Professional Services in Reidsville

The father-son duo behind Tinsley's Dry Cleaners presents a full menu of dry-cleaning and alterations services. A decade in the stain-solving business has lent their skills a professional touch, which they use to handle fabrics ranging from dress clothes and wedding gowns to Persian rugs and curtains. The drive-thru window at each of the two locations ensures a quick and easy drop-off without forcing clients to leave the car or install a washing machine in their back seat.

Though Scott Faber might see examples of his work on magazine stands, book jackets, and the Internet—where he's contributed snapshots to U.S. News & World Report—he feels a deeper connection to the pictures that encapsulate relationships. From wedding-themed shoots to records of maternity and childhood growth, his largely candid sessions adapt to preserve each family's rapport in scenic outdoor locales, such as Duke Gardens, or inside the studio.

Scott doesn't shy from photographic challenges; he brings the same ingenuity and college-mascot costume heads to corporate group poses as he does to high-school senior portraits. He encourages his clients to push their aesthetic boundaries as well, whether through his in-depth photography classes or before-and-after pictures for those who donate their hair to Locks of Love.

In Kim Crenshaw Photography’s onsite garden, a swing hangs from a jasmine-wreathed arbor, frog-inhabited lily pads carpet a pond, and a 1946 Chevrolet Stylemaster waits for models to lean against its fenders. The garden abuts the old farmhouse that houses Crenshaw’s equally scenic studio, with a wall of antique stained-glass panels and a design that captures streams of sunlight throughout the day. Crenshaw devoted her first decade behind the camera to natural-light photography, and custom renovated her current studio-garden complex to ensure she could still practice her specialty.

Now a 25-year veteran of the photography scene, Crenshaw continues to draw on the fundamentals she learned when earning her BFA in graphic design and photography. This fine-arts background deters her from trendy shots of subjects spelling out the day's headlines in semaphore signals; instead, she strives to capture timeless beauty in her portraits of families, kids, and bridal parties. Subjects can discuss options and expectations with Crenshaw during free preshoot consultations, and select their favorite shots during postshoot slideshow viewings. The studio’s frame shop can border prints—or painted portraits modeled after prints—in a diverse array of frames.

Self-taught photographer Kelly Martin of Kelly Martin Photography uses black-and-white, full-color, or partially colorized images to capture the emotional core of the weddings, ceremonies, or corporate events she photographs. Online galleries outfit clients with downloadable images for printing or online use, and print images provide keepsakes for families and friends.

The Abundance Foundation was born from the collaboration of two co-ops—Chatham Marketplace and Piedmont Biofuels. They started the organization to carry out specific sustainability projects, all while teaching residents about local food, renewable energy, and community. The foundation's first project brought warm water to students in an elementary school through the use of solar power. Aiming to make all of its activities fun and engaging, it now conducts children's sustainability and energy tours that teach youth where their food and energy come from. Its do-it-yourself sustainability workshops teach adults about eco-projects, including how to make cheese, soap, and bread from scratch, and how to practice organic gardening or beekeeping.

As one of 194 affiliates in the nation's largest dropout-prevention network, Communities In Schools of Durham (CIS) works to reduce the dropout rate by using evidence-based programs and connecting students with resources to help them achieve success, such as local corporations, civic agencies, and human-services agencies.

CIS places full-time staff members in schools, where they implement programs and form individual relationships with students who have a greater risk for dropping out. As part of its programming, CIS sponsors tours to local colleges so students can learn more about potential opportunities, gain inspiration for earning a high-school diploma, and begin to identify their ideal career path.