Our community partners are the true boots on the ground—the thought leaders, the activists, the changemakers. It’s through their insights and experience that we uncover opportunities that provide a path to begin breaking down systemic inequities. Below, find content authored by featured community leaders and other news highlights from the Collective team, and listen to featured guests on episodes of Collective Voice, our podcast, to dive more deeply into these issues that affect your Cape Fear Community and beyond.
Lived Experiences
A series of podcasts focusing on a single issue that highlights how most problems facing the region are interconnected, requiring a solution using a comprehensive, systems-based approach.
Food Deserts
More than 16,000 residents of Wilmington live in food deserts. And the impact is not just unappetizing meals. Food insecurity leads to a host of health issues ranging from diabetes to gout. In New Hanover County, 6.8 percent or 13,220 adults over 20 years old suffer from diabetes. Those are just the diagnosed cases. Actual numbers are likely higher.
Maddie Speaks
Meet Maddie, an African-American woman living with her family in New Hanover County. On paper, she is part of the American middle-class. She works in healthcare and her husband is a public servant. But with each episode, you’ll hear the reality of her every day from just making rent to overcoming systemic racism. And then the pandemic hits. This is a rare, unvarnished glimpse at one life.
Maddie Speaks “The Beautiful Fight”
Maddie – an African-American woman living with her family in New Hanover County – is part of the American middle-class. But, as we talk, you’ll hear the reality of her every day from just making rent to overcoming systemic racism. The hope is these conversations will entertain and inform and give you another perspective to consider when you look at our community.
Maddie Speaks “Zero Out”
This episode is mostly about “getting by.” We talk about why Maddie decided to move her family from Wilmington to the county, affordable housing and how she stretches a buck.
Community Voice
A collection of podcasts featuring conversations with the thought leaders, the activists, the changemakers, and leaders in our community.
Terri Everett
In this episode, I’m talking to Terri Everett, a Wilmington resident and write-in candidate for the 7th Congressional District. Before retiring to the Cape Fear, she worked in the intelligence community.
Audrey Hart
On this episode, we’re talking to Audrey Hart, director of the New Hanover Disaster Coalition, a collaborative group of faith communities, non-profit organizations, businesses and governmental agencies working toward long term hurricane recovery and disaster preparedness.
Racial Equity
In order to change an inequitable system, we must build a new one. That starts with a clear understanding of the problem. Systemic racism is complex and multi-dimensional. No single narrative or data point can fully capture the pervasive and damaging nature of this crisis, but we have to start somewhere. This is a collection of podcasts and articles focused on race, with those who are working on the frontlines of the issue.
Closing the Opportunity Gap
When New Hanover County Schools went on lockdown in March, Amanda Kausak, an instructional/impact coach at Snipes Academy of Arts and Design, and her fellow…
The Shadows of History: Black Advancement, Confederate Monuments, and the National Tragedies that Brought Them Down
In my hometown of Gastonia, North Carolina, a Confederate monument featuring a statue of what is known as a common soldier was erected in 1912…
Articles
A collection of stories produced with our media partners amplifying the voices of our neighbors and putting a spotlight on the issues in our community.
Freedom Schools come to Wilmington, here’s what the program is all about
For more information about CIS Freedom Schools or to donate, click here.
‘Holy, in the midst of it all’: Faith-based communities during Covid-19
Until last week, most places of worship remained empty — but that didn’t stop local religious leaders from finding ways to…
