there was, are weseeing this through, today? we know who they are. that's a good thing. we have nine outreach managersacross this community who have talked to those folks,who've offer them services, who give them resources. and so those who do know. and so i would say to folks,when you see those people uptown, or street corners,whatever it may be,
the best way thatyou can help someone is to get them connected toa service and to a support instead of justgiving them money. great information. dennis marstall, vice presidentof community investment we appreciate your time and weappreciate all the great work that you do throughoutour community. thank you. i appreciate the time.
next up, what wouldyou do if you found out you had less thansix months to live? that's the news ron morganreceived after he was diagnosed with cancer, back in october. while doctorsworked to help him, he laid in his hospitalbed thinking of a way to help others. carolina impact's,danielle kosir shows us he found a solutionin sustainable farming.
[music- john denver, "homegrown tomoatoes] john denver [singing]:i forgot all about the sweatin' and the diggin'every time i go out and pick me a biggin'. homegrown tomatoes. here at southiredell high school, students share in johndenver's excitement over a homegrowntomatoes and lettuce too. it's very fresh.
senior, megan parmiter,steps out of the classroom and into the greenhousefor a lesson in stem, short for science, technology,engineering, and mathematics. coming in here is excitingbecause you're like, yes, i don't have to sit at a desk. i can go pick. i can go bag. picking and planting,students also learn about sustainable foodproduction through aquaponics.
aquaponics combinesaquaculture, or raising fish, with hydroponics, which isgrowing plants without soil. so it all startswith the fish tanks. waste water from fish tanksprovides nutrients for plants. the whiteness of that rootindicates it's healthiness. the plants removenutrients from the water, sending clean waterright back to the fish. woo, those are some beasts. look at those.
the result, a zero waste systemand free food for the plants. aquaponic food isvery nutritious. it's kind oflike, unbelievable, stepping back andwatching it happen. monty, you see the ladybugs? sam fleming andmonty thompson oversee the greenhouses put intoplace by the organization 100 gardens. the nonprofit tracesits roots back to 2010
when founder, ron morgan,took a trip to haiti to help the country rebuildafter a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck justoutside the country's capital. when morgan returned,he put together a plan to help feed thevictims of the earthquake. sending hydroponic gardensfrom the queen city to port au prince. shortly after, he met fleming. the two teamed up to form100 gardens, in 2011.
the charlotte basednonprofit works to educate and empower communitiesthroughout aquaponics the organization has greenhousesthroughout the charlotte metro area and two in haiti. our plan is tobuild 100 gardens. we're on number nine right now. in october, morganfound himself in the wake of another storm,this time it was personal. doctors diagnosedhim with cancer,
offering a grim prognosis. they called him in a week laterand said, you've got 21 weeks. morgan had a goodcry, then got to work. let's see if we can't make adifference before we go out. and that's when he cameup with this aqueous one. blueprints outline thedesign for aqueous one, a state of the artaquaponics learning center with the potential toserve five schools. he's a risk taker, for sure.
he's, i think,just one great guy. john denver [singing]: up inthe mornin' out in the garden. get you a ripe one,don't get a hard one. plant them in the spring-- back at south iredell highschool, sensors in the water allows students to measurecritical parameters like ph levels and water temperature. they use cloudcomputing to share data, taking part in abigger conversation.
students at otherschools are talking with each other about systemoptimization, science, water conservation. brandy starnes says sheincorporates aquaponics into several of her classes. from animal sciences-- so where are ourpectoral fins on the fish? --to horticulture. the greatest thingabout this kind of system
is it's pretty endless on thethings that they can learn. i think that there'sa lot of aha moments when they come down here. oh, so this is how it works. for real, the plants canactually grow off the fish? if i was to geta test right now i would ace it, beingmore than hands on. students also get a lesson intime management and teamwork, learning how todivide daily tasks.
i just enjoy the experience. i mean it's funny, all of us inone place, all over the place, and it's crazy. and it's just fun tobe in an environment where it's crazy but youknow what you need to do. it's just fun. not a lot of students getto do this every day so i'm privileged. students harvest about30 pounds of lettuce
every two weeks. and what they can't use theydonate to the local women's shelter. the lettuce getsto serve a purpose and it gets to helpout the community. it makes your heart likepitter patter a little bit. having these kids beinvolved with something bigger and beyondthemselves really, really makes a big difference.
stand back. one harvest at atime, morgan hopes to leave a legacy throughthe lives of these students. using the organizationto sew seeds of wisdom. giving others the knowledgethey need to carry out sustainable food production. john denver [singing]:there's only two things that money can't buy andthat's true love and homegrown tomatoes.
for carolina impact, i'mdanielle kosir, reporting. thanks so much, danielle. sam fleming, co-founderof 100 gardens, says his friend ron morgan'slast scan showed the cancer as almost completely gone. but the side effects fromchemo have taken a major toll on his body. unfortunately, morganwas too sick to sit down with us for an interviewwhen we were there.
you can learn moreabout the organization by visiting the link on ourwebsite at pbscharlotte.org. here's a littlebackground on me, for several years itraveled across the country as a national medical reporter. so health issues have alwaysbeen near and dear to my heart. i've stood beside surgeonsas they performed everything from heart bypasssurgery to liposuction. i've always been fascinatedby how our bodies work.
and now an exhibit atcharlotte's discovery place gives everyone aninsider's look. producer russhunsinger didn't have to drive far to get totonight's one tank trip to learn more about gunthervon hagens' body walls and the cycle of life. it's really eye openingto the human body. great insight to humananatomy and biology. we are looking at plastinatedhuman bodies and human organ
systems. the cycle of lifetakes us from birth through the aging process, allthe way to end of life issues. surprised by all the detail. and the musclestructure and the bones. and just how they were ableto contort the bodies to show the different scenes. most people are never goingto see something like this. the plastination process,which is the replacement
of all bodily fluidsdown to a cellular level, with a plastinate, a polymer. so the bodies remainthe same weight but they're able tobe posed in such a way that we can see certainorgan systems that we wouldn't ordinarily see. we come to our first room, andthat is the fetal specimens and the embryonic specimens. then we move intothe skeletal system.
we move on then to startingto talk about the human brain and the nerves system itself. we go then into thecirculatory system. the embryos forfetus fascinated me. the different stages and how thebody develops over the weeks. seeing hairdeveloping and nails. we often don't getto see that stage. i thought that was veryunique and powerful. probably the most impactfulwas the smoker's lungs
and all the differentsmokers exhibits. i actually work with patientswith alzheimer dementia. so seeing the beginningprocess, and actually seeing a brain that has alzheimer's,it gives me a great point of view about the disease. this exhibit was createdbecause von hagens wanted to continue education. he thinks that peopleshould have the right to know what their bodies cando, what they look like inside.
we enjoyed bringingour children here because it's importantfor a lot of the children to know exactlyparts of the body. and this begins thestart of their journey. um, they have a lotof questions to ask. you know, it'slike a blank check. they can see the organs. there are photographson display, moving photographsof some of the folks
who have donated theirorgans and their bodies to this exhibition. we don't identify themby name, but the families felt it was importantthat we see who they are. that immediately tells you theseare people you can relate to. these were peoplelike you and me. hopes, dreams,families, full lives. and they wanted to continuethe education of the public. i think what's important aboutthis exhibition is allowing
people of all ages to comein and take a look at this and really understand,for the first time, to look inside themselves. it's something thati think everybody needs to come see becauseit can change your life and help you see healthin a new perspective. we are getting someamazing feedback. the kids arefascinated with this. at first, we were concernedthat they would be frightened
or grossed out. but the smallerchildren are fascinated. they get what's going on. they may not be able toidentify individual organs or the systems of thebody, but they certainly understand what's happening. and they love looking at it. they're full of questions. i'm hoping that he learneda lot from seeing up
underneath the skin. that it really is a part of ourbody and we need to embrace it. take care of it, youknow, remain healthy. thanks so much russ. the body worlds exhibitionis here until may 1. you can find ticketdetails on our website. well, we all have afavorite restaurant, right? and for decades, anderson's,on elizabeth avenue, was the place tobe in charlotte.
for 60 years thefamily run restaurant was a favorite among well-knowncity leaders and politicians, before it closed in 2006. while the restaurantisn't open anymore, anderson's is stillvery much in business. carolina impact's, jasonterzis, brings us its story. charlotte's newcitylynx gold line is a throwback to thestreet cars of yesteryear. some might say it's onlyfitting it passes right
by a former queen city landmark. now viva chickenon elizabeth avenue was for 60 yearsanderson's restaurant. jimmy anderson and his brothersopened the sandwich shop in 1946. wanting a signaturedessert, jimmy began selling his pecan pie andlabeled it "the world's best." he new that he wanted peopleto remember the restaurant. and he needed to findsomething that they could
identify with the restaurant. and that's kind of where "theworld's best pecan pie" came from. gary anderson started workingat his dad's restaurant as a kid, busing tablesand talking with customers. he grew up with the place. he says it was theultimate family restaurant. i think that was the key. it was just a uncomfortableplace, like being home.
we had customers that would getup and get their own coffee. they would come in the kitchenand get food if they needed it. they would pour coffee for othercustomers when we were busy. i think people just feltcomfortable in here. with its close proximityto presbyterian hospital and uptown, anderson'sbecame a who's who of regulars, from local businessleaders to local politicians. doing the cooking in thosedays was anthony jones. he's been withandersen's for 36 years.
starting as a busboy, heworked his way into the kitchen and has been cooking ever since. i learned from a lotof difficult cooks here. and i used to watcheverybody do things. and then i, you know, iwatched them do something that was looking so great. and i just come by and be nosy. and you know, i'll say,well, this looks good. and i tried it.
they come up pretty good. a couple of timesthey were a little bit off but i worked it out. after finishing college, garywent to work with his father, learning all the ins andouts of the business. jimmy had worked seven daysa week most of his life. but in 1983, he was diagnosedwith alzheimer's disease and died in 1988. a few years later,gary's grandfather
was also on his deathbed. he left his grandsonwith some lasting words. well, one thingthat he said to me was, in his veryheavy greek accent, he said, you know,he said, your dad used to talk about travelingand doing all these things and he never got to do it. he goes, don't makethat same mistake. he goes, life's too short.
and he said, you know, one dayyou're going to get married, you're going to have a family. he says, don'tcheat your family. the catering side of andersen'sbegan in the early '90s and it started by accident. a friend who workedas a drug rep was supposed to bring foodto a meeting at the hospital, he forgot andquickly called gary. he called me up and he goes,hey, man, that was great.
can you do another one for me? and that's kind of how we gotinto the catering business, by accident. it wasn't untilgary got married and started a family that hisgrandfather's words came back to him. he first started closingthe restaurant on sundays. then, saturday nights. and after thinking itover for three years,
the final decision, toclose anderson's restaurant permanently, in 2006,after 60 years in business. the hardest partof the decision was we did have agreat customer base. and i loved the interactionthat i had with people that came in here. and they were family. closing the restaurantallowed more time with family. it also allowed gary tofocus on the catering side
of the business. working out of the backpart of the old restaurant, chef anthony stillserves up everything on the original anderson's menu. fried chicken, barbecuedchicken, mac and cheese, broccoli casserole,the list goes on. and what would anderson'sbe without pies? banana pudding, coconutcream, and, of course, "the world's best pecan pie."
what makes the piesthe world's best? i can't tell you that. trade secret, right? the pecan recipe hasn'tchanged since 1959. 10 inch, extra deep, madewith pecan halves not pieces, all made from scratch. and the only guy whomakes them, chef anthony. pretty much now theyare at perfection and i'm proud to make them.
i tell ya, really. while anderson's hasevolved over the last decade, one thing has not changed sinceit first opened 70 years ago. the nice thingis that we really try to give good service. and we haven't changedhow we do things. we still makeeverything from scratch. and, you know, it's aboutservice and quality, and we continueto try to do that.
at 59, gary hasn'tslowed down a bit. and he has no desire to either. for carolina impact, i'mjason terzis, reporting. thanks, jason. anderson's has speciallymade boxes for mail delivery. they've shipped their piesas far away as alaska. by the way, jason shareda couple of those pies with our staff. i didn't even get a slice.
but i did kind ofscrape the bottom out and had a littlepiece of the pecan. and it was pretty amazing. everyone who had a slicesaid it was delicious. well, you can find more aboutanderson's on our website at pbscharlotte.org. before we go, time is rapidlyrunning out for talented teens and teachers to enter our thirdannual stem awards for 6th through 12th graders.
now the deadline to enteris less than two weeks away, march 14. you'll find all thedetails on our homepage we also want to remindyou to friend us on facebook for a chanceto win monthly prizes. i've always said there'sno such thing as strangers, you're all just friendsi haven't met before. so, please, let'smeet virtually. at least by friendingus on facebook.
well, that does it forall of us this week. we appreciate your time. thanks so much for joining us. we hope to see you backhere again next time on carolina impact. good night, my friends. [music playing] a production of pbs charlotte.
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