A site for the Crossnore School.

An in-progress glimpse at a refreshed web site for the school with completion set for mid-August. Many thanks for the enthusiastic support of Executive Director Phyllis Crain, Melynda Pepple's ongoing resourcefulness (especially with photography, past and present), and the affirming helpfulness of everyone on campus. Shown here: the home page template. It's been, and continues to be, a tremendous honor to work with a school with so much compassion at its heart. Page design: Connie Aridas. Mapping and coding and web work: Heidi Lusk.

A sweeping resource for caregivers.

This not-for-profit foundation, called "APPEL" (or Avery Partnership for People at the End of Life), weaves a support system for caregivers, including grants for hospice care when other means of support aren't available. Part of its mission, too, is helping the caregiving community with spot-on information about services that can help medically, financially, legally and spiritually. This web site encompasses those resources and sets up a platform for sharing stories and ideas within a community that is often overwhelmed with too many duties and too little time.

We interviewed leaders in key caregiver organizations, helped structure the site, wrote and gathered the content. Partner Connie Aridas, working with board member Ann Baker, shaped the logo, based on an Avery County apple tree, and designed the site's templates which she handed off to web master Steffi Rausch. I am grateful to Ann, to Coy Franklin and to all the members of the APPEL board for pitching in and making this project sing with good information. As a WordPress site, content management will shift to the APPEL team with the launch of appelnetwork.org.