About This Series

“Age of Uncertainty” is an ongoing project focusing on the challenges facing the region’s rapidly growing elderly population. Reporter Beth Macy and photographer Josh Meltzer are documenting the stories of several area caregivers. Subsequent articles in the series will explore the concerns of these families as well as of professional caregivers in the community, from physicians to in-home service providers.

If you have a story you’d like to share for possible inclusion on our Web site, please e-mail Beth Macy or write to her c/o The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010.

In 2005, Macy and photojournalist Josh Meltzer teamed up to produce "An Unlikely Refuge," a multimedia series documenting the resettlement of Somali Bantu refugees in Roanoke. Their work won several national awards, including the 2006 Digital Edge Award for multimedia storytelling, a Columbia University race reporting award and the Associated Press Managing Editors award for online convergence.

In 2006, they examined Roanoke’s growing Hispanic community in a series called “Land of Opportunity.” It won a Casey Award for Meritorious Journalism and is featured in the 2007-2008 edition of “Best Newspaper Writing.”

Beth Macy has been a reporter at The Roanoke Times since 1989. Macy gravitates toward stories that feature real-life struggles of ordinary people, and her articles have garnered national feature-writing awards and Virginia Press Association honors. She has published freelance articles in salon.com, The Christian Science Monitor and The Chronicle of Higher Education, and taught literary journalism at Hollins University.

Josh Meltzer has been a photographer at The Roanoke Times since 1999. In addition to his photography, Josh produces multimedia projects with audio and video for roanoke.com. In 2006 he was named the photographer of the year by the National Press Photographers Association for newspapers with circulation under 115,000. Before coming to The Roanoke Times, Josh was a photographer at the Duluth News-Tribune in Duluth, Minnesota.


Web Site Credits:

Seth Gitner - multimedia editor and lead producer
Tracy Boyer - interactive graphics and multimedia producer
Alec Rooney - copy editor, online producer
Meg Martin - online producer
Matt Chittum - database editor
Grant Jedlinsky - design and graphics