COVID-19

Apr 13, 2022

New IEI Project Explores What Resilience Means for North Carolinians

IEI’s Project Resilience will explore the concept of resilience – past, present, and future –  within the context of an individual, household experience. 

May 25, 2021

First in Future: Rev. Dr. Dawn Baldwin Gibson and Michael Maher

In this First in Future episode, we focus on the return to school resembling something normal, and how do we get our kids back on track and recover from what they lost? Our guests are Michael Maher, Executive Director of the Office of Learning Recovery and Acceleration at the state Department of Public Instruction, and Rev. Dr. Dawn Baldwin Gibson, Superintendent of the Peletah Center for Academic Excellence in eastern NC. 

Feb 9, 2021

First in Future: Dr. Jim Johnson

The pandemic is affecting everyone in our country. Almost any indicator you look at, the impacts have been greater on people of color in the state. The infection rates are 3x higher among African Americans than whites, and death rates are 6x higher. According to CDC data, COVID hospitalization rates are 5 x higher for American Indians and African Americans and 4x higher in the LatinX community. So you would think that when it comes to vaccinations, people of color might be receiving priority treatment. Not initially, says our First in Future guest, Dr. Jim Johnson. He looked at data from six states that are reporting COVID vaccination rates by race, and found that North Carolina has the widest gap in race and ethnic disparity. 

Dec 22, 2020

First in Future: Laura Marx and Anita Barker of the United Way

When the pandemic hit, calls to United Way NC's 211 line for assistance tripled. Now the organization has taken a close look at what is happening to families across the state during the pandemic. No surprise there are a lot of people that are hurting. We talk with Laura Marx and Anita Barker about some of the surprising findings of their new survey and how people across the state can help respond to the needs. 

Dec 16, 2020

Director’s Log | December 2020

What’s Normal? This is the season when we traditionally find the identity of the “Time Person of the Year,” the People Magazine “People of the Year,” the Sports Illustrated “Sportsperson… 

Nov 24, 2020

Director’s Log | November 2020

Finding the Hope in this Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Holiday Season In the middle of the outrage about the election and resurging pandemic, another outrage bubbled quietly. Apple TV bought… 

Nov 24, 2020

First in Future: North Carolina’s Poet Laureate – Jaki Shelton Green

This episode of First in Future, we hear from North Carolina's Poet Laureate, Jaki Shelton Green. She speaks to our hearts with a message about our personal power to connect to something important within ourselves and to the power we have in common cause with each other. She noted that historically pandemics have been times for radical change and a chance to move through a gateway to new kinds of thinking. We wanted you to hear her words with the message that she called "harvesting light and grace", as you go over the river and through the woods for the holidays or even if you're staying at home. This holiday season. These are words of healing and hope. 

Nov 18, 2020

Thanks & Giving

The holiday season is upon us but the reality is, how much celebrating will anyone be doing in this season? According to ABC11 News, currently, we are seeing numbers in… 

Nov 17, 2020

First in Future: The Ties That Bind Us (part 3) – Zachary Barricklow

This is part three of a three episode series of First in Future, where we focus on community, specifically what people and places in North Carolina are doing to make the places we live special. In the final part of our special focus on what transforms a place we live into a true community, we talk with Zach Barricklow of Wilkes Community College about the regional approach Wilkes, Ashe and Alleghany counties are taking to build off of their collective assets (especially high speed internet) to hold on to young people, retrain adults and attract new residents to the area. 

Nov 10, 2020

First in Future: The Ties That Bind Us (part 2) – Dante Pittman

This is part of a three episode series of First in Future, where we want to focus on community, specifically what people and places in North Carolina are doing to make the places we live special. Small towns everywhere complain about "brain drain", young educated people who move away for college and don't come back. In the second part of our series on what makes the places we live special, we talk with Dante Pittman, who chose to move back home to Wilson, NC, with the help of a new effort called "Lead for North Carolina." And we explore the question: how do we retain and retrain and stop brain drain?