Groovin’ for a Greater Good at Groove Jam V: Sept. 17 festival at Doodad Farm

by Amy Minnick

   With the current state of the country one of division and turmoil, Rich Lerner and The Groove along with other local musicians and dedicated volunteers are hosting a day of music bringing the triad people together to support a local cause.  The upcoming music festival Groove Jam V will feature many well-known local bands bringing rock and roll, blues, Americana, folk and acoustic music together to benefit Greensboro Urban Ministry. Greensboro Urban Ministry’s long, impressive history of helping people “dig out” of their crisis and “return to stability as quickly as possible” impressed Lerner and his team, who’ve seen many lives changed permanently through the efforts of this organization.

“Greensboro Urban Ministry has been around for a long time offering consistent, effective resources to our local neighbors in need. They do more than just help in the moment. They provide the tools and resources to change the direction of people’s lives forever,” explains Lerner. 

    As a Greensboro resident most of his life, Lerner started mulling over the idea of using music to give back some six years ago after speaking with Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers Band, The Dead, Gov’t Mule, etc) about his Asheville Christmas Jam benefiting the local Habitat for Humanity. Lerner, with decades of local and national musical connections, felt confident he could put something similar together on a smaller scale benefiting the triad area. 

So, in 2012 Groove Jam hosted its first music festival and attendance, band participation and enthusiasm have since exploded. 

    “This event is meant to provide a very enjoyable day of local music, while benefiting our neighbors in need.” states Lerner. “The location, the line-up and the two-stage set up deliver a great vibe and unique experience for everyone.”

The Sept. 17th festival at Doodad Farm will feature live music starting at 1pm and will include performances by Rich Lerner and The Groove, Gooseberry Jam, the Mighty Fairlanes, Bump & Logie, Ladies Auxiliary, Sinai Mountain Ramblers, Midnight Sun, Peas n Karrots, CC3, and Benjy Johnson. There will be a variety of vendors, food trucks, and game activities on site. Coolers are welcome and there is plenty of room for camping. The admission is a suggested $10.00 donation and festival goers are asked to bring nonperishable food items for the local food bank.

    Lerner and his festival volunteers are hoping to beat last year’s donations of $10,000 and 1400 pounds of food. With more bands, more sponsors (including YES! Weekly and Buchanan Printing and Graphics) and more people attending, the team is confident this year’s donations will blow the roof off the 2015 totals. 

    So consider this your personal invitation to be a part of something fun, enjoyable and charitable - something that’s bringing people together - Groove Jam V. 

Doodad Farm is located at 4701 Land Rd just off McConnell Road exit from I 40/85. (Turn right on Hooting Holllow Road and turn right on Land Road) For more information or volunteer opportunities, call Rich Lerner (336) 314-3336 Website: groovejamgreensboro.com.

Greensboro Urban Ministry Names New Executive Director

Rev. Myron W. Wilkins

Wilkins brings experiences as social worker and pastor to agency lead role

"GREENSBORO – The Rev. Myron W. Wilkins, trained social worker and minister, will become the new executive director of Greensboro Urban Ministry, the Board of Directors announced today.

Wilkins, 56, who currently leads a church in Chattanooga, has been a leader in the faith and nonprofit community for 20 years. He has lived and worked in several regions of the United States, opportunities that have built a broad knowledge of the obstacles to prosperity many people face across the country and effective strategies to create hope and help for people in need.

“We are so fortunate to have Myron Wilkins’ experience and expertise as we begin a new chapter of leadership here at Greensboro Urban Ministry,” said Board Chair Bonita Porter. “His background is rich and his vision is inspiring, and we all look forward to working with him. We have had 30 years of excellent leadership with Mike Aiken, so it was extremely important to all of us that we find someone who will carry on that dedication.”

Wilkins was born in Philadelphia. He earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from West Chester University and a master’s degree in social work from Temple University. He served as a housing advocate for individuals and families facing displacement and as a county child protective services social worker.

As a pastor, Wilkins has traveled and spoken extensively. Since 2009, he has served as senior pastor of Hixson First Baptist Church, a 600-member congregation in Chattanooga. He is an ordained minister in the North American Baptist Conference.

“As a product of the inner-city, I have a great love, passion and burden for urban America,” Wilkins said. “In recent months, while serving in my pastorate, the call to do more in service to people impacted by poverty, homelessness and other life-dominating challenges has greatly intensified for me. I believe that my deep and abiding faith, and personal journey through urban poverty, combined with my experience as a pastor, social worker, and nonprofit executive, will empower me to serve well as the next Executive Director of Greensboro Urban Ministry.

The board’s search committee spent more than a year working with executive search consultant Elinvar of Raleigh and staff to determine who the agency’s next leader would be.

“We were fortunate to have a field of terrifically talented candidates to work with. Myron in the end was our first choice because of his approach to building teams, organizations and people to create success,” said Craig Siler, search committee chair and incoming board chair.

Wilkins will begin his new role officially on June 1. He will work closely with current Executive Director Rev. Mike Aiken during this transition.

“I would like to congratulate Rev. Wilkins and welcome him and his family to Greensboro. I look forward to meeting him and working with him to ensure he gets settled in and gets to know the wonderful men, women and children we serve, as well as the many caring people we work with to help those in need,” Aiken said.

About Greensboro Urban Ministry:

Since 1967, Greensboro Urban Ministry has expressed the love of God to people in need through practical action in the greater Greensboro area. Last year, the agency:

·         Provided emergency assistance to 2,241 households

·         Sheltered to more than 1,500 individuals and 54 households

·         Served more than 38,700 breakfasts, 152,000 lunches and 37,800 dinners at Potter’s House Community Kitchen

·         Received more than 1.19 million pounds of food and provided 22,942 food assistance bags

To learn more about Greensboro Urban Ministry’s programs, please visit our website, www.greensborourbanministry.org."

- A Press Release

Working to End Homelessness: The IRC and GUM

Local Groups Work to End Homelessness in Greensboro

"Guilford County is home to one of the two largest pockets of concentrated poverty in North Carolina. Greensboro Urban Ministry (GUM) and the Interactive Resource Center (IRC) are critical allies stabilizing those in crisis, providing different and essential services.

On any given night, there are approximately 900 people experiencing homelessness in Greensboro. This means that every single night there are more people experiencing homelessness than there are available shelter beds.  While always a concern, this situation becomes critical when the temperatures drop to life-threatening levels.

This winter, the IRC—a day resource center—has created additional shelter space on these dangerously cold nights.  The IRC does not have the funding to cover this additional service to the community. To help the IRC deliver this service, GUM is contributing $620 to the IRC for each night of overnight shelter provided, or roughly half the cost of the operation. “Both of our agencies are committed to protecting our most vulnerable neighbors,” says the Rev. Mike Aiken, Executive Director of GUM.

For more than 50 years, GUM has provided supportive services to help people help themselves in their struggle to break the cycle of hunger, poverty and homelessness.  In 2014, GUM provided overnight shelter to more than 1,500 clients in the Weaver House and in the GUM-operated Winter Emergency shelters. The agency served more than 200,000 meals, collected and distributed more than one million pounds of food, and provided emergency financial assistance to more than 2,200 households. More than 88 households and 117 individuals were re-housed and supported with case management through GUM programs.

The IRC serves over 200 people a day through their regular day operations. The IRC provides critical services including access to medical care, showers, laundry, mail services, a computer lab, jobs programming, educational classes, as well as serves as an incubator for community led programs to address poverty.  When the night shelter opens, the small IRC staff is flexed to operate a 24-hour facility. “It is a matter of heart and conscience that has caused us to go beyond our primary mission of providing essential day services and open as an emergency night shelter.  There is a population in Greensboro that has no place to go at night and while that is always difficult, this weather makes sleeping unsheltered life-threatening,” says IRC Executive Director Michelle Kennedy. “We have to open.”  The IRC adopted a “white flag” approach this winter, making overnight shelter available to anyone who needs it when the temperature drops below 25 degrees. 

We ask that the community take time to better understand the issues contributing to the rise in poverty in Guilford County and to support the efforts of GUM, the IRC, and other similar organizations to build a stronger community."

- A Press Release

Bike to e-Race Hunger and End Homelessness

Charles Broadway and Bill Connor

"One day, two riders, 230 miles.  On Thursday, June 12, beginning at three o’clock in the morning, two long-time volunteers and members of the Greensboro Urban Ministry Board of Directors will make the 230 mile bike trip from Greensboro to Wrightsville Beach to raise awareness for the organization and raise funds for its operations. 

Charles Broadway and Bill Connor, who both volunteer weekly at Greensboro Urban Ministry serving breakfast to the 100 individuals staying in the on-site Weaver House Night Shelter, wanted to do something different to raise awareness.  Long-time bicycling enthusiasts, the two have made the trip several times in the past, but not within the last 10 years.  They both felt that, with needs increasing in the summer, now was a good time to make the trip again and raise funds in the process.

As school lets out for the summer, support for Greensboro Urban Ministry becomes even more necessary as many children will come with their parents to our Potter’s House Community Kitchen to eat.  The demands on our Pathways Family Center will also increase. With more than 2,600 homeless children in Guilford County, many families stay with friends and family.  When children are out of school and around the house, more tensions rise, and these families are forced to seek alternative housing. They turn to Greensboro Urban Ministry for help, support, and encouragement.  Through their bike ride, Charles and Bill hope to raise funds to help meet these increased summer demands.

Contributions may be sent to Greensboro Urban Ministry, ATTN:  Bike Ride, 305 West Lee Street, Greensboro, N.C. 27406."

A Press Release

Another food stamps glitch hits families in need

What is going on with food stamps?

Mike Aiken, the executive director of Greensboro Urban Ministry, said today that the number of families seeking emergency food from his agency shot up to 93 in a day, up from an average of 47 per week. This after a computer glitch in the food stamps program for Guilford County.

"Departments of social services across the state are manually entering data multiple times, thus causing backlogs and many [are] seeing delays in receiving food stamps," he wrote. "Greensboro Urban Ministry was already having great difficulty in collecting enough food to serve those coming to our doors due to the fact that extended unemployment benefits for 12,000 Triad families ended July 1." 

We just wrote about the same thing in Forsyth County last week. And in Guilford County in July 2012.

Is it really that complicated?