(cheerful music) - [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.

- Just ahead on "Carolina Impact."

- There are no words to describe what it's like to see a parent's face when their child has breakthrough on the back of a horse.

- We'll take you to the Charlotte Area Farm, where hundreds of special needs patients find healing on horseback.

Plus, in our new Meet Your Neighbor segment, we'll introduce you to a flutist originally from New York who's been uniting the Queen city with his music for over 30 years.

And we show you how one local man uses an age old technique to create unique art.

"Carolina Impact" starts right now.

(cheerful music) Good evening.

Thanks so much for joining us, I'm Amy Burkett.

Charlotte's high tech hospitals are some of the finest healthcare provided anywhere, but for children born with disabilities or adults suffering from stress-related disorders, traditional treatment isn't always the answer.

This week, "Carolina Impact's" Jeff Sonier and videographer Doug Stacker show us a different kind of care at Shining Hope Farms where they're changing lives with their horses of healing.

(gentle music) - So Caleb has been coming to see me about a year now.

And when Caleb started, we weren't really walking on our own.

We had just started taking some steps on our own.

- [Jeff] For three year old Caleb, what a difference a year makes.

- You know, and he's come a long way with his core strength and his balance.

1, 2, 3.

Scooch, scooch.

Good work.

Okay.

Nice step, Caleb.

He's walking on his own.

(gentle music) He just started jumping where he doesn't need hand support and he can do that.

There you go.

- [Narrator] But physical therapist Kelly Coney Pacious says here at Shining Hope Farms, this is what Caleb likes to do most.

- Say go, Kathy, go!

Let's see if Kathy's hooves go up, say up.

- [Jeff] Caleb learning to walk by learning to ride with his horse swaying side to side.

The same way we sway when we walk.

- Oh, he hasn't kicked any.

Look at him go.

They're getting visual flow.

They're getting a feel of the horse, the warmth of the horse.

You're getting a stretch when you're sitting on the horse.

You're having to activate muscles to maintain your position.

You're working on your balance because you have to correct yourself when you go different directions and the horse moves.

- [Jeff] The movement is gentle, and so is the horse.

For Caleb, small, but tall in the saddle, there's no fear here.

You would think a horse would frighten a child this young, this small.

- No, a lot of times it's really just when they're little, we actually get them on the horse from the ramp.

He would turn and look at the horse, pet the horse some days.

And he has achieved all of his goals every time we reassess in the six month period.

So he is making very good progress.

- [Jeff] Caleb's progress measured in every confident little stride and every horseback ride.

- There you go, good shift.

- There are no words to describe what it's like to see a parent's face when their child has breakthrough on the back of a horse.

- [Jeff] Patrice Gibson is director of development here at Shining Hope Farms where breaking through is what they do.

- Yeah?

All right.

- Let's try.

- Say the itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.

- [Jeff] Medical professionals at Shining Hope evaluating the physical and mental problems of every special needs child.

Then using their stable of 30 horses on three different farms to help treat those problems.

- And it's hard when you're in therapy and you're trying to teach a child how to walk that's never walked before because their body doesn't know what to do.

But when you put them on the back of a horse, there's nothing that mimics the human walk like the three-dimensional gait of the horse.

And so their body literally learns how to walk.

(gentle music) It's a magical moment to be a part of that.

We witness miracles every single day with these children.

- [Jeff] It's the miracle of hope and healing that families can actually afford.

- We don't charge horse usage fees.

There's no out-of-pocket cost other than their copay that they would be paying if they went to a clinic.

Our goal is to help our community.

And not just help the children in need in our community, but also help our communities, the people that have served us.

We wanna be able to serve those who have served us.

- [Jeff] That's why Shining Hope also welcomes veterans and first responders to its horse therapy program.

- It's a gentle giant right here.

- [Jeff] As Army veteran Kelly Little grooms his horse, Red, for a ride today, it reminds him of summers at his grandfather's home.

- [Kelly] Yeah, so I was sitting on the porch.

Mr. Shaw who was right next to him had all these horses.

So I would just sitting watch 'em, but never rode.

But I always felt connected to 'em.

- [Jeff] And now after 25 years in the military, much of it in combat zones overseas.

(gentle music) - Losing different brothers.

Some of the experience I seen while I was over there.

Just it must go here.

- [Jeff] The horses he saddles up here at Shining Hope Farms are helping Kelly connect again with civilian life.

- And so there's an isolation.

You're coming back.

It's not quite the same.

- [Instructor] And you can check 'em again.

- [Kelly] The horse showed me that it was things that I was hot that I needed to deal with.

- Insomnia, flashbacks, whatever it is they're dealing with, being around the horse has this calming effect.

It really positively affects them, changes their mood, changes their stress level.

And so they, we have countless stories of how just being here on the farm has really helped them.

- He listens well, just my pressure with my feet.

We can act like we are healed, but inside we're suffering.

And so, this puts you in a position to really be at peace because of this experience with this amazing and huge animal, to build that relationship and create feelings of belonging and trust, that in itself for me is, you know, you can't explain it.

It just happens.

And then they choose you.

- All right, big guy.

- [Jeff] Why the horse?

- The horse is mysterious and amazing.

And there's a lot that I can't explain about the horse.

I don't know how to explain how it does what it does.

But some of the things that we've seen our patients experience.

- [Instructor] Say you get to ride the biggest horse there is.

- [Patrice] Bringing them to the farm, they forget that they're doing therapy because they're riding a horse, and it's fun, and it's different, and it's very motivating.

So it changes the entire dynamic, but they're still achieving the same goals.

It's really exciting to watch.

(gentle music) - For "Carolina Impact," I'm Jeff Sonier.

- Thank you so much, Jeff.

Shining Hope Farms serves more than 200 patients a week at three locations in Charlotte, Mount Holly, and Conover.

You'll find more info about their equine assisted therapy programs at our website, pbscharlotte.org.

Music also has a way of healing regardless of background, race, or social status.

It has a special way of bringing us together too.

Our world could use some uniting these days, don't you think?

Well, that's why we're launching a new recurring segment that allows us to meet our neighbors.

"Carolina Impact" Dara Khaali joins us now with more on what you can expect.

- Amy Research shows over 100 people a day move to our region.

Now, it's impossible to meet all of them, but we're gonna introduce you to some amazing transplants.

Tonight, photojournalist Russ Hunsinger and I introduce you to our neighbor from Harlem, Tommy Lopez.

♪ I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you ♪ ♪ I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you ♪ ♪ So would you be mine, could you be mine ♪ ♪ Won't you be my neighbor ♪ (soft music) - [Mr. Rogers] Hi, neighbor.

(instrumental dance music) - [Dara] When you hear their music, it makes you just- (instrumental dance music) Wanna get up and dance.

(instrumental dance music) If you ask Tommy Lopez, flutist for the band Flute Praise, he'll tell you it feels like- (Tommy claps) - That feel.

(instrumental dance music) - [Dara] That rhythm is called clave.

And when you hear it, you can help but move.

There's a rich history that comes with that infectious sound.

- Clave, believe it or not, is the original root African rhythm that came from Africa through the Caribbean and became part of Caribbean music.

Whether it's Haitian or Puerto Rican or Dominican or Cuban, it's there.

(instrumental dance music) - [Dara] Lopez is a proud Puerto Rican born and raised in Harlem, New York, which he says helped shape his love for music.

- Everything I play, even the smooth jazz, for me, I have to have a feel of clave.

So in terms of my Latin roots, that's all part of what I play.

You know, no matter what style I play, you'll feel that underneath it.

(groovy instrumental music) - [Dara] Since Lopez was a child, music has always been a part of his life.

- I started playing flute in fifth grade, and I went on in the sixth grade, stayed, continued to play, all self-taught.

- [Dara] When it was time for him to go to high school, he attended a performing arts school where he met a young lady just as ambitious as he was.

(Nancy sings in Spanish) - I was there for voice.

I realized after a few days, this guy is not the same guy that everybody had been talking about.

This guy's different.

- [Dara] So different that a few dates soon turned into love.

Then a marriage that inspired them to start performing together across New York.

- We had opportunities to minister in different churches, and we would go.

Tommy would actually play piano for me, you know, while I sang.

- [Dara] After doing this for a while and giving birth to their son David, they decided it was time for a change.

One that would take them away from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple.

- We received the opportunity through my job to come down here.

We came down within five days.

We had enrolled our son in a private Christian school.

We had bought our first house, and we were coming to Charlotte.

(uptempo flute music) - [Dara] Over the years, he's played with several different musicians, and has even gone solo.

But there's something special that happens when he performs with his wife, Nancy.

- I have seen seniors who are like this with Alzheimer's.

The moment I start to play, they are like flowers, they blossom.

They'll tap their feet.

They'll even sing some of the lyrics of the music I'm playing.

And then as soon as the song is over, they go back.

It's unbelievable.

(instrumental dance music) - Music is love.

Everybody knows that.

Music is peace, music is harmony, music is everything.

So just having it, and you know, big open space, the way it's set up is just literally saying, everybody, come on.

Come on down.

- [Dara] Similar to the Lopezes, Juanita Antioco and her family moved from New York to North Carolina with hopes of slowing down their lives.

- It was a needed transition.

Too much hecticness going on up there.

So came down here for a decent change of pace and not regretting it.

- [Dara] As her family continues to get settled into their new home, Antioco who has Panamanian roots says the music from Flute Praise will help her cherish the home she left behind from.

- Time I walked in through the front, I was already like, oh, let's go!

Let's go.

So yeah, it's awesome 'cause I haven't listened to that kind of music in a long time, but it brought it back.

It really did.

I'm happy that I am here.

- [Dara] It's moments like that that remind Lopez of the power of music.

- Music has that effect on people.

It helps us to create an atmosphere.

We want to create the atmosphere, a family-oriented atmosphere, a peaceful atmosphere, a joyful atmosphere.

- It's fun.

- A tranquil atmosphere.

- [Dara] After 35 years of making his mark on Charlotte through music, Lopez wouldn't have it any other way.

- Dara joins me now, and it really seems like Tommy loves connecting with the audience.

I bet he told you some stories.

- He and his wife both told me some pretty amazing stories, Amy.

So a lot of their audience is mostly Hispanic, and so when they sing those Latin American songs, it really connects people to each other, and it connects them to their roots.

So a lot of people come up to them and say, hey, I remember hearing this song from my grandmother growing up, or I remember hearing the song as a child.

So it really brings the audience together, and it's a special way of connecting Nancy and Tommy, but also the people in the audience as well to their music.

And we heard some amazing music from them.

So you know a little bit what we're talking about.

- Well, I appreciate you sharing Tommy's story with us.

Thanks so much, Dara.

Well, we'd love to shine the spotlight on our neighbors making a positive impact on our region.

So let us know about them by sending us an email and their information to stories@wtvi.org.

Well, continuing on with our art theme tonight, the world changed in 1454 when Johannes Gutenberg released his printing press for all to see.

In Rock Hill, a local illustrator still uses a press to create works of art.

Producer John Branscum introduces us to Stephen Crotts.

(gentle music) - I've always felt encouraged to make and create.

(gentle music) Most of my work is based in drawing and printmaking.

I'm Steven Crotts.

I'm an illustrator in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

I had the opportunity to work with him to recreate some of his family members in drawings.

I work with authors and musicians.

Taking ideas from other people, collaborating with them to interpret their text, their story, whatever it is they have into a visual format.

A lot of the aesthetic that I'm kind of after is based in relief print making.

I like the old look of that.

There's kind of a vintage quality that comes from, you see it in a lot of antique books.

(upbeat music) A lot of my client work is based in that sort of printmaking look.

The process for printmaking always begins with a lot of sketching for me.

I like to get the image pretty well figured out before I go to the block.

I carve into various types of wood and also linoleum.

If there's any text, it's gotta be backwards because once the ink is applied to the block, and then paper is pressed on it, it will make the mirror image.

There are tools made especially for this, but I also like to use carving tools that are made for wood as well.

You're removing what will be the highlight.

You have to be really careful, first of all, not to cut yourself, but also there's no undo button.

So you've gotta be precise as you're carving.

(soft music) I apply a lot of the same process into my digital drawing now.

I'll start with a black background and take a digital brush and I'm carving out, in a sense, light out of the dark.

As a kid, I always loved to draw and had a family that supported that.

I had excellent teachers in schools, including my mentor Barbara in high school was a particular influence who really pushed me to begin imagining that I could do art in a career.

And from there, I majored in art at Winthrop University.

When I came to take a printmaking class, it felt like learning a lost art.

It seemed to be this old way of doing things that was really fun to learn.

It was a challenge.

Once the image looks like it's all been carved, I take a brayer and spread out ink.

I get it to the right consistency.

I've got a friend that says make it sound like bacon frying.

And then that is applied to the block, and then the paper is applied to the block.

The pressure can come either through like a wooden spoon is a really effective tool or a printing press.

The print comes off of the press.

I hang it up to dry, it usually takes a handful of weeks.

And then they go out into the world.

There's definitely a growing popularity with printmaking.

There's an allure back toward something that is tactile, that takes time, that is not instant.

And I'm really grateful for the chance to do what I do and collaborate with so many interesting folks.

- Thank you, John.

Some of Stephen's work has even been featured in concerts at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

Well, finally tonight, you've likely heard the stories.

Someone who retires from one career only to start another.

More often than not, it's something the person had always wanted to do, but just didn't have the time.

What about a second career happening by accident?

That's something you don't hear about too often.

Carolina impacts Jason Terzis and photojournalist Doug Stacker introduce us to someone who stumbled into his second career right in his own driveway.

And his neighbors can't get enough of it.

(soft music) - [Jason] It's a new day in the game of life, but with plenty of reminders of days gone by.

(soft music) - [Radio Host] For the very latest on the hornets, Kyle Bailey's got you covered.

- I'm not an artist.

Everybody says, "Oh, the artist.

"Oh."

No.

No, I just like to paint.

(soft music) I can be out here all the time.

I just lose myself in it.

- [Jason] The hours he spends out here are immeasurable.

Every day, day into night.

(upbeat music) - I was painting all through the night last summer.

I would paint all night long from 8:00 PM till 6:00 AM.

I'd watch the sun come up and I'd be out here painting.

- He's out here pretty much all the time.

14, 15 hours a day.

(upbeat music) - It's painstaking effort.

I mean, I see him up here at six o'clock in the morning up until nine o'clock at night.

He's laying down, he's got his mat out, he's got his paint brushes out, and he's painting away.

(upbeat music) - [Jason] The funny thing is, this whole thing began by accident when one day a few years ago, he dropped a jar of paint.

- I dropped it and it started spilling all over the place.

And I went and got a paint brush, and I started spreading it out so it wouldn't cover too much of the driveway.

It started looking like a circle.

And I said, well, let's go ahead and make it a circle.

- [Jason] And just like that, a new passion project was born.

- One day he just started painting, and I thought, what is that?

What is he doing?

- [Jason] Some of the neighbors came by and we would ask questions about what they thought about the whole project.

And some people, you know, figured that he'd eventually give up on it.

- [Jason] But it's not until you take a step back, or in this case, up, do you realize the full scale of what Jim Celania is doing in the canvas he's working on.

(upbeat music) - After I got to looking at it, I'm saying, maybe he's got something going here.

This is pretty interesting.

- He loves to be out here.

This is his passion.

(upbeat music) - [Jason] Some of you may recognize his voice.

- There's no more pre-season- - [Jason] Or his face.

- Yes, I was the youngest sports director in America.

- [Jason] A sports broadcasting career that took him coast to coast.

- [Jim] Came to Louisville, Louisville to San Francisco.

- [Jason] Eventually landing him in Charlotte in the eighties.

- I'm Jim Celania, and I'll be above the action today here at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

When I got here, when I bought this house, I knew I was home.

- [Jason] Television then gave way to radio.

- [Jim] I got a call from Sports Talk Radio here.

Lo and behold, I had a second career.

- [Jason] For 20 years hosting shows on WFNZ.

Finally retiring from all things broadcasting in 2018.

His early fifties Cotswold Ranch sits just as he bought it, but now in the middle of tear downs and new construction.

- When I moved on this street, there were no kids.

And now I think just about every house has kids.

And most of the homes were like mine, a ranch.

Now it's 4,000 feet straight up in the ground.

So it's become a street of mansions.

- [Jason] For years, Jim hardly knew any of his neighbors.

He was the quiet guy on the street.

- Jim kind of kept to himself for a while, and I always thought, "Who's the man who lives in that house?"

- [Jason] But that all changed thanks to two things, his new puppy Jack and his newly found passion for painting.

- [Jim] Once they started seeing Jack, they wanted to come up to see him, and that's when they first saw the driveway 'cause you can't see it from the road.

- Every time we're walking by with my daughter, with my kids, I mean, he'll wave us on up, he'll hand a paint brush to my daughter, and he'll sit there and teach her how to paint.

- I got credibility and likability now because of a dog and a driveway.

(Jim laughs) - [Jason] Jim's driveway painting began with simple circles.

- [Jim] The big circles are a bicycle tire.

The smaller circles are plates from the kitchen - [Jason] Then came flags.

- [Jim] First one I did was Ukraine.

I got 28 country flags over there.

- [Jason] Then slogans and signs.

♪ Sign, sign, everywhere a sign ♪ - I start branching out with slogans and commercial things and stuff like that.

♪ Do this, don't do that ♪ ♪ Can you read the signs ♪ - [Jason] And of course there's plenty of sports references from Grand Slam to goal and touchdown.

- And now the kids in the neighborhood wanna see their name in the lights, you know?

So there's little girls' names all over the driveway.

- This is just one of my favorite things of the neighborhood.

- [Jason] And he's even gotten creative with the cracks in his driveway, turning them into little rivers.

- So I put the gold paint around the cracks.

And then I said, well, the cracks should have something in them.

And I got this white gravel.

I just used a hammer, a chisel and beat 'em down in there.

I paint 'em aquamarine blue.

- This is an incredible amount of work he's put into this thing.

- [Jason] The amount of paint he's used to do all this.

- I got a bag in there that's just full of empties.

I probably spent five to $8,000.

(soft music) - [Jason] Perhaps the biggest thing to come out of Jim's driveway art is his neighbors now all know who he is.

- Jim, the most interesting man in the neighborhood.

- If they ever were afraid of me, they no longer are.

- I feel like he's the mascot of our neighborhood.

- [Jason] The driveway's gotten so much attention that some people have mistaken it for a daycare.

- Someone even asked me if there was a daycare coming up on the street.

- And we like to joke that Jim runs the neighborhood preschool.

- [Jason] As for the future, Jim's already made plans for the house as well as the driveway.

He's gonna give it all away.

But with one little catch.

- This house ain't going nowhere and nor is the driveway.

- [Jason] So whoever comes in next has to take it as is.

- And this is kind of a permanent footprint that will stay that people can enjoy for years.

And I think he really likes to make people smile.

- And I think it's meant a lot to him that he's gone on this journey.

- My life has changed.

This driveway has changed my life because- - [Jason] The once quiet guy with an interesting past now bringing an entire neighborhood closer together.

For "Caroline Impact," I'm Jason Terzis reporting.

- Thanks so much, Jason and Doug.

Such amazing art.

Well, earlier this year, Jim released a book, and he says it's a compilation of outrageous and heartfelt stories that happened to him or around him or because of him.

Sounds like something I'd enjoy reading.

Well, if you know any amazing people that would make great stories on "Carolina Impact," we would love to hear from you.

Email us your ideas at stories@wtvi.org.

Well, I've got some friends to say goodnight with me this evening.

Girl Scouts from Norwood and Stanley County.

Ladies, thanks for coming to visit the show and be a part of it.

I hope you learned a lot.

Did you have some fun?

- Yes?

Okay, they're a little bit shy.

Unfortunately, we're out of time.

Thanks so much for joining us.

We always appreciate your time and look forward to seeing you back here again next time on "Carolina Impact."

Goodnight, my friends.

(cheerful music) (cheerful music continues) (cheerful music continues) - [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.