Each Monday at 10 a.m. at the Wake County North Regional Center, 350 East Holding Avenue, there is a presentation about the tuition-free opportunities for young adults ages 16 to 24, opportunities which can open horizons and doors leading to a satisfying career and life. The Job Corps, a residential training and education program, connects those young adults with the opportunity to learn skills through industry-recognized certifications and to further their education by obtaining a high school diploma or its equivalent or attending college in order to build real careers. For more information, send an email to Dorothy Sidberry at sidberry.dorothy@jobcorps.org.

The Listening Room, a series of monthly concerts featuring local artists, will kick off Saturday, July 15, at 7:30 p.m. at the Wake Forest Coffee Company on South White Street. The featured artists will be Cam Cokas and Elese Corson along with Chapel Hill musician and community organizer Matt Phillips of Matt Phillips and the Back Pocket. The event is free but the organizers suggest a donation of $10 per person to help them compensate the artists. To keep in touch with this effort log onto Facebook at wflisteningroom. The series will move to other downtown businesses in coming months.

Sponsors are needed for the ninth annual Wake Forest Purple Heart Banquet at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at Richland Creek Community Church. Hosted by the Wake Forest Purple Heart Foundation, the banquet invites the public to help honor those wounded in battle. In addition to Purple Heart Medal recipients and their families, the event is open to all veterans, military families, and the public. Last year’s celebration saluted 60 Purple Heart recipients from around the Triangle. This year’s banquet features retired Army Maj. Gen. Douglas Lanier Carver as keynote speaker and includes the Walk of Honor, entertainment, patriotic tributes, and a catered meal. Sponsors make this tribute possible. Sponsorship levels are Premier ($1,000), Blue ($500), White ($250) and Red ($100). For sponsor details, call Marty Coward at 919-792-0316 or email marty.coward@edwardjones.com. Contributions may be made payable to Wake Forest Purple Heart Foundation, P.O. Box 168, Wake Forest, NC, 27588.

The Wake Forest Public Art Commission will host a special reception to formally open its Wake Forest Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit and Spotlight on Wake Forest Artists Exhibit on Saturday, July 29. The event will be from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts Annex at 407 Brooks Street. Light refreshments will be provided. The reception will have an informal, open house-style format, so area residents are invited to drop in any time between 2 and 4 p.m. Commission members and several of the featured artists will be on hand to answer questions and share information about the selected works of art. Free, illustrated maps highlighting the locations of the works on view for each exhibit will be available during the reception. Area residents who are unable to attend the reception but wish to take the self-guided tour may also pick up a brochure at

There are many seniors, adults with disabilities and their family caregivers who are in need of assistance with simple, everyday tasks. The needs are all across Wake County but are more severe in Wake Forest, Rolesville, Knightdale, Wendell and Garner. The Center for Volunteer Caregiving is in hopes volunteers from these areas will step forward to help fill the need, and the center is sponsoring a volunteer orientation Thursday, Aug. 10, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Northern Wake Senior Center on East Holding Avenue. Flexible volunteer opportunities are available. The center gives priority to those seniors and disabled adults who have the greatest economic and social need or are at risk of institutional placement.