At a meeting last week with many local nonprofit leaders, I learned something not too surprising – the nonprofits in Orange County are largely run by white folks with accompanying huge disparities in assets and revenue when compared to those run by people of color. Across the Triangle, such nonprofits primarily serve communities of color. And according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this is the case across the US. I’m not going to tell you why you should care that, like other sectors, the wealth of our nonprofits is concentrated in the hands of white people. It has been written about here (racial wealth gap) and here (nonprofit diversity). But I do want to share our local stats so we have an accurate picture of what we’re facing.
This article was posted on-line in the Herald-Sun on Saturday July 29, 2017.
More than 630 residents serve on our towns’ and county’s 71 advisory boards. Advisory board volunteers give their time and knowledge and provide an important service by helping our elected officials and staff make decisions that influence the vibrancy of our community.
According to the Town of Carrboro website, “These volunteers perform a vital role in our community by contributing their time, expertise and talent.... They serve willingly and without compensation. They interpret town codes, they counsel and advise elected officials and they listen to citizen appeals.”
Orange County’s advisory boards “assist the staff of Orange County in achieving a greater understanding of the nature and causes of community issues” and “promote public awareness of contemporary issues Orange County must address to achieve the Orange County Board of Commissioners’ goals and priorities.”
This summer, thanks to Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger, the InterFaith Council for Social Service, No Kid Hungry NC, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, and with funding from UNC’s Food for All, our community launched an effort to provide lunches to as many of the 30 percent of children who qualify for free and reduced meals during the school year as possible.
Orange County, via both public and private employers, has been making significant strides in extending living wages to people who work in our communities. Here's the latest:
Orange County Board of Commissioners approves policy encouraging contractors to pay a living wage.
While the North Carolina General Assembly's House Bill 74 made it illegal for municipalities to require vendors/contractors to pay a living wage, and the recently passed House Bill 2 reinforced that ban, the county commissioners approved a policy to encourage vendors and contractors with the county to pay a living wage. While a living wage cannot be required, vendors and contractors will be required to "submit a statement indicating whether the employees who will perform work on the Orange County contract are paid at least the living wage amount. If such employees do not make at least $12.76 per hour, the contractor or vendor will be asked to indicate in the statement the actual amount paid to such employees. For bid projects, this statement would be submitted as part of the bid packet."
Starts at 7:30 p.m. Board Chambers Room 110 of Carrboro Town Hall
From the IFC Website: "The IFC has met with the Board of Aldermen to start the process for FoodFirst, but we need your continued advocacy and support to bring this vision to reality! A public hearing will be held on Wednesday, March 22, 2016, and we would love to see as many friendly faces as possible to speak on behalf of FoodFirst. You can find more details about this project at www.ifcfoodfirst.org!"
Statement of Support for IFC Community Kitchen in Carrboro:
Weaver Community Housing Association would like to voice its support of the IFC locating the Food First community kitchen in downtown Carrboro. WCHA is concerned about public safety for all of its residents and that includes those of low-income and marginalized populations. Hence, our organization does not support criminalization of the homeless by spreading fear of panhandling and loitering. The existence of poor residents is not a public safety issue. Tactics such as these have been used by many cities to push the poor and homeless farther out of town where they are invisibilized. We stand with the National Coalition for Homeless and their Homeless Bill Of Rights and recognize that violence and marginalization of the homeless is a national problem.
We also recognize the the Food First kitchen will be supplying groceries to many families who plan to cook meals in their homes and that a focus on fears of “idle persons” is largely unwarranted. Roughly 1.7 million people in North Carolina live in poverty, which amounts to about 1 in 5 people. There is an overwhelming need for centralized, community services especially now that the state of North Carolina has stopped supplying food stamps to those without work. We also recognize that people of color disproportionately make up these affected groups at, by some estimates, roughly 78% of those who live in poverty in our state. When we choose to make these services less accessible, we do so at a detriment to these marginalized groups. We ask that Carrboro businesses and the town make the decision to support these community efforts downtown and stand up for those who are struggling in our communities. We also ask for other local organizations to sign on to this statement.
Weaver Community Housing Association is a non-profit housing association that is owned and managed by low-income residents in Carrboro, North Carolina. Our mission is to provide permanent, affordable and sustainable housing for low-income families and individuals, and to empower them to make decisions to maintain their homes and communities. See www.Wcha.coop for more info
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