by: Emily Rea

Wilmington Memory Walk
to benefit The Alzheimer’s Association,
Eastern North Carolina Chapter
Hugh MacRae Park, 314 Pine Grove Drive
November 14th • registration, 8-10am;
walk begins at 10:30
Chelsea Oldhouser: (910) 520-5200

Back in 1989 the knowledge and research about Alzheimer’s disease was much less than what we know today—but it did not change the fact that so many families were devastated by its slow, consuming grasp. That year national corporation Genworth Financial saw the great and obvious need to raise awareness and funds for The Alzheimer’s Association—the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research, dedicated to eliminating the disease for good—by founding what is still known today as the Memory Walk.

Twenty years and $200 plus million later, the Memory Walk is now the nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s education, care and support programs. Hundreds of communities all across the country hold this inspiring event on an annual basis. They call on volunteers of all ages to become champions in the fight against Alzheimer’s, including those living with the disease, families, caregivers, and corporate and community leaders.

The Eastern North Carolina Chapter of The Alzheimer’s Association is no exception, serving 51 of the 100 counties in our state, in which over 150,000 people have Alzheimer’s—a number that is expected to quadruple by the year 2025.

“Many years ago, when we had a local Alzheimer’s office, there was a walk at Wrightsville Beach,” Jennifer Langley, co-organizer of this year’s Wilmington Memory Walk, says. “Until last year there had not been a walk in Wilmington for over five years. This is our second year organizing the walk.”

Working together with Chelsea Harrison Oldhouser, the two women raised about $10,000 last year when they brought back the walk to the Port City. This year they expect to see thousands of people across eastern North Carolina participating in the event to raise awareness and funds to fight against Alzheimer’s. They are each personally connected to the disease, a fact that ignites their passion to take action.
Oldhouser’s grandmother and grandfather-in-law have Alzheimer’s, and Langley’s mother passed away two years ago while battling the disease.

“[It] is much more prevalent than people are aware of,” Langley asserts. “Someone develops Alzheimer’s every 70 seconds, and today there are as many as 5.3 million people in the U.S. living with Alzheimer’s. This includes 5.1 million people age 65 and over, and 200,000 people under age 65 with [early]-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

“By 2010 there will be nearly a half million new cases of Alzheimer’s each year, and by 2050 there will be nearly a million new cases annually.” The statistics alone show that any of us or someone we know will be affected by Alzheimer’s disease in our lifetime—and, to date, there is still no cure.

“I started helping [organize the walk] because this is something I am very passionate about,” Langley says. “I want to help keep other families from going through what we went through with my mother. When you volunteer your time for an event like this, you begin to realize the impact this disease has on the world around you. People freely share their stories of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s, and you find a common bond with them.”

Even beyond the horrifying physical detriments of the disease and the emotional toil it takes on victims and their loved ones, Alzheimer’s and dementia triple healthcare costs for Americans age 65 and older; it is the seventh-leading cause of death; and the direct and indirect costs of Alzheimer’s and other dementias to Medicare, Medicaid and businesses amount to more than $148 billion each year. It is for all these reasons that support of such events as the Memory Walk are of utmost importance. Its second-annual occurrence in Wilmington will hopefully be the spark of greater advocacy to come.

“We are a growing walk so in most ways the walk will be the same [as last year],” Langley comments. “We are trying to grow a little each year, but this is a work in progress. Last year we had approximately 100 walkers and close to $10,000 donated; this year we have over 150 walkers pre-registered and over $13,000 already donated.”

The total length of the walk is 1.55 miles; however, this year there will be a shorter option of about a quarter mile for those who would like to participate at a shorter distance. “We are hoping that adding this shorter alternative will encourage people to bring out older and younger family members, or some residents of our local assisted living facilities and nursing homes,” Langley explains.

Pets are allowed at the walk; however, in order to follow all New Hanover County and Wilmington City regulations, they must be up to date on all vaccinations. Owners are to be responsible for their pets at all times and are also responsible for cleaning up after them. Waste bags will be provded if anyone forgets theirs at home.

Krispy Kreme will be providing breakfast for all the walkers, and there will be prizes awarded to the top fund-raisers. Several prizes from local businesses will be raffled off with tickets sold at just $1 each. There is no fee to register, but those who raise at least $50 in donations will receive a 2009 Memory Walk T-shirt.

Registration for the walk as well as secure online donations can be made at www.alznc.org. Participants can also sign up the day of the walk at Hugh MacRae Park. To request a brochure through the mail, contact Chelsea Harrison Oldhouser at (910) 520-5200 or Wilmingtonalzwalk@yahoo.com.

Anyone interested in supporting or becoming involved with the Alzheimer’s Association Eastern North Carolina Chapter can contact the chapter at www.alz.org/nc/ or 1 (800) 228-8738. Help is always needed for individuals to donate a variety of skills, from writing letters to officials, to attending and/or supporting local support groups and senior centers.

by: Emily Rea

VolleyPaws Tournament
Fundraiser for Carolina Canines for Service, Inc.
Capt’n Bill’s Backyard Grill, 4240 Market St.
October 24 (registration now open)
$100/pre-reg., $120 day of
910-762-0173 volleypaws.org
CarolinaCanines.org

Imagine daily life as a disabled person: simple, everyday tasks become laborious, time-consuming obstacles. Getting dressed, doing housework, even carrying groceries are frustraing tasks and often too difficult to do alone. Now imagine the sweet face and wagging tail of a service dog trotting alongside, ready and willing to make the details of life less painful and less stressful—all with an unconditional, loving companionship to boot.

Based in Wilmington, Carolina Canines is an organization, founded in 1996, that trains and places such service dogs throughout the Carolinas. There are currently 34 service dogs that have been placed, all of whom were fostered, trained and then received through an application process.

“Carolina Canines’ [dogs] are taught over 70 different tasks,” Dave Mickler, a board member and two-time service dog recipient, explains. “The most common task would be retrieving, especially for someone in a wheelchair. Other common tasks would include turning lights on/off, pulling wheelchairs, rising to counters for transactions, loading and unloading washing machines and dryers, and opening doors. . . . I found that my service dog has not only allowed me to do things I hadn’t done prior to receiving her, but she has also ‘opened the door’ to many conversations and interactions with people that wouldn’t have otherwise approached me.”

Mickler has been with Carolina Canines for 11 years now and has personally seen the difference a service dog can make in a person’s daily life. Any individual who experiences mobility limitations can apply for one, although the pups are primarily placed for assistance and companionship.

“Service dogs are trained to help people, not for protection,” Mickler ascertains. “As a service-dog owner, I’m frequently asked if my dog is trained to protect me. If I were attacked, my dog may defend me, but [that] would be because of our bond, not from training.”

Service dogs are selected as 7-to 10-week-old puppies to be placed with foster individuals, couples or families who have committed to raising the dog for up to 24 months. Training for service takes up to three years per dog. Under the Service Dog Foster Program, fosters can attend regular classes to learn how to train and socialize their puppies.

“Their duties also require that they take the dog in public as part of the conditioning training, then they would turn the dog over to Carolina Canines for advanced training after the dog becomes proficient in basic skills,” Mickler says. “The dog would then be matched with a potential recipient for team training. It takes a special person to become a foster trainer.”

Beyond the Service Dog Foster Program, the organization also offers Carolina Canines for Veterans, a program started last year at Camp Lejeune that is the only military prison service- dog program in the country. Prisoners work to train the dogs, which is in turn accredited to them as a continuing education units course. Wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan then receive the help they need through placement with a service dog. More programs under Carolina Canines include Carolina Canines for Therapy and Paws for Reading, a program that helps children improve their reading skills.

“It’s not just about what your dog does for you, it’s also the bond created by the closeness of the person-dog team,” Mickler says. “It is my belief that a service dog should be an entitlement, no different than a wheelchair or prosthesis.”

Unfortunately, nonprofits such as Carolina Canines have struggled greatly throughout the recession, and the veterans program, for example, currently receives no government funding. To help raise support for this highly effective and worthy organization, Megan Kopka came up with the idea for a volleyball benefit tournament, open to the public.

“I found Carolina Canines at a nonprofit fair, [and] it seemed to be the organization that I could easily involve my family with, including our dog,” Kopka says. “Our love for animals, participating in the community, and to volunteer and serve the special needs/disability community are important to me. I have been playing on a [volleyball] league [for a year], and Capt’n Bills regularly hosts fund-raising events. So I contacted Amy at Carolina Canines and asked if they would be interested in the idea. [I then] asked Debbie at Capt’n Bills her thoughts, and from there was invited to the next board meeting at Carolina Canines.”

The tournament’s specific beneficiaries are three new service dogs, Zebulon, Issachar and Judah, along with their new partners, who need specialized team training. “All three dogs are Labradoodles, chosen for their willingness to retrieve (Labrador) and the anti-allergic benefits of a Poodle,” Micker notes.

To help make this event a success, there are two ways the public can get involved with the tournament: play or donate. “First and foremost [you can] put together a team, and come out and have fun!” Kopka says. “Volleyball is played at varying skill levels; we see teams made up of families, including children, colleagues building relationships, as well as the regulars at Capt’n Bill’s.”

Donations are also important, with opportunities available to become a sponsor for $100. “We could also use some help getting promotional items for goodie bags for the players [as well]; we are hoping for 80-160 players,” Kopka adds. “Typical items include gift certificates, key rings or can koozies.”

Advocacy of a program such as Carolina Canines can be a truly life-changing effort, even in the indirect way of playing in a fun, fund-raising volleyball tournament. To see more opportunities for support and volunteering, or to learn more about the organization itself, visit www.CarolinaCanines.org.

by: Emily Rea

Castle Street Community Garden Fund-raiser
Corner of 4th and Castle streets, next to 317 Castle St. (SEACC Action Center)
October 17th; $5
kathryn.sisler@gmail.com
(908) 670-1590
www.meetup.com/seacc-ilm

As the massive “go green” movement of recent years has been going strong and gaining steam, there has also been a keen awareness for “going organic,” as buyers and consumers the world over are beginning to realize the benefits of eating fresh, local and pesticide-free. Although defining the term “organic” is a bit more complicated than that, the overall concept is really quite simple: straight from the Earth, into our bodies. Keep it pure, keep it clean.

Taking organic eating to an all-new level by getting the community involved and thus promoting local sustainability, the Castle Street Community Garden makes it possible for folks in town to grow their own food and medicine in a public space, also primed for educational classes in the future. Founder and project manager, Kathryn Sisler, came up with the idea following a four-month herbal apprenticeship with Red Moon Herbs in Black Mountain, NC.

“The method of medicine-making I learned focused on using fresh plants,” Sisler says. “I needed a space [back here in Wilmington where] I could garden continually, for plants like echinacea that are not used until they are at least 2 to 4 years old. I [was informed] that the people who owned the space at 4th and Castle were looking for someone who would be interested in starting a community garden.”

The garden is now a reality under the Southeastern Alliance for Community Change (SEACC), and Sisler’s role is to coordinate the plantings, harvesting and projects. Her vision is that the garden can be a place where all people are able to connect with the Earth through the cultivation of edible and medicinal plants, utilizing organic and biodynamic gardening principles. The fruits of the garden will, in turn, be available to those volunteers who participate in the cultivation and harvesting process, as well to the Wilmington community at large.

“What makes it different from other gardens is that we grow medicinal herbs that I make medicinal herbal preparations from,” Sisler explains. “We started small this year, but I hope to promote community wellness by teaching people how easy and simple it can be to grow and use healing plants in a ‘backyard’ setting. We also grow vegetables, based on the desires and needs of our gardeners.”

Upkeep of the garden takes work, as five or seven people meet every Sunday for two or three hours, and a few other volunteers give about an hour of their time per week to watering, weeding and harvesting. Sisler herself is in the garden almost every day—but she contends that the effects are well worth it.

“It has been very successful,” she reports. “We have been eating out of the garden all spring, summer and fall, not to mention several medicines were made from fresh-harvested plants. We just put in our fall crop, and composting is going well.”

Currently, the crops harvested at the garden for medicinal purposes are catnip and calendula. Sisler says that once they have a large enough “crop,” there will be medicines that can help with a variety of ailments, from indigestion to PMS. But the crops themselves are not the only benefit to this eco-friendly sanctuary.

“[Community gardens] improve the aesthetics of neighborhoods, reduce pollution and build relationships,” Sisler adds. “I think the garden, as it develops, is going to become an integral part of the area. It is a safe place to connect with the Earth, and experience the correlation between putting energy into plants and watching them thrive.”

A community garden truly encapsulates the idea of sustainability, which is, in a nutshell, about being able to maintain a certain level of productivity with minimal inputs. “With chemical-based fertilizers, a farmer would generally have to add more and more fertilizer each year because they deplete the soil, Sisler explains. “Using organic matter and all-natural fertilizers, the general idea is that you are continually enriching the soil to make it healthier, and better able to grow nutritionally dense foods and medicines. . . . The idea is the longer you garden using those methods, the healthier the area becomes. You can look at it as leaving the land better than it was when you found it.”

Volunteering at the garden is one way to ensure the continuation of its existence, but, like anything else, those involved are in need of funding in order to help grow the program itself, in hopes to one day have a larger crop and the organization of educational classes. The first-annual SEACC Harvest Fund-raiser has been planned for October 17th, 4-7pm, open to the public and all to benefit the garden. In celebration of the community garden’s first season and the grand reopening of the SEACC Action Center, there will be live music, a wine tasting, and a silent auction with items from Progressive Gardens, Tidal Creek, a local masseuse, and a few local restaurants and other businesses. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased from Tidal Creek or Progressive Gardens. Each ticket also acts as a raffle ticket; attendees can purchase as many as they want, but only one is necessary for entry.

The fund-raiser will be a fantastic way to get the community together for a great cause, at the heart of which is the continuation of community development. “The garden is a way to create a common space for people to come together over a basic common necessity—food,” Sisler asserts. “Not only do we meet and work with our neighbors, but we are growing a healthier community by [producing] high-quality food that doesn’t have to travel more than a few hundred feet from the garden to the table.”

by: Emily Rea

Joey Jog 5K/Walk-A-Thon
Harbor United Methodist Church,
4853 Masonboro Loop Rd.
October 24th
thejoeyjog@gmail.com • www.joeyjog.org

Our relationships with other people often result in the fact that we cannot walk away from their presence unchanged. Some people affect our lives in such a way that we remain touched long after they’re gone, as they leave behind the legacy of a new perspective, a desire for betterment or an action to reciprocate the essence of who they were—and, in some cases, all of the above.

To outlive one’s child is unthinkable for any new parent, and yet this was suddenly a reality for Leslie Heppner just three short years ago. When she noticed the eyes and skin of her firstborn daughter, Josephine (“Joey” for short), seemed to be turning a bit yellow over a Thanksgiving visit to Wilmington to see Leslie’s parents, a doctor at New Hanover Regional Medical Center decided he definitely wanted to have a look at her.

“[Joey] was a healthy child with barely even a runny nose in her two years,” mom Leslie recalls. But beginning with that one doctor visit, “so began what can only be described as the absolute worst days of my life.”

Two days later Joey was transferred to Chapel Hill, where she underwent every test imaginable. Her liver was failing, and none of the doctors could figure out why. When her father, Andreas, a perfect match to give his daughter part of his liver, was prepared for surgery, a neurologist deemed her too far gone for the transplant. On December 11th, 2006, 2-year-old Joey passed away from acute liver failure.

Amid their unfathomable grief, Leslie and Andreas sold their home in Virginia and moved to Wilmington premanently with their five-month-old triplets. “Our friends and family rallied around us,” Leslie recalls. “My Virginia and college girlfriends wanted to create something in memory of Joey that could also help prevent this tragedy from happening to another family—as of today we still have no definitive answer as to why Joey developed acute liver failure.”

And so began the Joey Jog, a grassroots fund-raiser to support the American Liver Foundation (ALF). The first two years of the now-annual event garnered 400 walkers/joggers and raised nearly $50,000 for ALF. “The thing that has surprised me the most about the Joey Jog has been the unbelievable outpouring of support from people all over the country—some we have never even met,” Leslie says. “My greatest hope for the Joey Jog is to avoid another family feeling the pain and loss that mine has. . . . Joey’s death is the worst thing that has ever happened me. I pray no parent ever has to feel this loss.”

Raising awareness and funds for ALF is one way to ensure this hope, as liver disease can happen to anyone at any point in life. In fact, one in 10 people will be affected by liver disease in their lifetime. Diagnosing pediatric liver disease is particularly complicated, as symptoms liken simply to pediatric jaundice, and the road to diagnosis also involves a number of tests. The signs among many babies are yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. The liver may harden, causing the abdomen to become swollen, and some babies may develop intense itching. Not all liver diseases are hereditary, but pregnant women should be tested for Hepatitis B and have their liver functions monitored during pregnancy.

“Joey Heppner was a healthy, beautiful little girl whose life was inexplicably cut short, and the American Liver Foundation, through our research, strives to find out why and to prevent this tragedy from happening to another family,” Leslie asserts.

It is perhaps one of the most beautiful of legacies that Joey’s passing can leave behind. As Leslie notes, the Joey Jog is not simply a fund-raiser but also a celebration of her life. Each year there is a butterfly release and small ceremony in the morning before the walk/run begins.

“Butterflies have found a special place in my heart through my family’s loss because of their meaning of rebirth,” Leslie explains. “We have had a butterfly release at both Jogs and a family wedding. At all three releases, a butterfly has found me out of crowds of more than 100 people and clung to me for what felt like hours. I am sure to many this seems like a desperate mother clinging to anything for a sign from her baby—the difference with me is I know they have been signs from my baby.”

Beginning this year the Joey Jog is a timed run and has become an official event of the American Liver Foundation. For more information and to register, visit www.joeyjog.org. Advanced registration with T-shirt guarantee ends October 10th.

“People often ask me how many children I have,” Leslie says with all the courage a mother can possess. “I believe my brother said it best when he said, ‘Four; three that walk and one that soars.’”

by: Emily Rea

We often hear that “children are the future” or that we are teaching “tomorrow’s leaders.” But what if we began to see them as people of the present, individual people able and willing to be contributing members of society—if only given the chance? Among other such endeavors, the Yahweh Center Children’s Village (YCCV) in Castle Hayne is all about making a way for that chance, taking in our area’s most traumatized youth and giving them something they need above all else: hope.

“Stories that are common [include] childhood sexual abuse [or] a history of family dysfunction, usually involving substance or alcohol abuse,” founder and executive director Carla Roberts explains of the little ones who come to the center from across the state, New Hanover County included. “Children here who are hopeless cannot make the next level of attachment. Scripture tells us ‘hope deferred makes the heart sick,’ and we see that literally in these children.”

They are, in essence, a forgotten tribe, bound together by the harrowing shared experiences of shocking backgrounds, splintered homes and shattered dreams. They are tired and broken, yet searching for love and profoundly worthy of its sustenance. The trauma they have experienced is more than any lifetime should bear, especially ones so tender and young. Their current reality is a state of physical and emotional limbo, caught between the distress of their past yet uncertain of how to face a more hopeful future. The journey ahead must begin from the inside out, a transformation of the spirit, before any kind of next step can be taken—it must begin with a power that is not of themselves.

“Children come with such a sense of confusion, failure and self-loathing,” Roberts continues. “They feel that somehow there is something wrong with them that causes them to be cast about in the system from place to place with no sense of emotional security. Ultimately, they need to have a sense of belonging so they can develop normally and prosper. We find that also having a sense of belonging to God fills that void.”

Unique, faith-based and extremely intentional, YCCV is in the business of offering these children (average age 8) an alternative that is both healing and transformational. Its services include a day-treatment program—complete with a full-time medical director who is also a licensed board-certified child psychiatrist, a clinical director, therapists and qualified professionals—psychiatric residential treatment, child placement, and adoption-readiness services. “We see real outcomes and transformation of children’s whole lives,” Roberts says. “We are rare in what we offer for this population in NC.”

The ability to nurture and maintain such an environment is not easy and certainly does not come without a cost. Besides the physical and emotional stress that such a responsibility can involve, the grounds themselves cover 14 acres, encompassing multiple buildings and sites for activity, including a playground and a basketball court. There are 50 full-time employees and 12 part-time employees, part of whom cover the third shift at night, as care and supervision of the children is required 24 hours a day. Administrative duties comprise staff management, admissions assessments, and maintaining a high-standard clinical continuum that includes training and certifying therapists as well as licensing potential therapeutic foster parents. On the financial end of the spectrum, 40 percent of YCCV’s yearly budget—a whopping $2.5 million—must be raised through private dollars, desperately needed to help cover such costs as the direct fees of professional services, staff payments, food, clothing, transportation, recreation, utilities and much more.

Beyond these pre-existing needs, yet another battle is faced in the misconceptions of those outside the center’s white picket fences. “People often underestimate the level of clinical and professional services we use because we are a Christian agency,” Roberts reveals. “There is a lack of knowledge in general about the intensity of treatment these children need, and the amount of training, regulation and requirements to be allowed the privilege to care for them.”

Of course, any struggles along the way are more than worth it when a child like “Jill” comes through the center: one who arrived with a very traumatic past and caretakers who had chosen not to adopt her, who had demonstrated some very challenging and disturbing behaviors at a young age, but one of whom, like all its children, YCCV saw glimmers of hope. “Our belief in her and her ability to heal was the foundation for her trust in us,” Roberts says. “We had many people praying for this little one and stood united as a clinical team in her behalf. Today she is with a wonderful family who will be adopting her. She is truly transformed [and] ‘restored’ in all ways. She literally glows . . . Without our agency’s dedicated team, [and] the power of prayer and faith, she could have easily become hopeless and a victim of more moves in the child mental-health system.”

Yahweh Center Children’s Village is clearly a light in the darkness for many troubled youth across the state—although, as Roberts puts it, “We could not exist without people supporting us.” Funding by donation is needed to maintain its services, as well as people interested in fostering to adopt, those willing to invest in one child in a life way.

As for other ways people in the Wilmington area can help, Roberts suggests coming out to YCCV’s monthly round-table community lunches to learn how to become involved. Volunteers are always needed in landscaping, planning events for the children, tutoring, office help, fund-raising, mentoring children, and in-kind support.

When all is said and done, it certainly takes a village to raise a child—it’s just that, sometimes, that process requires quite a bit of rescue, healing and placement into a loving, forever home along the way. “The Yahweh Center is one of the few places that can make stronger discharge plans,” Roberts asserts. “Getting a child from Point A to Point F—that’s the beauty of it.”