On today’s show, we’re continuing our conversations about community safety. It’s a pressing issue in the Cape Fear Region — it’s also one of the four key pillars of the New Hanover Community Endowment.
Recently, the Endowment posted a job opening for a director-level position overseeing its community safety grants. Whoever lands that job will have significant resources to address the issue – but they’ll also face some serious challenges. That includes defining the issue, and figuring out how to actually turn grant money into safer communities.
In the meantime, there are plenty of people already doing the work. And this year, I’ll be sitting down with as many of them as I can.
That certainly includes today’s guest, Frankie Roberts — who for 25 years has served as the executive director of Leading into New Communities, or LINC.
As you’ll hear him say, Frankie was inspired by his brother Marvin, a Vietnam veteran who struggled with heroin and was eventually incarcerated. After Marvin got out, he fell deep into addiction. The brothers’ relationship suffered — as Frankie admits, he didn’t treat his brother with much grace. Marvin passed away before they could patch things up.
It’s a tragedy, but also the seed of Frankie’s work to help others trying to stick the incredibly difficult landing coming out of prison. That work is a tribute to Marvin, and one of LINC’s flagship programs bears his name – the Marvin E. Roberts Transitional Living Campus.
After a quarter century, Frankie Roberts has had plenty of conversations about community safety. And I was grateful he took the time to have one with me, for this episode.
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