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  Celebrating the potential of every human life 

A record number of supporters at Room At The Inn's 2023 banquet fundraiser gave more than $325,000 to provide homeless, single, pregnant women and their children shelter and comprehensive care. This is the most ever recorded for the fundraiser, well surpassing the previous record of $190,000 from 2022.WINSTON-SALEM — Few people can elicit a standing ovation before giving a public speech, but Dr. Ben Carson is one of them. The thunderous applause of nearly 1,000 Room At The Inn banquet attendees greeted the former presidential candidate and renowned pediatric neurosurgeon and advocate for life as he began his keynote address at the agency’s annual fundraiser Sept. 21 at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem.

In addition to Carson’s engaging talk, exciting expansion plans for the agency and a poignant moment with one of the speaker’s former patients were highlights of the evening.

This year’s event, “Partners on the Journey,” was the largest to date and raised a record of more than $325,000 for single, pregnant mothers and their children who would have no home and nowhere else to turn if it weren’t for Greensboro’s Room At The Inn (RATI). Its comprehensive care includes shelter, material assistance, meals, case management, transportation, job training, child care and many other life-affirming services.

“It’s been 30 years since the idea for Room At The Inn first formed at St. Benedict Church in Greensboro, and I think it’s fitting to have raised this astonishing amount at this milestone moment,” said Marianne Donadio, RATI’s associate director of donor relations, in comments after the event. “We are so grateful to our donors as well as Dr. Carson’s fine example of pro-life leadership and his inspiring words that moved people to give so generously.”

Carson is the founder and chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute and most recently served as the 17th secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. For nearly 30 years, he was director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. In 1987, he successfully performed the first separation of craniopagus twins, newborns who were conjoined at the back of the head. He also performed the first fully successful separation of type-2 vertical craniopagus twins in 1997 in South Africa. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Marianne Donadio, Room At The Inn's associate director of donor relations, and Albert Hodges, president and CEO of Room At The Inn, posed for a photo with Dr. Ben Carson before the banquet.In his speech, Carson extolled the intellect and faith of the nation’s Founding Fathers, whom he said studied every government that had ever existed before penning the Constitution and establishing the United States as a republic. He also noted that our nation is the only one with “a dream.”

“My American dream was to be a doctor. There was nothing more interesting than medicine. I loved everything that had to do with it … I even liked going to the doctor,” Carson said, drawing laughter.

He went on to explain his initial struggles in school and growing up poor while his mother raised him and his brother as a single parent. He credited her for his successes, noting that she had high expectations. Eventually, he began to excel in academics and became a brain surgeon.

“I had exactly the same brain when I was at the bottom of the class that I had when I was at the top of the class. What does that tell you about the human potential and these amazing brains that God has given us?” he said.

Also amazing, Carson noted that at fertilization there is a zygote with 46 chromosomes with the entire blueprint for a new human being, an individual with a distinct genetic identity from the mother or father.

“The baby starts developing extraordinarily rapidly at that point,” he said. “Within a matter of six to eight weeks people already have little eye sockets, little fingers and toes, a heart that's beating. It's very hard to say that it isn't that human being. The brain is developing with hundreds of thousands of neurons every day, and that brain continues to develop even after birth.”

Before the banquet started, Chase, Charles and Jackie Longino reunited with Dr. Ben Carson, who performed a life-saving operation in 2001, when Chase was 15 months old. Read more of their story below.Carson also noted that he has met some of the patients he’s saved after they reach adulthood. The event in Winston-Salem was no exception.

In a gathering right before the banquet, Charles and Jackie Longino and their son Chase, members of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Greensboro, were reunited with Carson 22 years after he performed a successful surgery repairing Chase’s metopic craniosynostosis and microcephaly, in which his skull was too small for his developing brain.

“Thinking about getting to meet him tonight again after all these years was really emotional for me, but it was absolutely incredible to be able to show him how somebody that he operated on all those years ago is here today living a great life,” Jackie Longino said. “It was such a gift from God that we were put in Dr. Carson’s path and that he was able to fix the problem.”

Now an electrician working on the new surgical tower on the Chapel Hill campus of UNC Hospitals, Chase Longino, 23, said meeting Carson was surreal.

“I never expected to meet the man,” he said. “I've heard about Dr. Carson my entire life, and I've seen his books. It really hit me today when I woke up and realized I was going to meet him. He was incredible. He was so nice and relaxed and such a genuinely kind person. It was amazing.”

Once the banquet began, Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, pastor of St. Pius X Parish in Greensboro, presided over the invocation and blessing of the food, and Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, offered the benediction at the end of the evening.

After Carson’s presentation, Father Noah Carter – chairman of RATI’s board of trustees and pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Kernersville – presented two awards. The first was the Father Conrad Lewis Kimbrough Pro-life Leadership Awar,d given to the North Carolina Knights of Columbus State Council. Along with RATI’s president Albert Hodges, Father Kimbrough was one of the founders of RATI.

Dr. Ben Carson entertained and inspired Room At The Inn banquet attendees with his wit and wisdom.Next was the Jim and Elizabeth Hedgecock Volunteer Award, which was given to Melanie Feeney-Lewis, a longtime behind-the-scenes supporter of the women and children of Room At The Inn.

Plans for expansion were also announced. RATI’s The Promise Center will grow the agency’s services to include single mothers who may not have been through any of its residential programs. The center will provide housing, transportation, child care and job training. A capital campaign called “Partners on the Journey” will fund the center to be built in Kernersville.

RATI leadership also announced that since the 2022 banquet, 16 babies were born to mothers at Room At The Inn, thanks to the generosity of donors.

“What I’ve seen serving on the board of trustees over the past eight years of my priesthood is true change in the moms and the children,” Father Carter said. “It’s more than just finding them a home. It’s more than just finding them food. It’s more than just assuring them of some sense of support afterwards.”

“In these women who are in crisis situations and in their children,” he said, “it restores their faith in their fellow man, a faith that someone is out there who desires what is good for them, someone who truly loves them, and people who truly want to see them succeed in life.”

— Annie Ferguson. Photos by Steven Sheppard and Justin Nixon.

Whatsapp

  Celebrating the potential of every human life 

A record number of supporters at Room At The Inn's 2023 banquet fundraiser gave more than $325,000 to provide homeless, single, pregnant women and their children shelter and comprehensive care. This is the most ever recorded for the fundraiser, well surpassing the previous record of $190,000 from 2022.WINSTON-SALEM — Few people can elicit a standing ovation before giving a public speech, but Dr. Ben Carson is one of them. The thunderous applause of nearly 1,000 Room At The Inn banquet attendees greeted the former presidential candidate and renowned pediatric neurosurgeon and advocate for life as he began his keynote address at the agency’s annual fundraiser Sept. 21 at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem.

In addition to Carson’s engaging talk, exciting expansion plans for the agency and a poignant moment with one of the speaker’s former patients were highlights of the evening.

This year’s event, “Partners on the Journey,” was the largest to date and raised a record of more than $325,000 for single, pregnant mothers and their children who would have no home and nowhere else to turn if it weren’t for Greensboro’s Room At The Inn (RATI). Its comprehensive care includes shelter, material assistance, meals, case management, transportation, job training, child care and many other life-affirming services.

“It’s been 30 years since the idea for Room At The Inn first formed at St. Benedict Church in Greensboro, and I think it’s fitting to have raised this astonishing amount at this milestone moment,” said Marianne Donadio, RATI’s associate director of donor relations, in comments after the event. “We are so grateful to our donors as well as Dr. Carson’s fine example of pro-life leadership and his inspiring words that moved people to give so generously.”

Carson is the founder and chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute and most recently served as the 17th secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. For nearly 30 years, he was director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. In 1987, he successfully performed the first separation of craniopagus twins, newborns who were conjoined at the back of the head. He also performed the first fully successful separation of type-2 vertical craniopagus twins in 1997 in South Africa. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Marianne Donadio, Room At The Inn's associate director of donor relations, and Albert Hodges, president and CEO of Room At The Inn, posed for a photo with Dr. Ben Carson before the banquet.In his speech, Carson extolled the intellect and faith of the nation’s Founding Fathers, whom he said studied every government that had ever existed before penning the Constitution and establishing the United States as a republic. He also noted that our nation is the only one with “a dream.”

“My American dream was to be a doctor. There was nothing more interesting than medicine. I loved everything that had to do with it … I even liked going to the doctor,” Carson said, drawing laughter.

He went on to explain his initial struggles in school and growing up poor while his mother raised him and his brother as a single parent. He credited her for his successes, noting that she had high expectations. Eventually, he began to excel in academics and became a brain surgeon.

“I had exactly the same brain when I was at the bottom of the class that I had when I was at the top of the class. What does that tell you about the human potential and these amazing brains that God has given us?” he said.

Also amazing, Carson noted that at fertilization there is a zygote with 46 chromosomes with the entire blueprint for a new human being, an individual with a distinct genetic identity from the mother or father.

“The baby starts developing extraordinarily rapidly at that point,” he said. “Within a matter of six to eight weeks people already have little eye sockets, little fingers and toes, a heart that's beating. It's very hard to say that it isn't that human being. The brain is developing with hundreds of thousands of neurons every day, and that brain continues to develop even after birth.”

Before the banquet started, Chase, Charles and Jackie Longino reunited with Dr. Ben Carson, who performed a life-saving operation in 2001, when Chase was 15 months old. Read more of their story below.Carson also noted that he has met some of the patients he’s saved after they reach adulthood. The event in Winston-Salem was no exception.

In a gathering right before the banquet, Charles and Jackie Longino and their son Chase, members of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Greensboro, were reunited with Carson 22 years after he performed a successful surgery repairing Chase’s metopic craniosynostosis and microcephaly, in which his skull was too small for his developing brain.

“Thinking about getting to meet him tonight again after all these years was really emotional for me, but it was absolutely incredible to be able to show him how somebody that he operated on all those years ago is here today living a great life,” Jackie Longino said. “It was such a gift from God that we were put in Dr. Carson’s path and that he was able to fix the problem.”

Now an electrician working on the new surgical tower on the Chapel Hill campus of UNC Hospitals, Chase Longino, 23, said meeting Carson was surreal.

“I never expected to meet the man,” he said. “I've heard about Dr. Carson my entire life, and I've seen his books. It really hit me today when I woke up and realized I was going to meet him. He was incredible. He was so nice and relaxed and such a genuinely kind person. It was amazing.”

Once the banquet began, Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, pastor of St. Pius X Parish in Greensboro, presided over the invocation and blessing of the food, and Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, offered the benediction at the end of the evening.

After Carson’s presentation, Father Noah Carter – chairman of RATI’s board of trustees and pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Kernersville – presented two awards. The first was the Father Conrad Lewis Kimbrough Pro-life Leadership Awar,d given to the North Carolina Knights of Columbus State Council. Along with RATI’s president Albert Hodges, Father Kimbrough was one of the founders of RATI.

Dr. Ben Carson entertained and inspired Room At The Inn banquet attendees with his wit and wisdom.Next was the Jim and Elizabeth Hedgecock Volunteer Award, which was given to Melanie Feeney-Lewis, a longtime behind-the-scenes supporter of the women and children of Room At The Inn.

Plans for expansion were also announced. RATI’s The Promise Center will grow the agency’s services to include single mothers who may not have been through any of its residential programs. The center will provide housing, transportation, child care and job training. A capital campaign called “Partners on the Journey” will fund the center to be built in Kernersville.

RATI leadership also announced that since the 2022 banquet, 16 babies were born to mothers at Room At The Inn, thanks to the generosity of donors.

“What I’ve seen serving on the board of trustees over the past eight years of my priesthood is true change in the moms and the children,” Father Carter said. “It’s more than just finding them a home. It’s more than just finding them food. It’s more than just assuring them of some sense of support afterwards.”

“In these women who are in crisis situations and in their children,” he said, “it restores their faith in their fellow man, a faith that someone is out there who desires what is good for them, someone who truly loves them, and people who truly want to see them succeed in life.”

— Annie Ferguson. Photos by Steven Sheppard and Justin Nixon.

Healing Chase Longino

The world seemed to be closing in on Charles and Jackie Longino in August 2001. Suddenly, their 1-year-old son Chase stopped talking. Then, he stopped walking.

“We were very concerned to say the least,” Jackie Longino says.

What would normally be a celebratory milestone – the Longinos’ first baby turning 1 – was marred with a severe medical concern at Chase’s well-child checkup.

However, they didn’t receive a diagnosis right away. A few gut-wrenching weeks passed. Then came the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

Living in Maryland at the time, the Longino family felt like the world was ending. Next, they received the diagnosis for Chase’s condition – metopic craniosynostosis and microcephaly – two rare birth defects affecting the brain. The Longinos were understandably frightened.

The first condition occurs when the metopic suture, a flexible joint in a baby’s skull, fuses prematurely. This and other sutures usually stay flexible until a child’s second birthday and allow the brain to grow and develop. Microcephaly, the second condition, occurs when the skull is too small for the baby’s developing brain.

“He didn't really have a soft spot, and the skull was basically closing in on it. It is the type where it's coming in at the temples,” Jackie recalls. “So right before his surgery if you would look down on his head, it was almost becoming like a triangle. It was pushing in, and he was crying. They told us it was a very serious case.”

Jackie and Charles Longino along with Charles' father posed for a photo with Dr. Ben Carson in November 2001 after his successful surgery on their son Chase.A turning point came when the Longinos received a referral to Dr. Ben Carson, a world-renowned neurosurgeon at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He performed a successful surgery to fix Chase’s conditions in November 2001.

When Dr. Carson opened his skull, he could see Chase’s brain expand immediately.

“There was that much pressure on it,” Jackie says.

“It was just such a tumultuous, chaotic time, and we were so scared,” she adds. “It was such a gift from God that we were put in Dr. Carson’s path and that he was able to fix the problem.”

Another one of God’s graces came 22 years later in September 2023 when the Longino family, now living in North Carolina, learned that the doctor who performed the life-saving surgery on their son would be speaking at a banquet fundraiser for one of their favorite charities – Greensboro’s Room At The Inn, a shelter for homeless pregnant women.

When organizers learned of the Longinos’ story, they arranged a reunion for the family and Carson during a special event right before the banquet.

“Thinking about getting to meet him tonight again after all these years was really emotional for me, but it was absolutely incredible to be able to show him how somebody that he operated on all those years ago is here today living a great life,” Jackie says.

Now an electrician working on a fitting assignment – the new surgical tower on the Chapel Hill campus of UNC Hospitals – Chase Longino said meeting Carson was surreal.

“I never expected to meet the man,” he said. “I've heard about Dr. Carson my entire life, and I've seen his books. It really hit me today when I woke up and realized I was going to meet him. He was incredible. He was so nice and relaxed and such a genuinely kind person. It was amazing.”

Charles Longino added that the entire surgical team did an amazing job on his son’s procedure, noting that in these surgeries, the child’s face needs reconstructing. He praised the work of Dr. Craig Vander Kolk, the plastic surgeon who was part of the surgical team.

“You can see the evidence under here,” he says pointing toward the temples of his now 23-year-old son’s head. “It’s like a zigzag.”

This prompted Chase to laughingly note that he likes telling people various things about his scar like, “I’ve been attacked by dark wizards,” a Harry Potter reference. On a more serious note, he said his part in the story was easier than what his parents went through.

“We got very lucky. You know, you're trusting them. You're giving over your 15-month-old baby to them. They were an amazing team, and Dr. Carson was absolutely fantastic,” Jackie says. “Like Chase, everyone deserves a chance at life, and Dr. Carson is a perfect speaker for Room At The Inn’s wonderful pro-life cause.”

— Annie Ferguson. Photos provided by Jackie Longino