Each month, with the help of OrthoCarolina and The Savage Way, we present a #BoltOfInspiration — beautiful moss art bolts — to Charlotteans who are working to help make the Queen City a more vibrant and loving place that urges all of us forward. This month, we honored Charlottean and Davidson College alum, Liz Clasen-Kelly, executive director of the combined Men’s Shelter of Charlotte/Urban Ministry Center, recently renamed “Roof Above.”

Assisting the homeless with their basic needs, as well as feeding their spirits and humanity, is challenging at the best of times. But, Liz and her team are doing incredible things for our homeless community in the most difficult of times. You can read more about Liz here. here and here.

Get Struck by More Inspiration

Read about other Charlotteans who have won Bolts of Inspiration.

Every month, Charlotte Is Creative awards Queen City creatives with HUG (“Helpful Unfettered Gift”) micro-grants to help them move their passions and projects along.

To spread HUG funds as far as possible and spark as many creative fires as we can across the city, the HUG micro-grant amount has been temporarily changed to $100 for projects that can be completed and shared by June 1. Thirteen HUGs were awarded this month thanks to the generosity of our HUG sponsors — T. Reid & Company, the Plain Language Group, Savvy & Company and Google Fiber — and individual donors.

Visual Art

• Andrea Downs – Women’s Laundry
• Julia Camenisch – Persona Grata Goods
• Amber Bounds – Little King Art
• Steph Newman – Crowned Sparrow Art
• Lovonia Parks – 100 Days Project
• Molly Stall

Craft & Fashion

• Jaclyn Brzezinski – Chrysalis Studios

Music and Performance

• Arsena Schroeder – Cabin Fever Solo Jams
• Jiya Williams – Lil Miss Fits Dance Studio
• Lisa Sidoran

Creative Community Engagement

• Alex Alcorn – The Making Wel
• D’Mya Sandford – Art for Unity Charlotte

Media and Podcasts

• John Phillips – Gabba Gabba Huh?

We encourage all Charlotte creatives to apply for a HUG … or to donate to the program here.