Kerr Tar Workforce and NCWorks

TownTalk: NCWorks NextGen Program Helps Young Workers On Career Path

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The NextGen program that operates in the five-county area as part of NCWorks offers young adults support and help in the search for gainful employment, but they get much more than just the hope of a paycheck.

Helen Bradby, NextGen’s director, shared information about the program on Monday’s Town Talk and told John C. Rose about the NextGen’s successes. She and Desiree Brooks of Kerr-Tar workforce development board discussed just how NextGen and NCWorks work to connect job seekers with employers.

NextGen serves ages 16-24 who face at least one barrier to employment, from being homeless or having a criminal background to not having a high school diploma, being pregnant or a parent.

Brooks said the object is to help youth not only find a job, but to help them find a career.

Example: a young man from Warren County needed first to get his GED before he could continue on the path to employment. NextGen placed him in an on-the-job training assignment while he was completing his GED and as of last month, he is a permanent employee. “He’s making some good money,” Bradby added.

This particular “customer,” as Bradby refers to all those prospective employees that participate in the NextGen program, had some work experience, but he needed a few months of training to bring him up to speed, she said. NextGen provided 75 percent reimbursement to the employer for the employee’s wages during that time. That’s a win-win for the customer who gets placed in the job and for the employer who needs someone to do the work.

NextGen focuses on four career pathways that show promise of growth in the area: advanced manufacturing, informational technology, construction, and health care.

And while her program focuses on youth employment, Bradby emphasized that her program is keenly tuned in to the area’s businesses and employers, who serve as valuable partners and hire workers who come from NextGen.

“Send them to us, Helen, we can teach them,” is what she said she hears from employers in the area. Bradby said the employer partners can trust that the individuals NextGen sends to them have the willingness or the ability to learn new skills, even if they don’t already possess them.

The past program year proved challenging, Bradby said, but the new program year that began July 1 promises more and better opportunities for those who need a job and for those who need workers.

“This is not a cookie cutter program,” Bradby said. Every customer is evaluated individually. “We’re going to sit down with you and create a plan,” she said. The plan includes an educational goal and and employment goal, and there are detailed objectives to support achievement of the goals.

One person’s first step may be to complete a GED, while another may need help creating a resume. NextGen’s main purpose is to do what is needed to reach a customer’s goals.

Often, job-seekers in this age group need to be prepared for what an interview will be like. Employers are looking for workers with that set of “soft skills” such as politeness, listening and communication skills and time management.

“They want someone who’s going to actually show up” for work, Bradby said.

The employer partners are vital to the success of the program, Brooks said. “We are not a one-man show,” she said. Vance-Granville Community College and Piedmont Community College, along with the economic development corporations and the chambers of commerce all provide valuable support to NCWorks and the Kerr-Tar COG. Everybody is working toward that same goal of employing workers and getting them off on a career path that will provide them with a sustainable wage that will allow them to support their families.

Like the Vance County mother of one child who came to NextGen for help getting her nurse aide 1 credential. She did that at VGCC, passed her state exam and then returned for additional certification for medication aide credential. She now is employed full-time at Duke University Hospital, and receiving excellent benefits.

“That is exactly what a career path is,” Bradby said. This customer had several steps on her career path – to get one certificate and state credentials, then move along her career path to her goal of full-time employment. And that is exactly what NextGen is set up to do.

To learn more, visit https://nccareers.org/ncworks-nextgen-program or call 919.693.2686.

For complete details and audio click play.

 

TownTalk: Granville County Celebrates 275 Years

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Question: What was the largest town in Granville County in 1880?

Answer: Henderson.

It’s not a trick question, but unless you’re a local history buff, you may not know that for about 135 years, a good part of Vance County was, well, in Granville County, as were Warren and Franklin counties.

Present-day Granville County residents are preparing to celebrate the county’s 275th anniversary with a day-long event at Granville Athletic Park. About two years in the making, the celebration has something for everyone, according to planning committee members Mark Pace and Chair Sue Hinman. They joined county tourism director Angela Allen on Thursday’s Town Talk to talk about the exciting details with John C. Rose and Bill Harris.

“This is truly a celebration,” Allen said, of the county’s history, its progress, its resources – all the great things that make Granville County what it is today.

The GAP will be filled to overflowing with activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the whole family to enjoy. Balloons and clowns and games and music, to name a few, Hinman said. At 9 a.m., there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open Phase III of the GAP, which contains new tennis courts and an inclusive playground.

Hinman, chair of the county commissioners board, said she is excited to be a part of the celebration and to be able to spread the word about the county’s 275th anniversary.

Allen said the park will be filled to overflowing with everything from live music to bouncy houses for the kids. Visit www.granvillecounty.org/275th to find a complete schedule of events.

At the sports pavilion, attendees will find a variety of resources where they can learn about the cities, towns and communities in the county.

Also available is a book written and compiled by local author Lewis Bowling. Looking Back: 275 years of Granville County History will be available for purchase, and Bowling will be on hand to sign copies, Pace said.

Of the hundreds of books that have been written about Granville and the surrounding areas, this is a “complete narrative history,” Pace said. “And this is the first one of Granville County,” he added. Among the 300 pages of the coffee-table style book are many never-before published photographs that capture Granville County’s past.

At 10 a.m., an opening ceremony will kick off the event, with presentation of colors and remarks from local dignitaries. After that, Allen said it’s time to enjoy live music in the amphitheater, food from a variety of vendors and even visit an outdoor classroom space where folks can learn about such things as the history of tobacco in the area as well as where the walking trails in the county can be found.

The Granville-Vance Health District will be on hand for COVID-19 testing as well as COVID-19 vaccines, Allen said.

The committee was formed and began planning before the pandemic, and Pace said, to be honest, there were times during the planning process when the group didn’t know whether the celebration would be able to take place at all. Allen said the committee members come from across the county and all municipalities are represented.

“It’s a great mix of community pieces,” she said. “We wanted to make this as inclusive as we possibly could.” The celebration represents the thought that went into the planning process.

Until the original county was carved up into the four counties we know today, Allen said she has learned through planning for this event that Granville County was truly a hub for the state. She said it is great to be able to “live, work and play in a community that already has a reputation of bringing people together.”

Today, about 60,000 people call Granville County home. Back in the late 1780’s, when it was just more than 40 years old, there were about 6,500 residents, and one of those residents was John Penn, North Carolina’s only signer of the Declaration of Independence. Penn died in 1788, but chances are slim to none that he ever ate a funnel cake or enjoyed a sno-cone. Visitors to the GAP next Saturday, however, could glimpse such an anachronistic sight – sort of.

Mark Pace will portray Penn during the event, sharing stories and insight from a time more than 200 years ago. And who knows? Maybe he’ll wander over to the sno-cone stand to see which flavor he prefers.

For complete details and audio click play.

 

Town Talk: Local Furniture Store Celebrates 20 Years In Business

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Downtown Henderson has been home to a number of furniture companies over the years, and Britt Sams, owner of Sams Furniture & Mattress Center, has been counted among that number now for the past two decades.

The furniture and mattress store at 515 S. Garnett St. is celebrating 20 years of business this year, and Sams spoke with John C. Rose on Town Talk Wednesday about loyal customers, downtown revitalization and how he made a career in the furniture business.

And he used his “indoor” voice, not his trademark “on-air” voice that listeners are used to hearing describe the sales and special discounts on radio commercials.

In 1986, Sams began at Star Furniture and worked his way up from sales and the warehouse to doing most of the advertising for 29 stores. “I believe that you have to continuously get the word out,” Sams said, because “not everybody listens at the same time and not everybody buys at the same time.”

When Star closed in 2000, Sams decided to stretch his entrepreneurial wings and start his own business. The former Penny Furniture Co. building was available, and Sams said “when I saw the store at 515 was available…we all just made it click and made a go at it.”

Now, 20 years later, Sams reflects on his years of doing business on Garnett Street. He said local merchants and retailers are working hard to bring shoppers to visit – and spend – downtown. Sadie’s Coffee Corner has drawn a lot of traffic and interest to the area, he said, and the local Chamber of Commerce and downtown development group are big supporters of downtown revitalization efforts.

The downtown area has been good, he said, “but now more than ever it has the potential to grow” as others look at downtown Henderson to open businesses. One such property is located just behind Sams’ store in the former Falkner Coal Yard. There’s a lot of work going on back there, he said, and plans are to make the space a restaurant and brewery.

Downtown development and revitalization go a long way to bring customers to local shops and stores to spend money. But Sams said his store enjoys a lot of repeat business because of the “top of the game” service he offers. He said his showroom floors are full and he can deliver in 1-2 days, not months from the time the sale is made.

“Small- town furniture stores still provide the best service,” Sams said. “It’s that friendliness that we give back to our customers (that) makes people come back to us.”

(For full details click play.  This is not a paid ad.)

Maria Parham Health

Rehab Can be a Key to Better Health

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Just a half hour of exercise five days a week – that’s 150 minutes total – can be just what we need to reduce the risk of an adverse health “event” and Chris Cole said we owe it to ourselves to get those heart rates up to become the best version of ourselves possible.

“We all need to be physically active. We can all do that. It’s going to lower your risk of dying early by 30 percent or more,” Cole told John C. Rose on Tuesday’s Town Talk. He said in addition to aerobic exercise, we should also adopt a resistance training program two days a week to build strength. The two activities combine to create a one-two punch against health problems.

Cole, a clinical exercise physiologist at Maria Parham Health’s rehabilitation clinic in Henderson, works with patients who already have had one of these “events” – whether heart attack, respiratory ailment or other chronic condition  – get back on the road to recovery. He talked about ways to prevent health problems, reduce risk and improve quality of life.

He and the rehab team, which also includes physicians, nurses, therapists, a clinical psychologist and a nutritionist work with patients to put together a plan tailored to the individual.

Through exercise or activity counseling, he said he tries “to get an individual to adopt physical activity in a way that’s going to reduce their risk” for future health problems. “I try to get people to their best physical shape, no matter how they show up to me.”

A big chunk of his work is during Phase 2 of a 3-phase rehabilitation plan, mostly for cardiovascular patients. Phase 1 occurs while the patient is still in hospital, usually 24-48 hours after a cardiovascular surgery. Phase 2 is an out-patient program lasting 12 weeks, during which patients come in three times a week, he said. Phase 3 patients are in maintenance and are continuing the program independently, “taking lifestyle changes into their own hands.”

Others who come to the clinic have peripheral artery disease, or PAD. Unlike coronary artery disease, which is artery disease around the heart, peripheral artery disease presents as pain in the areas like the calf or buttocks and makes walking painful.

It’s a lack of oxygen to the muscle that creates the problem, and the rehab clinic’s job is to help patients increase the distance they can walk without pain.

“If we can take 100 feet and turn it into 100 yards” that people can walk pain-free, it’s a good thing. In fact, he said patients, on average, have had a 452 percent increase in their walking distance, which Cole said is substantial.

The clinic has seen a few patients with long COVID, for whom recovery has been slow and who face overall fatigue. Interestingly, those clients are below the age of 65, the opposite of the clinic’s normal clientele. Cole said those “long-haulers” have had a 100 percent return to work rate after working with the rehab clinic team.

In an effort to try to get people to be more proactive about warding off health problems, the rehab clinic began a preventative program. “We were always reacting to a problem,” Cole said, so doctors can refer a patient with certain risk factors to participate. Although insurance will not pay, the cost is $4 a day, less than some gym memberships, he noted.

The patient has access to exercise experts, the team of medical professionals and are covered by a supervising physician. This team can evaluate and make suggestions for patients to reduce their risk for major health problems. “It’s a very effective program,” Cole said.

Barriers to services, including transportation, cost and lack of insurance coverage, can also be overcome, thanks to an endowment fund that is available to help cover costs.

“If you have risk factors, don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor,” Cole said. “We’ve got things that we can do to get you here.”

To learn more, call 252.436.6395.

(This is not a paid ad.  This is not medical advice.)

For complete details and audio click play.

 

Town Talk: Carolina Weight Loss Centers Support Clients As They Make Healthy Lifestyle Changes, Lose Pounds

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There is no secret to weight loss – it’s a simple matter of consuming fewer calories than your body burns. But if the answer is as simple as that, why is it so darned difficult to do?

Diane Varnadore, a nurse practitioner and director of Carolina Weight Loss in Henderson, said her medically assisted weight loss program takes a holistic approach that can help clients achieve their goals, with some added benefits, to boot.

“Most people cannot lose weight unless they have someone to help and guide them,” Varnadore said, adding that her center offers clients access to professionals who are passionate and dedicated to that mission makes a big difference.

Carolina Weight Loss centers offer ways to make lifestyle changes – “this is not a crash diet – it’s not a fad diet,” she said.

There are now 10 Carolina Weight Loss offices – the closest ones are here in Henderson, with centers in Oxford and Warrenton, too, Varnadore told John C. Rose on Monday’s Town Talk program.

The initial consultation fee is $100, and medical professionals create a meal and activity plan based on information about family history, medications and lifestyle. The low-fat, low-calorie meal plan has added benefits of lowering cholesterol, and can also help lower blood pressure and blood sugar, Varnadore said. Clients who join for  $100 a month come in weekly for check-ins and other services that the center provides.

“The biggest thing is to get the patient on board with the diet and then we see them weekly,” she said. “Ideally, everyone wants to see their weight go down,” but increased exercise builds muscle, which weighs more than fat. Carolina Weight Loss uses a method not always used in weight-loss offices that provides feedback to the client about their progress. The feedback helps keep clients motivated. “Also, just seeing a medical professional weekly to encourage them to follow up…is very effective,” she said.

Obesity is a medical diagnosis, and Varnadore reminds that weighing too much can put people at higher risk for other serious illnesses including some types of cancer, heart disease and stroke. Losing weight is “something you have to do for yourself,” she said. “It’s a medical necessity to reduce your co-morbidity with these other diagnoses.”

Carolina Weight Loss offers shots of B-12 and other all-natural products used to suppress appetite and decrease the fat content in the body. Some of those weight-loss medications can also lower blood sugar, she added.

“It’s really been exciting,” Varnadore said of the success of the business and opening additional locations, as far away as Rocky Mount and Goldsboro. “Most of our patients are referred by another patient,” she said. “They already know someone who’s had excellent results – they’ve heard about, they’ve seen it first-hand.”

Other services the centers offer include types of body sculpting procedures – one is called Ultra Shape, which uses ultrasonic wave to permanently destroy fat cells. A second is called Bella Shape, which is a body contouring process. It costs about $500 for three sessions. Both are non-invasive procedures; Varnadore said these are for people who have already lost weight but may want a little help to address particular areas where stubborn fat remains.

The Henderson office is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. Thursday visits are by appointment only – that is usually the day for new patient consults, which can take up to an hour to complete. The centers take physican referrals, but do not file insurance. Varnadore said clients can pay with a health savings account card.

To learn more, call 252.430.4375.

(This is not a paid ad. This is not medical advice.)

For complete details and audio click play.

 

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Sons Of American Revolution: Descendants Often Play Detective To Find Lost Graves Of Patriot Heroes

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The Sons of the American Revolution is, first and foremost, a fraternal and civic organization. But its members also are part detective who spend time tracking down clues and uncovering details about individuals who fought for this country’s independence from England.

Bill Riggan, a member of the Halifax Resolves chapter of the SAR, spoke with Bill Harris and Mark Pace on Thursday’s Town Talk tri-weekly history program.

The four-county area is steeped in history, and Riggan said his SAR chapter covers Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties, in addition to several other counties to the north and east.

“It’s a place where we should have a lot of revolutionary era soldiers,” Riggan said. He said the National Society of SAR has 140,000 names and locations of patriots’ gravesites, and a total of 732,000 names of patriots that are available for people to attach themselves to.

Being able to prove that you are a descendant of someone who supported the revolution against the Crown may prove difficult, or at least time-consuming. There are several criteria that must be satisfied for membership to the SAR: any male lineal descendant of someone who wintered at Valley Forge or a signer of the Declaration of Independence may become a member, as well as male descendants of members of the Continental Congress or those who fought in battle during the Revolution.

But civil servants during that era are also considered patriots. “There were a lot of people who helped with the war but didn’t put on a uniform and fight,” he said. Another criterion for membership is being a descendant of a signer of the Oath of Allegiance, a petition that was circulated throughout communities that disavowed the King and supported the revolution.

Although its membership is aging, Riggan said he hopes interest in preserving history will encourage younger men to consider joining.

Several grave-marking ceremonies are scheduled for October in Franklin County, and will include the state SAR color guard, as well as local Boy Scouts and the DAR – Daughters of the American Revolution. The color guard will be in period dress – “it will be very ceremonial, very traditional,” Riggan said. The dates are Saturday, Oct. 16 and Saturday, Oct. 23.

Although the SAR doesn’t maintain gravesites – it relies on families for that –  Riggan said the group strives to identify as many as they can. He encourages anyone with information about possible gravesites  – whether found while combing through family archives or stumbling across a random grave while hunting – to contact him and he can help with verification.

“We want to honor them,” Riggan said of those long-ago patriots, whose final resting places deserve to be cared for and remembered.

Take Harrison Macon, for example. Macon fought in the Revolutionary War and he is buried in Franklin County. The now-defunct Franklin SAR chapter bore his name, thanks to founding member Dr. D.T. Smithwick, a historian from the 1930’s.

Riggan said efforts to reconstruct the records of the former Franklin chapter have turned up details that show Smithwick ordered a headstone from the VA for Macon’s grave. ”We have evidence he did that. He put that on the grave – we know that to be a fact,” Riggan said.

But where?

To learn more about the October grave-marking ceremonies or SAR membership, contact Riggan at 919.495.0706.
For complete details and audio click play.

 

TownTalk: Rob Montague and the NC Forest Service, Storm Ready

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N.C. Forest Service Gives Advice To Keep Trees Healthy, Withstand Storm’s Wind, Water

There are lots of good reasons to have trees in the landscape – they provide shade in the summer, homes and food for many animals as well as income for many landowners who manage larger tracts of woodland or tree farms.

And while it’s always important to keep an eye out for dead limbs or trees in a weakened state, weather forecasters and forestry experts are gearing up to ward off potential problems that Tropical Storm Elsa may create as it moves up the Atlantic Coast over the next day or so.

Rob Montague of the N.C. Forest Service was on Wednesday’s Town Talk to talk about the role of the forest service and precautions homeowners and landowners can take to avoid problems with trees when a storm blows in.

“Go ahead and get rid of hazard trees around your house before the storm comes through,” Montague advised. For those with larger tracts of woodlands or tree farms, it’s important to maintain a clear path to get in and out of the property.

He and his team serve Vance and Granville counties and they began planning early last week for the possible arrival of Elsa and the associated rain and wind that comes with a tropical storm or hurricane.

The forest service provides assistance to local emergency response teams as well as the N.C. Department of Agriculture during and after storms and help with tasks like clearing roads of fallen trees.

“We may be thrown into a lot of different roles if this storm proves bad,” Montague said. “The emergency response side of our job trains us” for such events as storms and wildfires.

The forest service work continues after a storm, he added, by helping landowners who may face a long-term recovery phase. The foresters help with technical assistance to get a forest management plan back on track, whether it’s a harvesting goal or getting a new forest growing.

The N.C. Forest Service can also help landowners with prescribed burns, a management strategy to keep pine stands healthy. These require careful planning, Montague said, from checking the weather forecast and knowing where the smoke will blow to having fire lines prepared ahead of the burn area. It shouldn’t be a matter of thinking at 9 a.m. one morning, ‘Hey, I’m going to light my trees on fire today,’ he added.

Prescribed burns are one strategy to cut down on the chance of wildfires, Montague said. May was a dry month and he said the forest service responded to quite a few wildfires with local fire departments. “Each of us shows up with different tools,” he explained. The fire departments have the bigger trucks and gear, and the forest service brings along smaller brush trucks and engines that allow them to get in tighter spaces. Bulldozers and airplanes that can drop water from above are also resources the forest service can call on.

Whether it’s wind and rain from a summer storm or a grass fire when conditions are extremely dry, the N.C. Forest Service provides training for its foresters and technical assistance for residents to be prepared.

“We’ve got a great group of folks ready, willing and dedicated to help out,” Montague said.

To learn more, visit www.ncforestservice.org,  call 919.693.3154  or email rob.montague@ncagr.gov.

For complete details and audio click play.

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Town Talk: Retired Colonel Helps Fellow Veterans, Stops In Henderson On 10,000-Mile Fundraiser Ride

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The numbers are staggering: Since it started in 2014, RIP Medical Debt has paid medical bills for more than 2.7 million families to the tune of $4.5 billion – that’s billion with a “B” – $90 million alone to veterans and families of veterans. And if Mikel Burroughs, a retired Army colonel, has his way, those numbers will continue to grow.

Burroughs recently completed the 3rd annual RIP Ride for Veterans motorcycle ride to raise awareness and funds for the non-profit RIP Medical Debt; he took a short detour to Henderson to meet Phyllis Maynard, a fellow veteran and local Disabled American Veterans service officer. Maynard served in the U.S. Navy as a petty officer on the USS Puget Sound. She met Burroughs through an online veterans’ support group about two years ago.

When Burroughs was in Fayetteville recently during his 32-state road trip, he decided he wanted to make the 2-hour trip to meet Maynard in person.

“It was wonderful coming in to Henderson and meeting with Phyllis,” Burroughs told John C. Rose on Town Talk, which aired Tuesday. Maynard wanted to make the visit more than just a pit stop along the 10,000-plus mile journey, so she had some other guests from the community to help her welcome Burroughs to Vance County.

Maynard said she appreciated Burroughs including a stop in Henderson on his itinerary and she “wanted it to end up being special for him – I really wanted to share it with the community,” she said. He seemed to be the “glue” of the support group, Maynard said of Burroughs. “Everybody loved the colonel,” she said, adding that the group learns from each other, from the low-stress comfort of their own homes.

The RIP Ride 4 Vets 2021 fundraising goal was $50,000. RIP Medical Debt buys debt from hospitals or from a secondary market and follows a process to determine which accounts fit the criteria to be marked as “paid in full.” Burroughs said every $1 the group spends buys $100 in medical debt.

“A lot of our veterans are struggling under the burden of health care debt across the country,” Burroughs said. Add financial burdens to those invisible illnesses like PTS (post-traumatic stress) and TBI (traumatic brain injury) and the negative effects definitely mount up.

He said two-thirds of all bankruptcies in the U.S. are the result of health-care debt.

“I’ve talked to a lot of veterans on the Warriors for Life program that are struggling financially,” Burroughs said. “I hear it first-hand – I hear it in their voice and they share and they get that off their mind…it has a profound effect on our veterans and it shouldn’t,” he said of overwhelming medical debt.

Mackenzie Scott, former wife of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, recently gave $50 million to RIP Medical Debt. “That’s going to abolish a lot of debt” over the next three years – for civilians and veterans alike.

Relieving the stress of medical debt for veterans is just one way Burroughs contributes to the veteran community. He facilitates the Saturday Warriors for Life group – other volunteers cover the other five groups each week. And a Life Readiness Center is being planned to open on 165 acres in Costa Rica which will provide different therapies and treatments to help veterans with PTSD and TBI. The goal is to partner with Victory for Vets Inc. to have readiness centers in 32 U.S. cities. The centers use brain mapping, hyperbaric oxygen treatment and neurofeedback to address veterans’ needs.

“We’re very excited about what the future holds and what we’re going to be able to do for veterans holistically,” Burroughs said.

 

The Warriors for Life group will be a perfect place for veterans who participate in the Life Readiness Centers. “We want veterans to be able to reach out to Warriors for Life and let down the warrior barrier,” Burroughs said.  “Be vulnerable… you don’t have to prove to anyone on the call that you’re a warrior –  we already know that you’re a warrior. And you’ll always be a warrior,” he said.

“We want you to let that vulnerability down and be able to share it and get it off of your mind. Honestly, being able to share with others who have gone through similar experiences, I think it helps the healing process.”

Learn more at www.ripmedicaldebt.org.

For complete details and audio click play.

 

TownTalk: White Coat Ceremony Officially Welcomes Two Residents To MPH-Duke Partnership

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According to Maria Parham Health CEO Bert Beard, it took almost four years to come to fruition, but two new physicians donned their white coats during a ceremony Wednesday to celebrate the beginning of a residency program that focuses on providing care in rural areas.

“This is a tremendous day for Maria Parham,” Beard told the gathering of local government officials and community leaders during the white coat ceremony Wednesday afternoon, hosted by MPH.

“What would it be for Duke and Maria Parham to partner on a rural track family medicine program that could facilitate health care in rural areas of North Carolina for the future,” he recalled during opening remarks.

“This is a small start, but it’s a big step,” Beard said, adding that providing appropriate medical care in rural areas is not just a concern locally, but an issue that is getting more and more attention nationally.

The first year, residents will spend a good deal of their time learning and working at Duke University Hospital and Duke Regional in Durham. In years two and three, their time will shift to Maria Parham and the Oxford office of Duke Primary Care, according to information released earlier about the program.

Dr. Tom Koinis, a physician in the Oxford office, serves as program director. Dr. Alexa Namba, once a resident Koinis worked with in 2015 on a weekly basis at the Oxford office, also will play a role in the new partnership.

As the residents who donned their white coats on Wednesday – Dr. Rashmi Saincher and Dr. Jessica Sanders – begin their work in the program, Koinis gave them a heads-up: “as you move into the physician’s world, you’ll be a major part of that community in many different ways.”

Pastor Frank Sossamon offered a blessing of hands during the ceremony. “We don’t realize sometimes how important our hands are,” Sossamon said. Hands speak, they affirm, they comfort. And they heal, he said. His blessing called for the physicians’ hands to do all those things for the patients they see in this community.

Saincher comes from a small town outside Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She studied medicine at St. George’s University in London and then completed clinicals in Philadelphia. Koinis said she is happy to leave all the cement of big cities for a return to small-town life.

Sanders is a native of Houston, Texas. She graduated from the University of Texas-Austin and worked for several years in New York City before realizing through volunteer work that her passion lay in helping people. She returned to her hometown and was admitted to the McGovern Medical School, part of UT-Houston.

Koinis said the local team submitted a 200-page application to be considered for the program, and the application was approved on Jan. 29, 2021. The national “resident match day” occurred on Jan. 30, so “we got in just in the nick of time,” Koinis said. Of the 20 “excellent applicants” that were interviewed, Saincher and Sanders were selected.

“I’m deeply honored and humbled to be able to lead this residency as it starts off,” he added, noting that it took a team effort to get the program off the ground. “And support from ‘big’ Duke has been really, positive, really strong.”

The residency program should be proof positive to this community and region, Beard noted earlier in the ceremony, that “our partnership with Duke is very strong and we’re going to advance it.”

TownTalk Broadcast including the Entire Ceremony

 

Town Talk: Rebuilding Hope’s SOS Project Works On Home Repairs While Spreading Gospel

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Rebuilding Hope Ministry continues to fulfill its mission of helping people in the community with construction projects like roof replacement and building wheelchair ramps. The Servants on Site program sends out church groups to make repairs, also to spread the Gospel and to live their faith through works.

Robbie Parham, promotion director for Servants on Site project, and Dr. Randy Mann, lead pastor of Central Baptist Church in Henderson, were guests on Wednesday’s Town Talk and gave John C. Rose an update on how the SOS project has re-tooled itself to keep working in the community while honoring COVID-19 safety protocols.

In years past, the SOS program was a one-week blitz that sent hundreds of volunteers from local churches and those from as far away as Alabama into the community to perform home repair tasks for residents. This year’s 10th edition of SOS is a little different, however, Parham said. Instead of one week, the program is stretched over a 10-week period, which allows for church groups to do the work needed but without the customary corporate worship and dormitory-style sleeping arrangements.

“We’ve partnered with Rebuilding Hope from the very beginning of that ministry,” Mann said.

Rebuilding Hope’s mission to work alongside local churches to make a positive difference in the community is what makes it “beyond easy” to be a partner.

He has traveled the world on mission trips, but Mann said it has been rewarding to provide mission work close to home with the SOS project. He used a favorite quote to illustrate his point: “The light that shines farthest shines brightest at home.”

Mann said it was gratifying for him to see members of his congregation, from young children to senior adults, participating in the SOS project. The youngest were able to help clean up the lunch site and the 80-somethings pitched in, too, he said.

TownTalk 6-30-21 Audio; More Below

This is Mann’s first year to actually participate on-site. “I worked every day on a roof,” he explained. One thing he could see from that vantage point was the intergenerational communication that went on. “I recognized the breadth of participation from our church,” he said. As they worked side by side serving others, he said, there was a lot of spiritual development taking place as well.

The Central Baptist team just completed two roofing projects and will go out again in a couple of weeks. One resident reported to Mann that she could “literally lay on my bed at night and see the stars.” Thanks to the Central Baptist team, the roof was torn off, rotten wooden sub-roof replaced and new shingles put back on.

Through the SOS project, Mann said his church members “go and meet the practical needs in our community. But our greatest need is to share the Gospel while we do it.”

Parham said SOS has the manpower lined up to continue replacing the 11 roofs that have been identified in the area, as well as more wheelchair ramps. Although many of the church groups come from the local five-county area – Vance, Granville, Franklin, Warren and Person – he said a group from the western NC town of Franklin and another group from Georgia will lend a hand for SOS, too.

One dream that Parham hopes becomes a reality for Rebuilding Hope is completion of a bunkhouse in the upstairs of the building. The ministry occupies the former Coca-Cola Bottling Co. on Raleigh Road. Once that happens, groups can spend the night and worship on site. That way, Rebuilding Hope could sustain projects like SOS over the entire year, hosting groups for weekend or half-week mission work.