Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
Orange County residents and organizations discuss food security, homelessness - The Daily Tar Heel <br />https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2019/03/justice-community-workshop-0326[5/13/2019 10:18:47 AM] <br />“Recognize that everyone has a level of expertise in some way to bring to this conversation,” she said. <br />De Marco said the shift in administration at the federal level has prompted greater attention to some of the <br />issues addressed in the presentation. <br />“With the new administration at the federal level, we’ve seen a lot more both resistance and folks coming <br />together to think about how we might address these issues,” she said. “There are a lot more conversations <br />around race, racism, racial equity – across the country and in our community.” <br />Corey Root, a coordinator of the OCPEH, also facilitated the event. During the March 20 Chapel Hill <br />Town Council meeting, Root said while 12 percent of the overall population in Orange County is Black, <br />46 percent of Orange County’s homeless population is Black. <br />She said this is consistent with statewide and nationwide data and is not an accident. <br />“We know that this is the result of direct, systemic racism and direct policies and practices in the area of <br />housing for years and years and years going back decades,” she said. “So this is something, and the reason <br />why we address racial equity along with all of our other goals to end homelessness.” <br />De Marco said it is difficult to envision what exactly a just society looks like. <br />“We’ve grown up in a society that perpetuates white supremacy systems and because of that we don’t <br />really know what something else looks like potentially,” she said. <br />Root discussed alarming local trends in homelessness. While the number of people experiencing <br />homelessness has decreased by 15 percent nationwide and 24 percent statewide, it has increased by 13 <br />percent in Orange County. <br />Multiple facilitators suggested including the voices of those who have experienced the issues mentioned in <br />the workshops, such as poverty or homelessness, in the discussion. De Marco said she hopes the workshop <br />contributes to an ongoing dialogue. <br />“We want this to be a conversation, collaborative work within our community, across our towns and our <br />county, both with the governments and with the community organizations and just really a way for us to <br />have a conversation that continues,” she said. <br />@SLesnewski <br />city@dailytarheel.com <br />    <br />Next up in <br />Hemminger releases statement clarifying events surrounding the removals <br />CITY & COUNTY