She also founded the nonprofit Year of Joy, which provides “joyful educational, cultural and confidence-building experiences for children from Houston’s underserved communities,” according to its website. The program has served more than 1,000 children between the ages of 5 and 16, the website said.

Sewing has won several awards for her journalism and community work, including the Houston Humanitarian Award in 2017 and the Houston Association of Black Journalists’ Trailblazer Award in 2023.

Sewing, according to her LinkedIn profile, joined the Chronicle in 2004 as a fashion editor/writer. She became a culture columnist at the newspaper in 2020 before taking on her newest role.

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