StepUp Wilmington

Wilmington, NC – June 15, 2021 – StepUp Wilmington is excited to announce another step forward in its mission with the launch of a new brand, Beyond Talent.

Beyond Talent will serve as the job placement division for StepUp Wilmington, building off of StepUp’s existing training model. Since August 2020, Beyond Talent has secured 20 contracts with companies in the Cape Fear area and placed 23 candidates into jobs with an average wage of $13.20/hour. “We are excited about the evolution and launch of Beyond Talent, and the opportunities it creates for candidates seeking work and businesses looking to hire work ready talent in the Cape Fear area,” says Will Rikard, Executive Director of StepUp Wilmington.

The goal of Beyond Talent is to create more, better paying career opportunities for graduates of StepUp Wilmington’s programming. This will support business growth in our region and create a self-sustaining funding stream for StepUp Wilmington.

Beyond Talent was inspired by other successful workforce development organizations like Cara Connects in Chicago. Their design is based on an alternative staffing model that uses market-based approaches focusing on an individual’s long-term success. StepUp Wilmington is excited to add Beyond Talent to their list of ever-growing strategies to reduce poverty and increase prosperity and opportunity for all Cape Fear region residents.

For more information about StepUp Wilmington, visit www.stepupwilmington.org or contact info@stepupwilmington.org. StepUp Wilmington is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

The early months of 2020 were a rude awakening to the challenges that the next year would bring for everyone, and things were no different for Vanessa. In January, she was dismissed from her position as an office assistant; in February, she contracted what she believes in retrospect was likely COVID-19; and then in March, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. “I was very fearful,” Vanessa says, recounting the various challenges she’s faced. “I searched for jobs, but with COVID exploding, I needed to use the pandemic assistance that gave me the opportunity to help my mom since her doctors were in South Carolina. I was terrified; I didn’t want to go anywhere.”

Eventually Vanessa decided “well, I have to do something!” and began looking for a new job. “I was at the unemployment office when I saw this peppy young woman bouncing around introducing herself–Alicia–and I thought to myself, ‘what was she promoting?’” That something ended up being StepUp Wilmington, and after learning more about the services offered, Vanessa decided she had to be a part of the program.

“When you reach a certain stage in your life, you think you know things… when you actually have no idea [laughs]. I’d just started to scratch the surface. Bruce was my Talent Manager for a bit and then Ashley became my coach. Even though we never met face to face because of COVID, we’re kindred spirits. She was so open and honest and encouraging. she listens to me be chatty cathy all the time [laughs]!”

“Whenever I felt overwhelmed and felt like I needed a break from the job search, Ashley would still check up on me and my wellbeing. And in September when I got the notice that my unemployment was running out and I was applying for jobs left and right, Ashley was right there ‘pounding the pavement’ looking for work with me.” Eventually, a friend of Vanessa’s told her about a housekeeping position at Dosher Memorial Hospital. “I remember Ashley telling me that even though it may not be the dream job at the moment, I’d at least have my foot in the door.”

According to Vanessa, even after securing the job, Ashley continued to be a coach and to be sympathetic to her frustrations with the position. And when her supervisor told Vanessa that she had to be in the department a year before she could transfer to a different one, Ashley told her to apply for the transfer anyway. “I applied for the Patient Access Coordinator job, and my supervisor suddenly approved the transfer! I don’t know why they didn’t tell me I could do that before!”

“I feel like with the transition from banking to the medical field, people would assume that they have nothing to do with one another, but they do! It’s a customer service aspect. At the end of the day, it’s about making people feel safe and that they’re in a good place and capable hands. Same thing with banking and money. Without people, you don’t have a job. So many places don’t realize that.”

Secured in her new job, Vanessa says that she’d give StepUp Wilmington “two very enthusiastic thumbs up!” “Everybody deserves a fair chance regardless of where you come from or what you did. Everyone deserves that second chance. It’s easy to get discouraged–to feel like you have no place you can turn. But everybody deserves a fair chance regardless of where they come from, and StepUp Wilmington gives you that. It’s a treasure… truly.”

If you’re someone who’s found your job search challenging, regardless of your level of experience, contact us at StepUp Wilmington to learn how you can find a job that fits your needs and your passions!

Did you know that only 27% of people who obtain a college degree actually have a job related to their major? This can be attributed to a number of factors, ranging from many jobs not necessitating a specific field of study, to labor-market disparities that make it difficult for people looking for jobs to find one that fits their exact passion and skill set.

Lauren is one of the many people who was struggling to find a job that fit her degree before she came to StepUp Wilmington for assistance.

Though she was born in Virginia, Lauren was raised in Wilmington, which she considers to be her true home, and she has a heart for taking care of the people in her community. But while she has always been open to taking any job where she can help others, what Lauren truly desired was a position where she could use her medical degree. It was while she was working as a substitute teacher at Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington (GLOW) that she found out about how StepUp’s services could be the key to making that happen for her.

After signing up for Job’s Week with StepUp, Lauren was taken aback by how personable and committed she found the organization’s Talent Managers to be. “StepUp’s staff was so easy to relate to … just having their encouragement and seeing their support system and how they worked together motivated a desire in me for a specific work environment. It really pushed me forward to achieve my own goals.”

“And they don’t just find you a job and then you don’t hear from them anymore,” Lauren continued. “They actually check in with you and continue to share resources and ask you about your needs. It really feels like you’re getting an extra set of friends.”

After her time with StepUp, Lauren was able to secure a position as a Community Health Worker with New Hanover Regional Medical Center. Her advice, “Just do it. Come to StepUp with an open mind and stay positive throughout the process. The point of their advocacy is to get you a job that you’re going to love and want to stay in. And believe me, they’ll go the extra mile to get you into that job.”

Regardless of whether you have a degree or not, contact us at StepUp Wilmington to learn how you can find a job that fits your needs and your passions!

“Whatever I do, I take it to heart and put all the knowledge I have into it,” says Deborah Dicks Maxwell regarding the various passions and causes she’s fought for throughout her life. And anyone familiar with all that she’s done and still plans to do knows that she has all the heart and all the knowledge to back up the large plate she’s set for herself. Deborah is currently sitting as the President of the New Hanover County NAACP and as the District Director for the Walter B. White District of NC NAACP, and has scarcely taken a break from her work to improve life for all in Southeastern North Carolina since she returned to her hometown of Wilmington where she’s now lived for over 30 years.

Deborah was appointed president a little over 10 years ago, and notes that she’s seen a lot of growth during her time with this chapter. “Leading this branch has been a lot of work. But it’s been good because of the increase in collaboration between different organizations.” She has also noted an increase in visibility for the organization, and attributes this in part to the great effort that NAACP members have put into one of her great passions: increasing voter education and registration. “Voter registration is an ongoing process for the us. We’re already preparing for this year’s municipal elections. We want people period–not just people of color–to vote. In the past we’ve had booths, we’ve provided PPE packs to people, we’ve provided lunches, information, literature, we’ve done Souls to the Polls… and hopefully we’ll do all that again. There’s no one specific party focus. I just want people to understand and utilize their right to vote.”

However, voter education has been far from the extent of Deborah’s work. She’s worked for 25 years as a public health social worker, and though she’s recently retired, she’s not ready to slow down. As a social worker, Deborah’s goal was to link families with all available services including therapy, housing, childcare, and assistance for the elderly. Today, her work to support families in the community continues in a number of ways. At St. Stephen AME, she actively serves as a member of the Health Ministry; she also serves as a Board member for NC Child. And for the past five years, she’s used her position as NAACP president to host an annual health fair each April for Minority Health Month. “Our challenge right now is making sure that minority elders have access to the COVID vaccine, even if we have to move one county at a time.

“I’m glad to hear about the creation of the new clinics that are coming, but I hope that the county has strategically looked at locations and demographics and has picked a site that will be amenable to people most in need at this time. And of course we have to make sure that children’s immunization rates stay high.” While Deborah feels that there is a lot more we could be doing locally and nationally about COVID’s impact, especially on marginalized communities, she also added that there have been a number of proper steps taken. “The fact that they’ve identified racism as a public health hazard brought tears to my eyes. But we have to focus and make sure that [the city’s] resolution isn’t just talk; someone has to really walk it.”

In addition to her many other involvements and passions, Deborah is a member of the Board of Cape Fear River Watch, board member of the NC League of Conservation Voters Foundation, and a founding member of the Southeastern North Carolina Environmental Justice Coalition. A key component of her vision for climate justice involves focusing on the disproportionately disastrous effects that climate change has had and continues to have on communities of color. “Sea level rising training is something we should see more of in coming years. And we have to pay attention to climate gentrification, which occurs when minorities are displaced because they live in areas that would be safer from environmental hazards,” Deborah adds, alluding to how easily the affluent beach residents of the Cape Fear region could further displace and gentrify.

Ultimately, Deborah connects coming up with resolutions for these important societal needs back to city leadership doing more to work with grassroots actors to uplift often overlooked communities. “For starters, our children have been done a disservice through the education system. We have to improve our schools. If Wrightsville Beach is doing good, put more effort into places that need it.” Referencing economic and employment opportunities, Deborah then references ways the city could do more to support organizations and collaboratives like StepUp Wilmington and Genesis Block. “There are also unutilized building contracts that the city is working on where they haven’t reached their goal to hire minority contractors. We know that white women are minority contractors too, and make no mistake, we know that they’ve been working on it, but we need more Black and brown people employed as well.”

“The state, not just the city, needs to pay a living wage. We need better housing. People are concerned about gentrification; we aren’t keeping up equitable housing. There are many houses in Wilmington where six-figure white people move in next door, but a Black woman who could afford that same house in the 60s and 70s with a factory job? Her social security doesn’t even come close to matching up. I’ve been dismayed by the callousness of the comments people have made in city meetings regarding home ownership.”

Finally, Deborah boils our community’s needs down to this: “The city and county needs to listen,” she says. “They’ve already made their blueprints, so follow the steps and commit, and we will be already. But if they fail to follow those, there will continue to be issues. We have to be willing to look at the social determinants that cause these problems. Because this is a longitudinal thing. There is no quick fix. We have to be invested in the long run. No mandated quick fixes that will just fall off the next year. We have to be willing to invest in long term support for the Black community.”

When Kevin Spears was elected to the Wilmington City Council in 2019, he brought to the role not only his own lived experiences as a Black native of the city, but also his long history as a volunteer, activist, and advocate for the city’s underrepresented communities. This has included his positions as a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board; as president of Peace For the Port, a non-profit organization focusing on community violence; and as chairman of the MLK Jr. Recreation Association, a non-profit focusing on recreational and educational programs for inner city youth. For Kevin, community leadership is more than just talking. “I think at this point we’re done identifying the problems. So now it’s time for action. There have been a lot of meetings–too many meetings. Too much talk.”

For Kevin, one of the defining problems for Wilmington when it comes to removing obstacles for economic growth for the city’s Black community is a failure to envision a future that doesn’t involve Black people being “pushed aside” or excluded from the “grand scheme.” “What I find the problem to be is intentional exclusion. So, you have to be intentional about helping people in response. Something I’ve always talked about and practiced in life is focusing on the tangible. Let’s pluck the low hanging fruit. What the people of Wilmington–and the country–want to actually see is the effort. We can hear the talk, but when we don’t see the works. We’re riding down Market and there’s potholes all up and down and the street, but when you’re in Mayfaire, they’re as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Those are the tangibles. Those are things we can work on.”

Another obstacle Kevin pointed out to getting things done has been how we communicate about socioeconomic disparities. “What we have is a communication issue. Depending on where you are, your perspective is kind of skewed. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean that your perspective is wrong. If you’re sitting in Landfall, you might see a functioning community and don’t see any issues. But when you live in other places, you can’t help but see the effects of the opioid crisis. You’re not wrong based on your perspective; but it doesn’t mean that those other perspectives don’t exist. We need to do our best to communicate.”

“We also need to bring companies to Wilmington that are going to hire at a living wage and better rate,” Kevin added, pivoting to how the government can strengthen its commitments to combating underemployment, unemployment, and strengthening support for nonprofits. “We need to set the standard [for sustainable wages] within our own city limits. That’s how you change things. I’ve been on the other side. I know how it feels to not make enough–when everything is survival.”

“I think StepUp Wilmington does a great job about being diverse and giving people opportunity. That’s one of the biggest things companies need to do: you need to give people opportunities. This has been my word since 2019. We have to be a little more personal about things. When a person is trying to better themself and needs help… the bare minimum just doesn’t cut it. And I will say this–I know StepUp practices this as well: we have to allow people to pay their debt to society. Just because a person has a criminal history, that doesn’t mean they don’t want to be a productive part of society. If they’re applying for jobs and you close the door in their face, what message are you sending them? You’re basically sending people back into a life of crime. We need to be more forgiving as it relates to people trying to help themselves.”

However, as far as Wilmington goes when it comes to making the city more sustainably employing for its local residents, Kevin admits that up to now, we haven’t come anywhere close to doing enough. “We need a lot of help. A lot of help. The things that I’m saying now in 2021 are the same things I was saying as far back as 2017 and earlier. I have conversations with more important people as of late because of the addition of my title, but it all comes back to intent. People come to me with all these ideas. You can talk all day about helping people of a certain status or demographic, but what does the infrastructure of your organization look like? That speaks a lot about who you are. There aren’t very many prominent African Americans within these organizations that offer this help. It’s great to hire people. But we are more than construction workers, janitors, and kitchen help. You look at the numbers: that’s where we are. Sure, you’ve got some sprinkled through here and there in positions of leadership, but you look at the top organizations in our area–look at the makeup of those orgs and you tell me what you think.”

But Kevin notes that being in positions of leadership does not solve issues of race. “There is a very real fear that even if you do climb to a prominent spot… there’s still the fear of failure. That burden is a little more heavy when you’re a minority. You feel like it’s one mistake and you’re out. and we’re not as prone to bouncing back as other people. I’ll be frank: it’s a lot of burden to be cloaked in this dark skin,” he adds with a laugh.

Ultimately, whether it’s jobs, transportation, gentrification in housing development, or any other number of factors that feed back into socioeconomic disparities felt by the city’s minority communities, Kevin is personally determined to never get complacent in his mission to make the city a better place to live for all its residents. “I’d be glad to come out of my term knowing that I changed the lives of a bunch of people, as opposed to keeping them in the same position that they were in when I got here.”

“This agency was born out of my own experience,” says Frankie Roberts, who has served as the Executive Director of Leading Into New Communities, Inc. (LINC, Inc.) since he and co-founder Tracey Ray started it in 2000. LINC, Inc. provides transitional living and case management services to meet the needs of those who are returning from incarceration, and has successfully helped reintegrate over 1,200 men and women who have been released from prison since 2002; 92% of which have avoided reoffending thanks to LINC’s services.

Frankie was inspired to start the organization by his own experience with his brother. “I had an older brother who was drafted and deployed to Vietnam in ‘68. Once he got there, he found himself struggling with a heroin addiction.” Frankie shared that although his brother was eventually given an honorable discharge in 1971, his struggles with addiction caused turmoil in their relationship at home. “I became bitter and unforgiving because he took all the energy out of the household with his addiction,” Frankie recalls. “My brother was convicted of an armed robbery years later–I was about 12 then. Eventually I graduated from high school and went to barber school. He was out of prison by this time, but found himself back in the throes of addiction. He would come by the barbershop begging for money. I was still unforgiving.”

In 1997, Frankie had what he describes as his “Road to Damascus” moment. “One thing God showed me is that, were it not for his grace, my brother’s life could’ve been my own.” The next year, Frankie’s brother underwent a medical procedure; Frankie was determined to make things right once he had begun recovery. “God put it on my heart to make amends after all these years.” But right as Frankie was preparing to leave the barbershop that day to visit the hospital, he received an urgent call from his sister-in-law. His brother had already passed.

Two years later, Frankie and Tracey had started LINC, Inc.; an especially daunting task considering the lack of presence reentry work had in Wilmington at the time. “We were literally starting from scratch. We just started telling people we were available to provide support with a special focus on substance abuse. People started coming by and we would help them with resumes and things like that. It was a slow startup.” According to Frankie, things started to grow in 2002 when they started receiving funding from the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission, and again in 2007 thanks to the Second Chance Act, which authorized federal grants to organizations to provide housing, substance abuse treatment, employment training, and other services to aid in the reducing recidivism. Not only did this make LINC, Inc a more notable name; it also helped address some of their biggest challenges.

“The people we serve need employment skills, transportation… homelessness was a huge challenge. And people are obviously very discriminatory toward people with a criminal history; there’s always a Scarlet Letter behind your name,” Frankie noted, listing challenges that LINC, Inc. has had to navigate throughout the years.

“Recidivism was close to 70% when we started. One of the reasons this was so high was because of employer discrimination towards people with a history. We learned that you can cut recidivism in half just by having access to employment, so that’s what we focused on. We learned that if we can provide housing, and then wrap all the other services in ‘comprehensive case management’, then our success is more imminent. We opened a 10 bed campus over our office upstairs. Afterwards, our outcomes improved significantly. We’ve since been able to increase housing from 10 beds to 53 beds. That’s what changes things–the housing piece.”

“We’ve learned how to be strength-based and solution-focused. People returning from prison have always been criticized. When I think about who I was with my brother–treating him like the scum of the earth–that’s what these people are used to. So we learned to focus on each person’s strength and resilience. If someone’s 15 minutes late to an appointment, we focus on the fact that they made it. We know that because of various factors, the odds are often slim of people even showing up, so we’re just triumphant to have them with us. We’ve found that this creates a spark–an inspiration in people. You can see it. It’s not that you don’t deal with the tardiness; you just address it without tearing people down.”

Frankie points out that although there is more dialogue about the importance of reentry work these days, there are still challenges imposed by public and systemic biases. “Over 50% of the incarcerated are Black and brown people. Yet 60% of our residents are white. When people hear that they’re surprised, but when you look at the system, case managers who make the referrals for release are going to prioritize those who they think have the best shot. And of course, the white people get more of the privilege–the opportunity. What we’ve tried to do is make prisons and jails cognizant of this and provide training on reframing how you assess risk.”

In addition to citywide efforts, LINC, Inc. is engaged in statewide reentry work. One of the recent successes of the work of organizations like Frankie and Tracey’s? In 2020, Governor Roy Cooper implemented “Ban the Box” policies at state agencies to increase job opportunities for ex-offenders. “This means to remove the box for criminal history off the initial job application, which disproportionately affects people of color. We wanted to delay the question further in the process. Now we’re working on that same process with housing discrimination.”

Despite recent accomplishments, Frankie knows that there’s a lot more we could do. “We need to empower agencies like [StepUp’s] and ours. We need to ban the box when it comes to contracting work. We need to do more to incentivize businesses to hire people with records. And the government needs to hire more people with records themselves, and not just for entry positions.” But ultimately, Frankie believes that what this all boils down to is interrogating one’s own biases. “People have to seek from within. We want people–even our own staff–to recognize their biases.”

“I asked the mayor one time: ‘you know how we can switch this thing up and give people with criminal histories more access?’ He said ‘how’s that Frank?’ ‘You just practice forgiving and engage your own network–people like you–with influence. Then this thing will go away overnight.”

Owen Metts, Sr. is a jack-of-all-trades who prefers to keep a low profile and let his work and actions speak for him rather than words. But despite his preference for keeping behind the scenes, there’s never a shortage of projects for him to work on. “When I wake up in the morning, often as early as 4:30 am, it’s just a matter of which briefcase it is that I need to pick up for that day,” he says with a laugh. Even aside from his real estate and insurance businesses, Owen has many commitments, a few among them being his service on the board of directors for the Harrelson Center, his role on the advisory board for the Salvation Army of Wilmington, and his position as an associate pastor at Saint Luke A.M.E. Zion Church, where he’s been a member for 35 years. The key to Owen managing to juggle so many responsibilities? “Always put God first. And I’m a strong believer in people not just working, but doing something that finds them fulfillment.”

For Owen, that fulfillment has been found largely in his insurance work, and in the most recent chapters of his life, real estate. For over 35 years, Owen has worked in insurance; this has included not only working for companies such as Mutual of Omaha, but also owning and operating his own insurance consultation business–The Benefit Connection–for the last nearly four decades. After successfully working in this industry for so long, one might wonder why the decision to add realty onto his plate? “I never look at the complexity of a problem–I look at the solution. I want to help people,” Owen says. “Sometimes God will take you around before he places you where you need to be. If I seek what I’m looking for in His name, then I will find it. I believe and practice that.”

Where God placed Owen was at a condemned building at 801 Dawson Street. But to see it today, after three years of work bringing Owen’s vision for the space to life, you’d never have known that it was ever in a state of disrepair. According to Owen, the satellite office will serve to host both of his businesses, and will also be available as a venue for events such as wedding receptions, corporate events and anniversary parties. He says that they refer to the renovated building as the Oasis. “Before, this area was considered by many to be a ‘dried pond’. So we dropped an ‘oasis’ in the dry pond to motivate people to go out and do even better things for their community. We want people to come in and get a drink of inspiration, a drink of new vision, and a drink of new hope.”

While Owen is grateful for his successful ventures, and is not one to be defined by the perceptions of others, he is also aware of how his image and works can serve as motivation for people in the community. “My wife and I kind of laugh about how every week someone is calling asking me to come work for them. But why would I do that in this part of my life? As it relates to the racial issue, I feel that, for me, if I did opt out to just work for someone else, I feel like I would be selling my people short. I’m seen as a successful entrepreneur, so I can’t just fold up and go do that.”

But Owen is also determined not to let the factor of race ever limit his work, and he advocates for others to do the same. “I don’t want to focus on the racial issue, I focus on what I want to accomplish as an individual. I focus on the task assigned to me by God. The issue of race certainly exists, but the fact of the matter is that you have to focus on your goals, and how you can help others accomplish their goals as well.”

“As I sit in the middle of this building resurrected from the dead, it makes me think: many people have had the same opportunities that I’ve had. Sometimes someone can give you an opportunity and what you do with it is up to you. And when you don’t know how to capitalize on it, you have to have the sense to ask someone who has more knowledge for help. Sometimes we get in a certain situation because we’re afraid to ask for help. I don’t have a problem saying I don’t understand something. We have to learn how to seek out knowledge from mentors–any mentor. From people like StepUp Wilmington, for example,” Owen added with a smile.

“I think that sometimes people don’t only need to hear a sermon. Sometimes they need to see a sermon. When you say something, let me see where the action is. If you talk about a God that you serve, show me what He has done for you in your life.”

Finally, Owen’s advice for anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit? “I would say focus on your goal, whatever that is. And try to put God first in everything you do. He will make provisions for you that you cannot make for yourself. Do that and don’t focus on problems, but stay focused on your goal, and be willing to work. A higher purpose needs to wake you up every morning.”

When Sean Palmer moved his family to Wilmington in 2016 to become the director of UNC Wilmington’s Upperman African American Cultural Center and the pastor of Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church, he did so keenly aware of the city’s haunted past of racial injustice, and knowing that the past continues to affect our community today. He arrived with an inspired vision for how to transform the city into something more for its Black community than just a mausoleum of past tragedies.

As someone who has served as a director of cultural spaces and as an educator at institutions such as Duke University and Paine College prior to his time in Wilmington, Sean is well aware of the impact that education–and inaccessibility to it–can and does have on the disparity of wealth and opportunities between Black and white communities. “We know that prior to the ways modern day student loan debt has crippled people, African Americans found class mobility through education. Traditionally, education is one of the premiere ways that we’ve been able to have a chance at living out a quasi-version of the ‘American Dream.’ Especially if families can be lucky enough to sustain education as part of a generational perspective.”

Sean also believes that while institutions like churches and nonprofits have important roles to play in bridging the gaps in economic opportunity, they can just as easily hurt as much as they help if their leaders aren’t careful. “I think we have to look at nonprofits as an industrial complex that hasn’t raised up the roles of African Americans as much as it thinks it has. [Nonprofits] are traditionally run by white people whose interests in our communities are typically paternalistic. They often understand themselves as doing ‘mission work’ in disenfranchised communities. But if you look at the last 100 years of history, what you often get is poverty voyeurism as a tentacle of white supremacy.”

“The church and Black mutual aid societies, Black Greek organizations–anywhere where Black people get to advance their own wealth generation and their own institution making, have tended to be better about supporting Black folks. The challenge there is that as we progress as a community, and as younger Blacks do not embrace institution making, and as older Blacks find it harder to let go and pass these institutions down to them, there is an intergenerational divide that creates arrested development in Black social and political organizing.”

Sean continues in his analysis of how the Black church has evolved in recent years. “But you see a renewal when you see, for example, Kamala and the resiliency of Black women in the sorority movements supporting her,” he says in reference to Vice President Kamala Harris’ status as a sister of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first historically African American Greek-lettered sorority.

“I also think that in this moment, when many of us see the government as dysfunctional, there’s been a renaissance in mutual aid societies, and in Black liberation theory as primacy to the church moving beyond prosperity gospel. This has been paramount to Black folks disengaging from white supremacy and to thinking of our own institutions as empowering. And the churches have had no choice. Because people want to know how to deal with the suffering when a Trayvon Martin happens, or when a George Floyd or a Breonna Taylor happens.”

When it comes to addressing inequalities in this country that are intertwined with race, Sean believes that our city is in a strong position to model sweeping change. “Wilmington is the easiest test case for reparations in the country, aside from maybe Tulsa. Many of our issues are about poverty and lack of access. Wealth allows for access. Wealth allows for autonomy. Wealth allows for redistribution of resources. It’s more than just saying ‘I’m sorry.'” He added, with a laugh, “If someone doesn’t talk money in a capitalist society, then they’re not talking sense.”

“I also don’t think jobs place a high priority on diversity when they plant here in Wilmington. Where do you see recruitment from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the area to do anything? We say we care about Black students, but we don’t do enough to recruit (UNCW is only 4% Black), or to develop a local Black professional class. Nor do we look at the disparities with unions when it comes to creating high-earning Black blue collar workers. And how are we making this city a tourist attraction for Black people? This means supporting new and existing Black restaurants, banquet halls, caterers, photographers, and more. There’s no commitment there from the city. Most Black people are not movers and shakers in those industries. It’s definitely prevalent if not intentional.”

Ultimately, Sean is confident that Wilmington has the “bones” to make a flourishing Black community work, but at this point, it has none of the “skin, flesh, and veins.” “Wilmington needs Black history thinkers, interpreters, and to make an actual connection with the Gullah Geechee corridor. We could be a center for Black filmmaking and creative writing. We could have Black theater summer projects, and screenwriting competitions about Black southern heritage. We have a skateboarding culture here, but there is no Black skateboarding community.”

“To make this beautiful thing fly, Wilmington has to commit to more than just saying that we have Black relics. I’m over thinking of Wilmington as a cemetery. Most people seem to be content with this city being a cemetery for Black things. Wilmington has to commit to saying that this is a place that is alive, and that it welcomes those who want to live.”

Wilmington native Brian Dickey is a confident believer in the merits of hard work and perseverance. “I know what it’s like to start from the bottom, and I know what it’s like to have to build your life up all over again.” There’s no question that Brian has lived out this belief with his own work ethic and drive to succeed. Starting out with broken down tools and a borrowed truck, in the last 15 years, Brian has successfully started and operated two businesses: Gifted Hands Services, a local property maintenance company, and since last year, Sweet D’s Cuisine, which has been described by Brian as being a family-friendly place that’s already built a reputation for their delicious glazed croissants.

According to Brian, he inherited his entrepreneurial spirit from his family. “My mom had a restaurant in the Sea Breeze area when I was little; I remember running around the restaurant when I was small. My dad had a painting side hustle and he did property maintenance for his wealthy friends. They were young and following their dreams while still managing to properly take care of their kids.” And when Brian ran into trouble with the law as a teenager and found it difficult to find work to support himself, he was given a chance to learn from his uncles and run their business for a time.

When Brian decided to venture into starting his own business in Gifted Hands, he attributes his managing to endure the difficult early days to two things: his “don’t quit” attitude and his faith. “‘No’ wasn’t an option. There were a lot of nights when I’d have to work all night and then work all day, and a lot of days where I’d have to be out there jump starting my buffer in the rain. We didn’t take out a bunch of loans–we built from scratch. As African Americans, most of us haven’t always had what we’ve needed, so we’ve improvised. I didn’t even have a business plan at the time. Just a grind.”

“I couldn’t go back to what I was doing before that because that’s not what God wanted for me,” Brian said in reference to how his faith kept him going. “I couldn’t stop because He was pushing me; he was propelling me. God was there the whole time.”

“I had no one to ask my questions about starting a business and about understanding finances like how StepUp Wilmington does for people now. Mistakes–bumping my head–was part of how I learned. But I did prepare in ways where I didn’t even realize what I was preparing for. I invested so much money into equipment that my wife thought I was crazy, but when the opportunities came to jump from just two clients to 30, I was ready.”

Brian notes that being a Black business owner in Wilmington certainly has its difficulties, but that he’s been well equipped to navigate it. “Wilmington’s landscape is something like 80% white; as minorities that’s meant a pretty big gap, so a lot of our Gifted Hands clients are actually located outside of the city. The standard has to be the same between Black and white businesses, and we have to be able to beat that standard.” Brian believes that, while growing up in a predominantly white Monkey Junction had its hardships, it also taught him a lot about both the nature of racism, how it’s taught, and about “code switching”–communicating with people from different cultures and backgrounds.

As a member of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), a network of nonprofits that unites to encourage and learn from one another, Brian believes in and lives out the organization’s core values of Relocation, Redistribution, and Reconciliation. Relocate to live among and bond with those you serve, redistribution of resources, and reconciling members of your community despite their differences. “They ain’t seen nothing yet,” Brian says about his plans to further live out these values with his future projects. Drawing comparisons to other organizations such as StepUp, Brian says that he’s working to figure out ways to build up people’s lives through employment, transitional housing, and homeownership. “People just need someone to walk with them and to be there when they feel like giving up. I know because I’ve been there.”

Brian’s advice for others in Wilmington, especially those in the Black community, looking to become entrepreneurs? “We can’t ever think of ourselves as not being good enough. We can’t accept excuses. We have to support one another’s businesses, we have to invest in our youth, and we have to have grace. We have to dare to be different, and we have to remember that we are not secondary–our time is now.”

Since 2021 began, StepUp Wilmington has been given numerous reasons to reaffirm our commitment to viewing our work through the framework of racial equity. This is a commitment that has been internalized by each of our staff members, our board, and our volunteers. Each of us is aware that this framework is essential to us using our services and platform to make New Hanover and our neighboring counties more equitable places to live for each of us. Sean Bynum, StepUp’s Operations Director, is determined to make this a reality, and wants to be clear about what this framework means for the organization.

“To put it simply, everything we do we view through that lens of racial justice,” Sean affirms. “From our programs to our internal operations. What this means is analyzing our data and designing our programs so that we understand how the barriers to employment are felt more strongly in the Black community. We want to meet all of our candidates, including the Black community and other people of color, where they are.”

Speaking on what he sees as StepUp’s role in making Wilmington a more equitable city for its Black community, Sean noted that the organization’s goal is “to become a leader in equitable programming and staffing, and to continue advocating for justice in job placement.”

“We understand that 51% of our candidates are Black, and that 41% of those living in poverty in this city are Black. So the question is: how do we advocate for getting Black people to places where they can lead a healthy, sustainable life? Our Black candidates earn $1.50 less than their white counterparts. We want all of our candidates to find employment and a living wage, but a fair and equitable wage is just as important.”

Regarding the barriers impeding equitable access to economic opportunity, Sean is a firm believer that StepUp is well-equipped to overcome any obstacle, not only because of the quality of our staff and programming, but because of our values. “Many Black members in our community, due to where they live, do not have access to necessary resources to thrive in life as their white peers. So, at StepUp Wilmington we attempt to make our programs accessible to all and leverage our resources for the community.”

“We know that there aren’t enough Black people in positions of power. So, part of our advocacy for equitable employment starts with making sure that our own board and team are a reflection of our values. We value diversity not just racially, but economically, in gender, and more. We fight systemic racism by supporting the people in our community that have our values, and by partnering with other businesses and organizations that share these values and are willing to fight for change.”

However, Sean is also well aware of the pitfalls that many nonprofits fall into when it comes to working for racial justice. He and the rest of the organization’s leadership are always cautious not to make the same mistakes. “One of the primary issues I see is organizations ignoring the issues altogether; to be in a position to do something about a problem but not being intentional in their actions. I see organizations looking for others to be experts rather than committing to fighting against injustice by trying to become advocates themselves.”

“[StepUp] has a strong fundraising mission that helps us avoid financial constraints to our work. We are intentional about how we use our data to support strategic programming, and we are intentional about ensuring that our staff and board are trained through Racial Equity Institute to not only be knowledgeable, but to have the tools necessary to fight for our candidates, and actually speak out against systemic racism and white supremacy in our community.”

While Sean acknowledges that there is much work to be done, he is ultimately hopeful for the future. “We want Wilmington to be a primary destination for Black people not only because of the beaches but the high quality of life for our Black residents and people of color. For us at StepUp Wilmington, success looks like the poverty level decreasing every year. After all, our goal is to eradicate poverty. And we know it’s a lofty goal, but we’re more than willing to fight for that future and for our community, one job and one life at a time.”