Moishe House Broadens Presence With New Location in North Carolina

Charlotte Jewish News, June/July 2022

By Loán Lake, Moishe House Senior Communications Manager

The Moishe House community in Charlotte is growing. Moishe Pod North Charlotte opened its doors on May 1, 2022, near the university area and will be led by residents Melanie Mason and Tyler Hutchinson and their 14-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rudy. With the closure of Moishe House Charlotte in spring of 2022, the new Moishe Pod offers additional options for young Jewish adults to build community in the metropolitan area.

The couple actively participated in Charlotte’s Moishe House community and began running their own programs within the Jewish community during the pandemic. Hutchinson, who hails from Virginia, is a graphic designer for Autobell Car Wash. He earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Radford University and first became involved in the Jewish community through Moishe House in 2017, after his move to Charlotte. Mason, however, has called Charlotte home for more than 16 years and hails

from New Jersey. She is a corporate meeting and event planner for a Fortune 500 company and earned an undergraduate degree from Johnson and Wales University and a master’s degree from Purdue University. She currently teaches culinary arts to students at Hebrew High every Wednesday night and volunteers as a middle school girls’ volleyball coach. Mason was raised culturally Jewish and has interacted with the Jewish community through experiences with Hillel, Birthright, and Moishe House.

“We’ve been involved in the Jewish community for a few years now and are excited to continue creating lifelong bonds and special memories with new friends and old,” Mason and Hutchinson said. “We also hope to offer fun events that everyone in the community will want to attend, not segment-specific groups. We’ll offer a variety of events such as watching football, movie marathons, cookouts, pool parties, baking and cooking demos, and bar crawls that’ll keep people interested and excited. We also want to offer our home as a safe place, especially during holidays,” they said.

The duo also manages two WhatsApp chat groups for Jewish young adults that will continue in their new role as community leaders. They intend to maximize Mason’s event planning skills and their large ranch-style house and backyard for the many events they have already scheduled. Moishe Pod North Charlotte is located near the light rail, is easily accessible, and fully ADA compliant. The new community joins Moishe Pod Charlotte, which opened in January 2021 and moved from South End to Plaza Midwood earlier this year. For more information on local Moishe House communities, visit moishehouse.org.

Feature Photo: Melanie Mason and Tyler Hutchinson and their 14-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rudy.