Got an idea to improve your community?

Submit it to Crossroads Charlotte and you might just win a $500 A.C.T. (Achieving Community Today) grant to help you pull it off.

A.C.T. Projects are designed to fund small initiatives that connect people across lines of difference. The best ideas are voted on by Facebook fans to determine who gets the funding.

For official rules, visit the Crossroads Charlotte website. Submissions for the current grant cycle will be accepted from Feb. 14 through Feb. 28.

Winners from the last round are pictured below, from left to right, along with their projects:

Photo: Crossroads Charlotte

Rochelle Stanley
Project: Do Write Poetry
Do Write Poetry will provide two writing workshops in order for individuals to connect and express their voice through poetry. In partnership with the Respect Da Mic Poetry Slam team, a top ranking poetry team, seasoned poets will facilitate and guide participants through the writing process with strategies on how to turn experiences into poetry. An open mic will follow for the general public to experience the diversity of voice that exists within Charlotte’s community. The slam team will then host a poetry slam for workshop participants and the general public to highlight poetry as a vessel for diversified expression.

Kimberly Howard
Project: Teen Leadership Council (TLC), Charlotte Chapter
The goal of this project is to improve our community by supporting and empowering youth to have a LEAD ROLE in providing solutions to the needs of their peers. By developing the leadership skills in participants, assisting them as they compose action plans, and providing them with opportunities to influence peers and others, we are excited to see the change that THEY will produce. Members will include teens ages 14-18 and will consist of youth from varying racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Christine Stroble
Project: Lincoln Heights Teen Summit
This project is a Teen Summit on preventing teen pregnancy and supporting the educational attainment of current teen parents. Based on a Quality of Life report, teen pregnancy rates are high in the Beatties Ford corridor where Lincoln Heights is located. To address this problem, we are hosting a Lincoln Heights Teen Summit on Saturday, February 26, from 10-3 pm on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University. We will hold break out sessions during the morning and a panel discussion in the afternoon. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. At-risk youth will connect with local IB honor students and college students.

Diane Adams
Project: Belmont Community Love Thy Neighbor Event
This project aims to bring together economically and racially diverse neighborhood residents in a friendly setting to introduce a new community organization and promote a “Love Thy Neighbor” theme. We will provide information on being a “Good Neighbor” based on the City of Charlotte’s Good Neighbor program and information on a newly forming “Neighborhood Watch” program, supported by the CMPD. We will provide food and drinks and activities for kids and door prize incentives to encourage attendance. We will have “get to know you” party games. Local residents

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