"My placement site is the Northside Food Cooperative, which is a non-profit that focuses on providing educational and resource opportunities to the people of the Northside of Wilmington, North Carolina. This area is historically a food desert, so the cooperative has filled the gaps in resources and opportunities left in the Northside. The identified need I am focusing on is The State of the Public Wilmington Transit System; mainly the access to health facilities. I chose this need based off the testimony of a Northside native and Northside Food Cooperative employee along with my own personal experience of having to take the public bus to and from my site.
I focused on taking pictures that would contrast another picture that show the difference in state of the different bus stations and highlighting the certain areas that would present an issue for the group that would be most affected by the issue I am highlighting. I.e. One station has a bench and shelter while another just has the sign there. I struggled at first to show how to best show the lack of direct lines to different healthcare facilities, namely urgent cares, from the official area marked as the ‘Northside’. This is why I chose to first highlight the different bus routes to three different health facilities from the same spot to highlight the walk to the actual bus stop and the walk from the bus stop to the actual location, highlighting that the walking makes up most of the time needed to get to the destination.
The Northside has a large elderly population, it is not reasonable for there to be a 30-minute walk to a bus stop, a 15-minute bus ride and then another 20-minute walk to your destination, especially for an essential service such as medical services. This is true for anyone, no matter their status. There are bus stops that are less than 3 minutes apart as a walk, in another area there is a 20-minute walk between stops. With buses that at times are not working in peak conditions and the signaling contraption is broken, this is not sustainable.
I think that the best way to address the issue surrounding the state of the bus stops and the location of them is to first make sure each bus stop has the same accommodations. Each one should have a seating or bench and a shelter that would protect them from the weather and make it obvious from a distance where the bus stop is. To address the stop issue, a survey should be held, and testers should go through all the stops and them along with the citizens should help come up with new routes that will properly hit the areas that should be easily accessible. To help with that, each stop should also come with a map of the routes with clear markings for the important stops along that stop.
I believe that this style of overhaul of the public transportation will have long term effects on the Northside and overall Wilmington community that will encourage public bus use and make the system easier to use and more comfortable but will also ensure that essential service access will not be hindered by a person’s lack of personal vehicle."
"My Photo Voice Project was sparked by my time working with the Parks and Rec branch of the City of Wilmington, more specifically at the Maides Park location. Personally working under the Equity and Inclusion department I have seen firsthand how important working with local organizations and community outreach can be. Furthermore, much of the E&I work is done in tangent with the Parks and Rec department as they are often the most actively engaged with their respective communities. When I was first introduced to my final topic of renovating the field at Maides Park it was through one of the local employees of the park. I was told a story about how over the period of COVID and quarantine some local members of the surrounding area would take 4 wheelers and dirt bikes out on the field ripping up the land, and now years later the scars are still left in their place.
The need that my project hopes to highlight is that of a new or rather renovated field at Maides Park. My time working at the park has shown me how vital the field is to the community surrounding the location. It is the heart and meeting place for many groups in the community including a variety of youth sports, The City of Wilmington’s after-school/holiday break programs, and many community-driven events. The impact of the weary field has many subsequent issues. It firstly creates a potentially hazardous environment for those using the field as the ground is often uneven and at times able to hide foreign objects in the rougher dirt-covered patches. Secondly, the rougher dirt patches of the field take much longer to dry after harsh weather, making the field ultimately unusable in wet conditions or for periods after. Maides Park is currently undergoing renovations for the play structure, making this a perfect time to renovate the field and not only that but also the sports equipment that is housed on the field. This includes the soccer goals, football field goalpost, and gymnastic bars. This renovation would allow for even more community engagement, and rather than the field being used because it is available it would be a sought-after location that fosters community and athletics, for demographics."
"Catholic Charities of Cape Fear Region, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving and supporting nearby communities, ensures the safety and well-being of individuals through various programs. These encompass disaster relief services, educational initiatives, and food pantry provisions, among others. I am honored to serve as a Bonnor Fellow intern at Catholic Charities, where I have witnessed firsthand both innovative approaches and opportunities for enhancing the health of the Wilmington community.
One pressing need identified within the organization is the creation of a recipe book featuring simple, nutritious meals tailored to individuals with dietary restrictions, such as those low in cholesterol. This resource is crucial to prevent food waste and enable clients to effectively utilize the contents of their weekly healthy boxes. These boxes are provided through the Healthy Opportunities Pilots (HOP) program, the nation's pioneering initiative aimed at assessing the impact of non-medical interventions on high-needs Medicaid enrollees. Funded by the government, these boxes include fresh produce and essential food items required for the week.
Developing a recipe book specifically designed for HOP clients would significantly enhance their overall well-being by offering practical guidance on preparing healthy meals. By addressing this need, Catholic Charities of the Cape Fear Region can further empower individuals to make nutritious dietary choices and optimize the benefits of the HOP program."
"The New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force is a non-profit organization working in the Wilmington and larger New Hanover County to build community resilience through our neighboring organizations. We work through connection, education, and action to mitigate the prevalence of toxic stress and ACE’S through the means of bringing compassion, empathy, and trauma informed care into the regular practices of the organizations that make up New Hanover County. RTF is partners with 56 different local organizations whom together we create an ecosystem of resilience which meet within regular meetings to uphold accountability and awareness. Because of this though RTF’s mission to spread community resilience hinders on the engagement of our partners and the community. The work of the task force is only as good as what our community commits to spread resilient practices.
Our partners are the testament of our work and advertise the impact and success of resilient practices. Engagement from them to continue fostering new partnerships and involved community members to expand the reach of the task forces impact of resilience. Without RTF members, we cannot improve our community’s resilience. To resurge the engagement of our members to further spread our work we will be creating a “Why Lead with Resilience?” media campaign. With this campaign we will have partners provided testimonials of the impact RTF has had on their organization and the work that they provide for the community. Written testimonials will be collected and displayed on flyers and handouts for future RTF trainings and events. Long and short video testimonials will also be collected for a video advertisement for our social media and website. At an in-person monthly meeting each member present will complete their icebreaker preparing their one sentence 'Why' for their personal work in RTF. This direct involvement of our members hopefully will reignite their commitment with the task force and be a positive highlight for social media they can share for their own organizations as well."
"In a world full of food deserts and marginalized groups, there is Feast Down East (FDE). With kind and giving people, their mission is to connect local farmers with communities in need. FDE provides Southeastern North Carolina farmers resources and opportunities to grow while addressing equitable food access. They are grant-funded and aim to fight hunger with fresh, locally sourced food. By incorporating programs such as the Emergency Food Relief Program (EFRP), FDE increases health equity in multiple communities. For this project, I honed in on the relationship between food access and transportation. Throughout my time with FDE, I found that the common denominator between the markets was crowded bus stops and lack of transportation knowledge. These communities already suffer from food insecurity. Now imagine limiting their transportation and it being difficult to navigate. That is the world they live in.
FDE has two parts; the Food Hub and the Local Motive Mobile Farmers’ Market (LMMFM). The EFRP is the foundation for both parties. The Food Hub, located in Burgaw, arranges weekly food orders for bulk purchases while the Local Motive Mobile Farmers’ Market uses vouchers the EFRP provides. FDE has also partnered with the North Carolina FarmsSHARE Program, organized by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. This partnership aims to increase underrepresented communities' access to fresh, locally farmed food while helping small North Carolina farms and businesses in building a sustainable and long-lasting local food system.
The main idea of these communities is the lack of grocery stores within walking distance, stores with inconsistent hours, and affordable food. FDE inserts itself directly into the community through its Mobile Markets. With 17 locations, the Mobile Market travels to food deserts and sets up a table full of fresh produce, meat, cheese, and more at an affordable price. I participate in the Mobile Markets and help set up, run, and pack up the markets. These markets allow me to interact and create relationships with people in the community. I get to educate people about FDE and what we offer.
It boils down to basic human necessities. Worrying about whether a family can afford groceries or how they are going to get to a grocery store, should not be on anyone's agenda. Helping these communities in need is essential to growing society and making a difference.
The photos I used were taken from the markets I attend. They all involve transportation, and some are the bust stops at the locations we go to. The most important one is the map I created that highlights all the bus routes that go to or are near our markets. Customers have said that it is difficult to navigate the bus routes and align the timing with our market hours. I used these pictures because they show routes and markets that customers have talked about. Often people who walk by ask us where we will be the next day or later that day. Half of the time they ask where that location is. If we had a map to give, it would make the process easier.
The HENA Project has exposed me to issues I would not have known had I not been given this assignment. Working with FDE has made my experience more meaningful and helped me understand other issues around Wilmington. I believe there will be an impact in the future if these maps are passed out at the mobile markets. People will be educated on different routes and how to get to each location FDE is at, allowing people to plan how they are going to get to a market during the opening hours.
Every person has their own struggles and challenges. With that in mind, transportation is related to health equity because someone may not have a car or are in a wheelchair. This makes it more difficult to navigate Wilmington in a safe manner. Transportation is related to health equity because the lack of can hinder people from important tasks such as health care appointments, getting medications, and getting to a grocery store. Transportation equity impacts how public resources are allocated, people's economic opportunities and quality of life, and the external expenses visitors place on their communities. Addressing this need is essential for the community site so people can attain the best care they need whether that be getting medication or getting groceries. The community can attain fresh produce from FDE easier if this need was addressed. This directly aligns with FDE’s mission to provide resources while addressing food accessibility."