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1.
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James Atkinson discusses his life and his family's long term involvement with the Optimist Park neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina, including his role as an advise[...]
2015-10-22 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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2.
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Gwendolyn Burris is a Charlotte native who moved to the Optimist Park community in 1987. She shares her memories of growing up in downtown Charlotte and details some of t[...]
2016-03-16 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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3.
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Bishop Wade Ferguson discusses his relationship to the neighborhood of Optimist Park in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he has been the full time minister of the Fifteen[...]
2016-03-16 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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4.
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Victoria Gaither, who has lived in the Optimist Park neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina since 1990, discusses her life history and her experience of living in Opti[...]
2016-03-23 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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5.
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Arneichia Green discusses the Optimist Park neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she has lived since 1997. She stresses her appreciation for the opportunity t[...]
2016-04-20 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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6.
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Henry Heath, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, describes his life and his involvement in the Optimist Park community since 1987. Mr. Heath details his childhood grow[...]
2015-10-17 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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7.
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Mary Heath, a Charlotte native, describes her life and experiences as a longtime resident of Optimist Park. Mrs. Heath discusses growing up in the Hickory Grove area of C[...]
2015-10-17 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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8.
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Cynthia Horton, a new member of the Optimist Park neighborhood, reflects on her childhood in Wilmington, North Carolina and notes regret that her decision to marry early [...]
2016-03-16 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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9.
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Cecelia Johnston discusses her life and involvement in the Optimist Park community in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ms. Johnston is a longtime resident of the neighborhood a[...]
2015-10-22 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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10.
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George Little shares his experiences growing up in the Optimist Park neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina, where his parents built their home with Habitat for Humani[...]
2015-11-11 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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11.
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Rosaland McCoy reflects on her life growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Optimist Park neighborhood where she has lived since 1989. She contrasts her own depri[...]
2016-03-19 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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12.
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Kristi McCray provides a detailed account of the Optimist Park community located in Charlotte, North Carolina and its growth in the 1980s. She recalls her experience as o[...]
2017-11-19 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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13.
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Mazella McDowell describes her childhood in Huntersville, North Carolina and her move to Charlotte when she was thirteen. She lived in the Belmont and Optimist Park neigh[...]
2015-10-31 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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14.
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Harold Miller discusses living in the Optimist Park neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina for twenty-seven years. He grew up with twelve siblings in Charlotte and com[...]
2015-10-22 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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15.
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David Ruch served as a board adviser for the Optimist Park Community Association in 2017. Raised in South Bend, Indiana, Mr. Ruch details his experience in integrated pub[...]
2017-11-20 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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16.
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Pauline Simuel describes her life and her commitment to the Optimist Park community in Charlotte, North Carolina. She discusses her history with Habitat for Humanity, fro[...]
2015-10-17 | Audio | Small But Significant : The Optimist Park Community |
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Optimist Park, a small community just outside the 277 beltway, is facing intense gentrification pressure due to the Blue Line Light Rail Extension and Charlotte's growth. As apartment buildings are planned and begin to take shape, the residents work to maintain Optimist Park's identity and history, both as an area with a historical connection to Charlotte's old textile mills, and as a neighborhood representing the city's first major efforts to provide affordable housing through the Habitat for Humanity program. Residents are working to preserve this history and work together amid a changing city.