Hometown Heroes

Nominate a Hometown Hero!

Hometown Hero: Andrew Taylor-Troutman

by Jordan Beyle | July 6, 2026 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by the O. Max Gardner Foundation, is Andrew Taylor-Troutman. Taylor-Troutman is the author of "Little Big Moments" on Chapelboro.com and the pastor at Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church. They've teamed up with a national...

Hometown Hero: Charles DeBose

by Jordan Beyle | June 29, 2026 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by O. Max Gardner Foundation, is Charles DeBose. DeBose's work supports not just one nonprofit but many. He serves as the director of operations for the Extraordinary Thrift Store where he does many different things. He also works...

Hometown Hero: Amy Slaughter

by Jordan Beyle | June 22, 2026 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by the O. Max Gardner Foundation, is Amy Slaughter. Slaughter is a realtor who works with the nonprofit Community Home Trust. Slaughter completes the home buying transaction, making sure the buyers are able to work with their...

Hometown Hero: Mary Lucas

by Jordan Beyle | June 15, 2026 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by the O. Max Gardner Foundation, is Mary Lucas. Mary Lucas is the founder of Long Leaf Animal Rescue in Hillsborough. After less than a year in operation, Long Leaf already has dozens of volunteers and and foster families rescuing...

Hometown Hero: Melissa Driver Beard

by Jordan Beyle | June 8, 2026 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by the O. Max Gardner Foundation, is Melissa Driver Beard. Driver Beard is the executive director of the CORA Food Pantry. They have been fighting hunger and food insecurity in Chatham County for years. CORA Food Pantry now has two...

Hometown Hero: Suzanne Tormollen

by Jordan Beyle | June 1, 2026 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by the O. Max Gardner Foundation, is Suzanne Tormollen. Tormollen is the director of marketing at TABLE, a beloved local nonprofit helping kids with food insecurity in Chapel Hill and Carrboro since 2008. Tormollen has been with...

Hometown Hero: Ivette Mercado

by Jordan Beyle | March 23, 2026 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by Hendrick Southpoint, is Ivette Mercado. Mercado is a full time administrator at Glenwood Elementary School and for the last 23 years she has run the after school program at Dobbins Hill Community Center, helping hundreds of kids...

Hometown Hero: Pat Richardson

by Jordan Beyle | March 16, 2026 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by Hendrick Southpoint, is Pat Richardson. Richardson is the founder of the Monet Richardson Community Foundation. The MRCF is named after Pat's daughter Krissy, a hometown hero in her own right, who launched a program with the...

Hometown Hero: Carol Chandler and Cindi Ebert

by Jordan Beyle | March 9, 2026 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Heroes, presented by Hendrick Southpoint, are Carol Chandler and Cindi Ebert. Chandler and Ebert were both recently recognized with Chatham County's 6 Over 60 Award, honoring older adults who make their community a better place. They've both spent...

Hometown Hero: Nataliia Bondarenko

by Jordan Beyle | March 2, 2026 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by Hendrick Southpoint, is Nataliia Bondarenko. Bondarenko is the outreach coordinator for the Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies at UNC. She came here after the beginning of the war in Ukraine. In her role at...

Hometown Hero: Kelly Drayton

by Jordan Beyle | Aug 18, 2025 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by Hendrick Southpoint, is Kelly Drayton. Drayton is the Chapel Hill Emergency Management Director. She organized the town's response to Tropical Storm Chantal this summer. During big events, the structure of town government shifts...

Hometown Hero: Josh Gurlitz

by Jordan Beyle | Aug 11, 2025 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by Hendrick Southpoint, is Josh Gurlitz. Gurlitz came out of retirement to assist EMPOWERment Inc. with the building of the P.E.A.C.H. Apartment Complex. He's a longtime architect who gave countless hours to design the building and...

Hometown Hero: Triangle Mutual Aid

by Jordan Beyle | Aug 4, 2025 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by Hendrick Southpoint, is Triangle Mutual Aid. Triangle Mutual Aid is a grassroots community collective response to human needs. It started in Carrboro when residents came together to give out water during a town wide water...

Hometown Hero: John Claude Bemis

by Jordan Beyle | Jul 28, 2025 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by Hendrick Southpoint, is John Claude Bemis. Bemis is an acclaimed writer, musician, and visual artist and is on the board of the Orange County Arts Commission. After the damage the Eno Arts Mill suffered in Tropical Depression...

Hometown Heroes: Damian Hoffman, Alex Nickodem, and Brian & Linda Sanders

by Jordan Beyle | Jul 21, 2025 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Heroes, presented by Hendrick Southpoint, are Damian Hoffman, Alex Nickodem, and Brian & Linda Sanders. Brian and Linda have picked up 1200 bags of litter around our community since the pandemic so they're no strangers to cleaning up around...

Hometown Hero: Steph Bryant

by Jordan Beyle | Jul 14, 2025 | Hometown Heroes, Town Square | 0 Comments

This week's Hometown Hero, presented by Hendrick Southpoint, is Steph Bryant. Bryant is the organizer of the Carrboro Run Club. It started 15 years ago connected to Fleet Feet, but Bryant revived it independently when she moved to a new position. Since then, she has...

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