Every month a group of people come together at a Network Night in Greater University Circle to support one another and share their gifts and talents. Everyone is welcome. Come check out the next gatherings from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4 and May 2 at University Circle United Methodist Church, 1919 E. 107th St.

Meet a few of the people who have come to Network Night:

 

Sheri West

Founder of Ayrie Enterprises and a caregiver

“All my life I’ve been struggling — robbing Peter to pay Paul,” West said recently. “My mother struggled. My grandmother struggled.”

“Then I realized: You can’t do it by yourself. You need other people … We have to stop waiting for someone — the government or someone else — to rescue us. I read somewhere, ‘We have to start participating in our own survival.’”

West’s resolution this year is to work with others to build up communities and give back. She is teaching entrepreneurship classes and working with mothers and veterans. Interested in learning more? Call 1-888-743-3808.

Orville “Nico” Hentley

Owner of a construction company

Interested in partnering with groups doing work with troubled youth to teach life skills and offer training in construction, car mechanics and more.

“The kids are now not pushed to where they should be,” Hentley said. “So when they come out for jobs, they are too late. Technology has passed them by.”

“To me, the basketball court today is a setup for kids: they hang out, get in trouble and then police make arrests,” he said. “We tell kids, ‘I don’t want to catch you on the street,’ but we don’t provide resources [to keep them off the street].”

Hentley has a 77,000-square-foot building on South Miles Road in Warrensville Heights where he would like to create a community complex.

If you share Hentley’s interest, contact him at 216-324-4366 or orvillehentley@yahoo.com.