Mission | Goals | Action Plan | Annual Report | Board of Directors | Leadership Team | FAQ

Goals
The Goals of Gaston Together Are:

• To bring together the talents of citizens through town meetings and citizen task forces;
• To solve community problems by working to identify and address root causes;
• To make continuous improvement the standard in our community;
• To promote and communicate pride in our community.

Board Of Directors

Officers:          Robert Spencer, Chair  Bruce Hodge, Chair Elect Cathy Kenzig, Vice-Chair/Secretary Craig Kluttz, Treasurer George Ratchford, Past Chair Cathy Kenzig, Leadership Team Chair Cathy Kenzig, Gaston Community Healthcare Commission Chair Regina Moody, Gaston 2012 Strategic Council Chair Gaston Clergy & Citizens Coalition Representative Members: Jaggy Anand                President, Firestone Fibers & Textiles Bob Austell                  Mayor, City of Cherryville Colleen Bridger             Director, Gaston County Health Department Susan Briggs               Senior Vice President, Business Services, BB&T Rev. Jerry Bron             Senior Pastor, Southminster Presbyterian Church Kenneth Davison, Jr.     Vice President, College Relations, Belmont                                    Abbey College Valerie Dunning            Community Volunteer Bill Gary, Jr.                 Associate, Nationwide Insurance & Financial                                    Services Houston Helms             Senior Vice President, Bank of America Bruce Hodge                 Vice President, Fidelity Bank Dr. Darial Jackson         Senior Minister, St. John’s Missionary                                      Baptist Church Betsy Jones                  Dean of Business, Gaston College             Beverly Kellar                Assistant Superintendent, Gaston County                                    Schools Cathy Kenzig                Executive Director, Alliance for Children                                     and Youth Craig Kluttz                  City Executive, RBC Centura Bank Alec Long                     President, Broad Street Bonded Warehouse Kerri Massey                ICF/MR Program Director, Holy Angels, Inc. Regina Moody               President and CEO, Holy Angels David O’Connor             VP & CFO, Gaston Memorial Hospital George Ratchford          General Manager, Design and Construction,                                     PSNC Energy T. J. Solomon II             Senior Law Partner, Gray Layton Kersh Solomon                                     Sigmon Furr & Smith PA Robert Spencer              Executive Director, Gaston Family Health                                     Services             Chief Terry Sult              Chief of Police, Gastonia City Police Department Jan Winters                   Gaston County Manager Ex-Officio:    Jenni Stultz                    Mayor, City of Gastonia Elyse Cochran                President, Gaston Regional Chamber of                                      Commerce Staff: Donna Lockett, Executive Director Frances Watson, Administrative Assistant    Wendy Callahan, Home Health Book Coordinator

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Frequently Asked Questions

Gaston Together is an organization committed to building a better Gaston County through planning and problem solving. Our organization takes the quality principles that have been so successful in business and applies that type of structured process to community problems.

Gaston Together has three central activities:


1. To help other organizations and groups address community problems by providing trained facilitators and by providing training in the Gaston Together problem-solving process;
   
   
2. To establish action teams (or task forces) to examine specific issues using the Gaston Together process. These action teams would bring individuals and organizations already working on the issue together with other citizens to work towards identifying the root cause of the problem and determining appropriate action;
   
   
3. To institute and carryout programs, initiatives, and activities in an effort to lead change and for the betterment of Gaston County.

The Gaston Together Process is based on the quality principles used by many businesses. It is the Continuous Process Improvement model that has four phases: Plan-Do-Check-Act. Its goal is to identify root causes of problems rather than symptoms and to lead a group toward developing solution that addresses those root causes.

Gaston Together is involved in several things at the moment including:


• Providing facilitators for the United Way’s task forces on transportation and literacy;
  
  
• Assisting the area’s ministers to organize a one-day conference for themselves to examine their role in improving the Gaston Community;
  
  
• Developing a web-site that will bring together as many Gaston County organizations as possible as a resource to the County’s citizens;
  
  
• Organizing task forces to examine parental involvement in education and juvenile crime (other task forces will be added during 1999).

The work begins with a group of committed and specially trained volunteers called the Gaston Together Leadership Team. These volunteers have had extensive training in facilitating groups of citizens to identify the root causes of community problems. Some members of the Leadership Teams are available to facilitate the process for other groups, some members help organize action teams and others provide training in Continuous Process Improvement and Leading Change Within a System.

There is a role for everyone. Gaston Together is actively recruiting citizen involvement from throughout the County. There are several ways to become involved with Gaston Together, including:


• Action Team Member: Gaston Together needs volunteers to serve on the action teams. This requires a commitment to meet regularly and to actively examine specific issues. Currently, action teams are working on parental involvement in education and on juvenile crime.
  
  
• Focus Group and Town Meeting Participant: As the action teams examine issues they will actively seek grassroots input through focus groups and town meetings. Citizen participation at this level is critical to the effectiveness of the action teams.
  
  
• Leadership Team Member: Gaston Together also needs highly committed Leadership Team Members. These team members invest a great deal of time to complete training as a certified Gaston Together facilitator. They also plan and organize the day-to-day work of Gaston Together and provide services to other organizations regarding the Gaston Together process.

For more information on any of these opportunities, please contact the Gaston Together office at 704.867.9869

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