© 2024 254 North Front Street, Suite 300, Wilmington, NC 28401 | 910.343.1640
News Classical 91.3 Wilmington 92.7 Wilmington 96.7 Southport
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

CoastLine: Local Homeless Population Largely Due to Low Incomes, High Housing Costs

Good Shepherd Center
The Good Shepherd Center in Wilmington offers food to the hungry, shelter to the homeless, and supportive services for those recently re-housed.

Most Americans look forward to a feast on Thanksgiving Day.  It’s a day of gratitude, time with family, and let’s be honest – unbridled consumption.  But for more than half a million people, the question of what to cook for the big dinner is overshadowed by much more basic concerns:  where to spend the night, how to stay warm, where to find food – any food.

Each January across North Carolina, volunteers undertake an annual count of people who are homeless.  This year, the Point-In-Time identified 390 homeless people in the New Hanover / Pender / Brunswick County area; 80 of those people are classified as chronically homeless.   Katrina Knight of the Good Shepherd Center says the actual number is a moving target but fluctuates between 300 and 400.

While there is no question that there is still work to do, contrary to recent public assertions, the number of homeless people is NOT on the increase.  But is there harder to work to be undertaken by the community than just sheltering people for the night?

In-studio guests:

Louis Brady, formerly homeless military veteran and Good Shepherd Center employee

Danielle Fedor, Mental Health Counselor, Good Shepherd Center

Katrina Knight, Executive Director, Good Shepherd Center

For more information on the Good Shepherd Center, visit their website:

http://goodshepherdwilmington.org/

For Good Shepherd Center wish lists, follow this link:

http://goodshepherdwilmington.org/give/wishlist/

Rachel hosts and produces CoastLine, an award-winning hourlong conversation featuring artists, humanitarians, scholars, and innovators in North Carolina. The show airs Wednesdays at noon and Sundays at 4 pm on 91.3 FM WHQR Public Media. It's also available as a podcast; just search CoastLine WHQR. You can reach her at rachellh@whqr.org.