Minding their own businesses
Recently, after spending decades on other pursuits, three Howard County women independently decided it was time for them to start up their own companies — both for- and not-for-profit.It wasn’t so much a sudden — or even a lingering — desire toward entrepreneurship that moved them to create their new enterprises. Rather, each wanted to fill a perceived community... READ MORE
Making a world in miniature
Paula Setters Driftmeyer didn’t have a dollhouse when she was a little girl. Now 58, the Perry Hall resident is making up for lost time with her collection of “room boxes” — think dollhouse rooms but without the house surrounding them.“I’m fascinated by their small size,” said Driftmeyer, the executive director of a nonprofit organization.... READ MORE
County seeks friendlier aging
Silver Spring resident Beverly Blakey, 64, doesn’t drive, and says it can take her two hours to get to some destinations via circuitous routes on public transportation.On the other hand, one of Rosemary Arkoian’s main concerns is too much traffic and not enough roads in the northern part of Montgomery County. The 75-year-old Gaithersburg-area resident, who has lived in... READ MORE
Imagining Nancy Drew at 90
Nancy carried the two bags of groceries out to her car, refusing the offers of help that greeted her every step of the way. Really, she thought, you’d think I was over 100 years old instead of just 90…She reached her new silver-toned Prius, opened the trunk, and lifted the bags into it. Then she closed the trunk and stepped back, looking up into the startled eyes of the man at... READ MORE
Brightening ill children’s days
When a child is critically ill, the entire family is affected, as Debi Katzenberger knows all too well. Her granddaughter, Kamryn, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2004 and passed away three years later when she was just 8 years old.As Kamryn endured treatments and innumerable hospital stays, her days were brightened by tickets to shows, birthday presents and other gifts from the Casey Cares ... READ MORE
A long career helping others
Maureen Forman’s parents were university music professors and activists dedicated to social justice. They taught her solid principals about respecting the lives of others, and to do all she could to help those in need of compassion and assistance. “It was inculcated in me from a very early age to take care others,” says Forman, executive director of Jewish Family... READ MORE
Losing their long-time homes
In the rapidly gentrifying nation’s capital, real estate investors aren’t the only ones flipping houses for profit. The city’s public housing authority is getting in on the action — moving older tenants out of homes where they’ve lived for decades, renovating them, and selling them to wealthy buyers.The renovations, at a cost of more than $300,000 per home,... READ MORE
Cover Stories 2024
