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Tag: Alexis Bell

  • Summer heat adds extra risk for homeless communities

    Summer heat adds extra risk for homeless communities

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    GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — With heat advisories across the state, health experts say outside workers and vulnerable communities are more likely to be impacted by heat-related illnesses and death.

    What You Need To Know

    2023 is one of the hottest years on record, and Spectrum meteorologists say 2024 is on pace to keep up with that trend

    Heat-related illnesses were three times as likely in July and August of 2023, compared to in May, June and September, according to the CDC

    Vulnerable communities are more likely to be impacted by heat-related illnesses

    Those living outside say rechargeable fans and ways to hydrate are helpful in these summer conditions


    According to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), outside workers, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions are more sensitive to the heat.

    The report shows that 92% of all emergency room visits for heat-related illnesses in 2023 happened between May and September. The emergency room visits were three times as likely to happen in July and August.

    Spectrum News 1 meteorologists say 2023 was one of the hottest years in recorded history, and 2024 is on track to keep up with that trend. 

    People who live outside, in encampments and in homes without air conditioning are also more susceptible to heat-related illnesses.

    Dave and his wife have been living in a camp in Gaston County for six years, after a new landlord increased their rent to a figure the couple could no longer afford.

    “It’s unbearable…being out in the heat,” said Dave, who did not want to share his last name. “No way to really take showers or anything.”

    He and his wife look for places in the shade, where they can recharge their portable fans and hydrate.

    “You can always put on more clothes, you can always find ways to cover up and keep warm, but you can never find enough ways to stay cool,” said Dave.

    Dallas High Shoals Christian Ministry offers a hot meal and two bags of essentials a week to those who need it.

    Executive Director Leah Hedgpath says fans and jugs of water are often what they get asked for. 

    “It extends more than just someone who doesn’t have a home. We have several that have a shelter, but that’s all that it is,” said Hedgpath. “They don’t have running water. They don’t have electricity. They don’t have a way of cooking their food, storing their food, cleaning properly and so they kind of fall in that category of needing these types of items as well.” 

    Dave says cold water and ice is what they need to help stay hydrated this summer. 

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    Alexis Bell

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  • Huntersville business raising money for St. Augustine’s University

    Huntersville business raising money for St. Augustine’s University

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    HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. —  Kaldi’s Coffeehouse & Roastery is donating 30% of profits from its special Saint Augustine’s University coffee line to the university’s Falcon Pride Initiative Fund. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Saint Augustine’s University launched a Falcon Pride Initiative Fund with the goal of raising $5 million to prove the school is financially stable as it seeks to keep accreditation
    • A Charlotte based coffeehouse and roastery launched a special HBCU series, donating 30% of proceeds from its “1867” branded coffee beans to the Falcon Pride Initiative Fund
    • The owner, a fellow HBCU graduate, says she wants to do what she can to help

    St. Augustine’s launched the fund in February, hoping to raise $5 million to elevate its financial stability as the university seeks to keep its accreditation.

    Marcia Cox, Kaldi’s Coffeehouse & Roastery owner, graduated from North Carolina A&T in 2023. She said when she saw another historically Black university in need, she wanted to step in and help.

    “It just felt like the right thing to do,” Cox said. “I just felt like if that were my school, and I were a student there or an alum there, I’d want someone to do something to help out as well and bring awareness.”

    Cox launched an HBCU line of coffee beans. Roastery customers can order special North Carolina A&T, Winston-Salem State University and St. Augustine’s University branded coffee. The N.C. A&T and WSSU options will donate 10% of proceeds to the respective schools. Thirty percent of profits from the St. Augustine’s branded coffee beans will be donated to the Falcon Pride Initiative Fund.

    Cox says in two weeks, she has received more than 30 orders for the St. Augustine’s line and plans to write her first check to the university at the end of the month. 

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    Alexis Bell

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