Every year, Charlotte magazine names a group of Charlotteans of the Year, made up of individuals who changed the city that year. I wrote about Sil Ganzó, the executive director of ourBRIDGE, a nonprofit that helps immigrant and refuge children (and their families) settle in Charlotte.
CARS RUMBLE over Central Avenue’s potholes and whiz past Deli St.’s porch, as Sil Ganzó speaks of her first few years working with the local refugee and immigrant community in an after-school program a few blocks west on Pecan Avenue.
Ganzó and her staff would transport children to and from the center, traveling through the east Charlotte neighborhoods of Eastcrest, Wembley, and Oak Park. “It was like the Flintstones van,” she says, smiling. “The van would just stop, and we would have to push it. And the kids thought it was hilarious.”
Photo by Anthony, a 4th grade student at ourBRIDGE. Sil Ganzó poses with Preston, another fourth grader.
Emma Way 