The Fabric of Community

Community is carefully woven in Northside neighborhoods. It is the thread that ties together its many histories. “Heavenly Groceries/Comida Celestial” is Northside community at its finest. Each month, “Heavenly Groceries” provides over 5,000 neighbors from four counties with a grocery-style selection of perishable foods. Mama Kat and Miss Belinda (pictured here), both lifetime residents of Chapel Hill/Carrboro and members of First Baptist Church members, are among the steady volunteers who offer food with a large serving of good humor and love. Mama Kat’s recipe for her prized poundcake (no, she never wrote it down) evokes the warmth of home and the welcome of real cooking. The Jackson Center tries to extend that welcome with its annual May Day celebration. Brooke Sobolewski’s inspired collage reflects the vibrancy of Northside community in action. Finally, Ms. Velma Perry, who has lived in Northside for over 90 years, stands up for community and justice at a meeting of the Sustaining OurSelves Coalition at St. Paul’s in 2011. The S.O.S. Coalition of friends and neighbors from across Chapel Hill and Carrboro achieved a historic, although temporary, moratorium on development in Northside in 2011.