Two Years Strong

November 1st, 2011 marked the two year anniversary of our wonderful CEO Alice Lutz joining the Triangle Family Services team. Last week Alice sat down and talked about what brought her to Triangle Family Services, how things have gone since arriving, and what she see’s happening in the future.

Alice what brought you to Triangle Family Services?

Alice: I was running my own business and I started to miss working with a team to accomplish goals. I missed the heart pulse of a team.

How have these last two years gone here at Triangle Family Services?

Alice: I knew it would not be easy when taking this job. Running a non-profit organization in today’s society is tough. It is a struggle of the new reality, this industry has changed forever. But it has been a very rewarding experience.

What have you seen change while you have been here at Triangle Family Services?

Alice: There has been a substantial culture change and these changes have been directly in line with our clients needs. There has been more team building and Triangle Family Services has become a more integrated agency.

What would you like to see in your next two years here?

Alice: I would like to see sustainable income, a stable revenue chain, and more grants. I could go on and on with this one.
Has this experience been what you thought it would be?

Alice: Oh yes, I knew it would be hard coming in and I have sacrificed a lot to get here. I have put this job in front of a lot of things my health included.

Has this experience at Triangle Family Services been rewarding?

Alice: This experience has been phenomenally rewarding. Changing lives is not something I take lightly.

Would you like everyone to know anything else about what has happened these past two years?

Alice: I have been incredibly resourceful. I have brought in top minds from all across Raleigh to help me these past two years. I could not have made it without the help of everyone at Triangle Family Services and the help I have received outside as well.

Thank you Alice for a wonderful two years and hopefully many more to come.

Culinary Corner: An interview with Pastry Chef Jill Leckey of the Fearrington House Restaurant

It might be too early to play holiday music in the office, but all this talk of our Gingerbread Benefit has the entire TFS staff in the holiday spirit! By the way–did we mention that we’re reeeallly excited for the event? It’s only 30 days away! Many of the area’s top chefs are preparing to create tasty masterpieces to auction off at our event. Last week we introduced our “Culinary Corner” posts with an interview with Chef Daniel Benjamin of Herons Restaurant. This week, we’re honored to introduce pastry chef Jill Leckey of the Fearrington House Restaurant. Reading her interview, I can’t wait to see what her gingerbread house will look like!

Jill Leckey, Pastry Chef at the Fearrington House Restaurant

What or who inspired you to become a pastry chef? Who do you look up to in the field? I have always just loved being in the kitchen and creating delicious things. Jacques Torres was my first employer right out of pastry school. I still look up to him, and have great admiration for his amazing pastry and chocolate skills.

When you start a project do you have a vision or goal in mind, or do you figure it out as you go? I usually try to come up with a general idea of how I am going to accomplish the goal. Then I am open to let the idea evolve and change if need be.

What are your three favorite ingredients to work with?
Dark chocolate, star anise and scented geraniums

What will the inspiration for your gingerbread house be? I think that I am going to try and create a gingerbread house that has some sort of structural or design element that I have never attempted to create before. I love to challenge myself with things that I might not be able to do, but am willing to attempt.

The 9th annual Gingerbread Benefit is to be held on December 1, 2011 at the Umstead Hotel and Spa. Tickets for the event are available online at https://tfsnc.org/index.php/gingerbread-benefit/purchase-tickets-online

Buy now–before the event sells out!

Check us out on Facebook!

Culinary Corner: An Interview with Chef Daniel Benjamin of Herons Restaurant

Only 44 days are left until our 9^th annual Gingerbread Benefit! Our office is filled with busy little elves preparing for the holiday event who are getting more excited minute by minute!  Of course, we can’t have a Gingerbread Benefit without gingerbread houses and we are honored that some of the area’s top pastry chefs have agreed to participate this year. In fact, we’re so thrilled that we’d like to offer you a little preview of what’s to come, and share the masterminds behind the masterpieces of the Gingerbread Benefit.

Meet Daniel Benjamin of Herons Restaurant at the Umstead Hotel and Spa

Pastry Chef Daniel Benjamin of Herons Restaurant at the Umstead Hotel and Spa

What or who inspired you to become a pastry chef? Who do you look up to in the field? I don’t think I was inspired by any one thing, or person; it just seemed very natural.  [I look up to] anyone who doesn’t give up and keeps trying to do better and new things, but can also keep a respect for things from the past.

When you start a project do you have a vision or goal in mind, or do you figure it out as you go? I generally do not like to just figure it out as I go.  I usually have a vision in my head.

What are your three favorite ingredients to work with?
Smart people with a sarcastic dry sense of humor
Really nice fruit
Nuts, particularly pecans, pistachios, almonds, and hazelnuts

What will the inspiration for your gingerbread house be? At this point in time I think I will be making a “tree house” I have a vision of it in my head finished, but am not sure how my team and I will build it.

When do you feel most rewarded for your work?I feel rewarded when I get to see people eat our creations and they make that face that says, “This is really good,” and then you see them make the person they are with taste it too.

The 9th annual Gingerbread Benefit is to be held on December 1, 2011 at the Umstead Hotel and Spa. Tickets for the event are available online at https://tfsnc.org/index.php/gingerbread-benefit/purchase-tickets-online

Buy now–before the event sells out!

Check us out on Facebook!

9th Annual Gingerbread Benefit: Tickets Available

The title of this post says it all!

As if you weren’t still talking about all the fun you had with us a mere 3 weeks ago at our first annual Wake Up with TFS breakfast, now you have something else to look forward to. Tickets to our 9th annual Gingerbread Benefit are available now online! Please click here to buy your’s today.

President Obama Speaking at NCSU Today

President Barack Obama will be making a speech at North Carolina State University (NCSU) today in begin developing support for his new American Jobs Act. Obama will be speaking at about 1 p.m. and you will be able to watch his speech live on WRAL and WRAL.com. Keep in mind that many roads around the NCSU campus,  Apex, RDU and downtown Raleigh will be shut down and drivers in the area should expect delays.

True Colors

National speaker and leading trainer with Leading to Change , Eric Rowles, was with our staff on September 6 to present one of his top workshops, True Colors: Living Your Legacy By Building Leaders Around You. This was a hands-on inventory aimed at assessing our organizational and leadership styles of each member here at TFS.  For more information about Leading To Change and/or the True Colors workshop, visit their website at leadingtochange.com. Thank you Eric for joining us and providing such wonderful information to the entire staff!

 

Empowerment Zone Class!

Tonight from 6:00 – 8:00 pm Triangle Family Services is offering the bi-weekly Empowerment Zone class. During these short two hours we will address key budget and credit issues that affect most of our client base. This class is meant to teach client’s how to build and maintain a budget and how to improve (or repair) credit.

Call the receptionist number 821-1770 in order to reserve a spot. Training room size is limited, so you can attend without registering only if there is space available. Meet at 700 Blue Ridge Rd, Suite 101, Raleigh, NC 27606.

Additional information can be found on our website (here). We hope to see you this evening for an informative and potentially life changing class.

“Life Happens” A Client Story

Robert* is a single, 39-year old father with one 12-year old daughter. After being laid off from his job, he wound up falling behind on his rent and utilities waiting for unemployment. Struggling as a newly single parent since his daughter’s mother passed away (due to injuries from a car accident), he faced homelessness and sought assistance at Triangle Family Services.

He lost the job while his daughter was at summer camp and was distraught over the idea of his only child coming home to a homeless shelter. With the joint efforts of the case manager and Robert, he was able to alleviate the risk of becoming homeless. The case manager was able to assist him with his delinquent rent and locate employment before receiving his first unemployment check. They both worked on a budget for Robert, centered around saving money monthly to prevent a situation like this occurring again. Robert and his daughter were thankful for the program’s assistance.

 

*Names have been changed to insure confidentially of client

Child Well-Being in NC

While searching the web this morning with my daily and very large cup of coffee, I came across something I found to be startling and quite sad. It is no surprise that I find family health and nutrition to be interesting, which is why I was so struck to see this article from Carolina Parent. It states that child poverty in our state has risen to its highest level in the past decade, and we now rank 38th in key indicators of adolescent health and well-bring (as opposed to 37th last year). Keep in mind, that means we are in the bottom 15 out of all the states!

“Looking to track the effect of the recession, the report this year includes two new indicators – the number of children impacted by foreclosure and households with at least one unemployed parent. In North Carolina 90,000, or 2 percent, of the state’s children were hurt by foreclosure since 2007. In 2010, an estimated 253,000, or 12 percent, of children in this state lived in households where there was at least one parent who was eligible for or seeking employment, but was unemployed at the time the data were collected.

Another troubling statistics was seen in the youngest children. The percentage of newborns weighing less than 2,500 grams (about 5.5 pounds) has been largely unchanged for most of the past decade.”

If these statistics hit home with you, I encourage you to utilize one (or a few) of the many services that TFS provides! These are just a few: Consumer Credit & Budget Counseling, HUD-Approved Housing Counseling, Financial Literacy Workshops, Emergency Housing Assistance. Check out our calendar for upcoming workshop dates.

The Most Important Meal of the Day!

Just reminding everyone that this Friday (August 19th) is your last chance to buy tickets to our first annual Wake Up with TFS breakfast!

Not only will we be discussing community issues, but we will also honor incoming and outgoing member of our Board of Directors. If that isn’t enough, you will also enjoy a delicious breakfast including french toast, scrambled eggs, Virginia cured bacon, and fresh seasonal fruit.

Remember that nutritional expects suggest that this is the most important meal of the day. You won’t want to skip this! Hope to see you there.