Covid-19 continued to dominate the headlines. While there have been few cases in the region (four in Brunswick County, one in New Hanover County), the response to try and stem the time has had serious impacts on the local economy. Now, restrictions are being ramped up — closing beaches, shuttering bars and restaurants, and further restrictions the number of people who can lawfully gather.
We talk about what’s been done so far, and what’s likely to come next. Governor Roy Cooper has addressed the shift from ‘containment’ to ‘mitigation’ — and if that look anything like other U.S. states, that means even more strict regulation on public and private gatherings.
You can find all over our Covid-19 coverage here (it’s all free to read).
We’re also joined this week by Kevin Maurer, a journalist, editor, and writer who is now working with the Cape Fear Collective. The group, “aims to scale deep data science, project management, and fundraising capacity to support nonprofit organizations on the frontlines of addressing health and socio-economic disparities while leveraging additional value in the private and faith-based sector.”
The group aims to help coordinate the hundreds of independent non-profits in the region, many of whom are tackling similar issues. While the Collective grew out of the response to Hurricane Florence, Covid-19 may be its biggest challenge — in large part because the disease has highlighted many of the major challenges in the region: affordable housing, access to health care, wage disparity, and more.
Maurer joins us by phone to break down some of those issues,
Also this week, a look at Oxford House, which operates hundreds of sober-living houses across the country, including over a dozen in the Wilmington area. While few dispute the importance of the non-profit’s mission of providing a home (and often a second chance) for those dealing with substance abuse, it’s worth noting that Oxford House has a litigious history. The non-profit has shown a pattern of bulldozing through local zoning ordinances by claiming its residents are disabled. The end result might be a good cause, but where does that leave neighbors, who may not have a say in the process?
We get into it.
