Wake-Up Call: Youth Council of Charlottesville

This week Rick is joined by the Co-Chairs of Charlottesville’s Youth Council, Mo Brown and Ramsey Byrne, along with Areeb Khan, UVA advisor to the Youth Council. The group works with city council and features 17 members aged 13-18. The purpose of Youth Council is to advise the council and inform the community about issues that affect youth, and makes recommendations on how they feel Charlottesville can be a better city.

Wake-Up Call: Poverty Simuation in Charlottesville

Rick Moore has assembled a group to discuss how poverty affects the Charlottesville area. Alicia Lenahan, President of Piedmont CASA, the Court Appointed Special Advocates work for children whose parents are unable or unwilling to keep their children safe. Ridge Schuyler, director of Charlottesvile Works Initiative, helping local residents find decent work. Although minimum wage is $14K a year, for a Mother with two children to work and commute in Charlottesville, she would need to make about $34K a year. Along with Susan Goins-Eplee, MSN, RN, Bilingual Community Health Nurse for Jefferson Area CHiP, working with parents to make healthy homes, to help interpret, not only the language barrier, but also to interpret and navigate the healthcare system.

On Saturday, February 21 these groups, headed by Piedmont CASA will put on the Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS). The goal for the 80 participants is to keep a roof over their head and get their bills paid with a kit to role-play the life of a low-income family. More details on the CAPS simulation here.

More information about Piedmont CASA at pcasa.org, information about Charlottesville Works Initiative at cacfonline.org, and information about Jefferson area CHiP at jachip.org.

Poverty Simulation with Alicia Lenahan

Wake-Up Call: Storage & Transportation of Toxic Materials

On the February 8th Wake-Up Call, Rick is joined by Upper James Riverkeeper Pat Calvert and Upper James Outreach Coordinator Rob Campbell of the James River Association to discuss the storage and transportation of toxic materials in the area. Throughout the hour, they discuss recent accidents involving toxic materials, if our methods for transportation of toxic materials are out of date, and the most effective solutions to prevent future incidents. To learn more about how you can help protect the James River through the Our River at Risk campaign, visit riveratrisk.org.

Wake-Up Call: Homelessness in Charlottesville

This time Rick is joined by Stephen Hitchcock, Director & Chaplain at The Haven, and Jordy Yager, journalist. Jordy wrote a piece called The Median Men for Cville Weekly. He spent 9 months learning about a group of 6 individuals that panhandle in the medians at major intersections around Charlottesville that stick together and made a camp to have roots.

Stephen says The Median Men may be a public face of Homelessness, but not necessarily the truest face. He describes the fastest growing homeless demographic as families and unaccompanied youth from 16-24 years old.

The Haven is a day shelter that offers phone and computer access, a place to store belongings and wash clothes. The mission is to help with housing solutions. Stephen says, “Why are people homeless? Because they don’t have a home.”

Jordy’s experience is that the individuals have their own personal story, but the people he got to know believed that you don’t deny what is given to you and that if a care package was given to them if they couldn’t use the products inside, they would find another person in need to give them to.

If you’d like to learn more about The Haven or give to their cause click here. You can read Jordy Yager’s article here.

Wake-Up Call: Bigs and Kids with Jackie Bright

Rick Moore is joined by Jackie Bright, Executive Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Blue Ridge. Rick and Jackie discuss the process of matching a kid and a Big by interviewing the child, their family and also doing background checks and then spending time finding the right pairing.

The purpose of Big Brothers Big Sisters, creating individualized support for children that are likely living in poverty so that they can get experiences outside of their communities.

A new pilot program has begun with the Alliance for Black Male Achievement where black male teens are paired with Bigs for mentoring and for workshops which include Soft Scale development, hygiene, conflict resolution.

Hear the program below and find out more about Big Brothers Big Sisters at www.blueridgebigs.org

 

Wake-Up Call: Community Investment Collaborative

On the January 18th Wake-Up Call, Rick talks about the Community Investment Collaborative with CIC president Stephen Davis and two CIC graduates: Jessica Hogan of FARMacy, a home-based super food smoothie delivery service, and Mike Cantwell of Cloud Cabin Arts, an independent woodworking business that specializes in handmade furniture and cabinetry using local lumber. Throughout the hour, the group discusses the origins of their businesses, the greatest rewards and challenges of being a business owner, and how CIC helped make their small businesses possible.

Wake-Up Call: Affordable Care Act conversation with Carolyn Engelhard

Speaking this week about the Affordable Care Act, Rick Moore is joined by Carolyn Engelhard, Director, Health Policy Program, Department of Public Health Sciences at University of Virginia School of Medicine.

Commonly called Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act has reached its one year anniversary and Rick and Carolyn discuss how the major goals of coverage for more Americans and reducing overall health care costs are coming to pass.

The choices don’t have to be limited to For Profit versus Socialized Medicine.

Risk Pools more sick individuals mean escalating costs. A moderate pool means getting individuals who are not sick to purchase insurance, is that preventive care? Carolyn Engelhard mentions Philosophical care, where older and younger individuals are paying nearly the same amount with the expectation that the younger insured will one day be old have others to pay for them.

Wake-Up Call: Space – Still the Final Frontier?

WNRN LogoHost Rick Moore is joined by UVa Professor of Astronomy Ed Murphy. Honored with the UVa Alumni Association Distinguished Professor award, Ed Murphy has worked on the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) and runs the public night program at the McCormick Observatory. Topics discussed include the Rosetta and Kepler Missions, the cosmic calendar, and the future of NASA launches.