stidd0

In a time of rising costs and quiet hardship, too many ALICE families are losing the ability to imagine a brighter future. As I sit here sipping my energy tea, I keep thinking about the young woman who made it for me. She’s in community college, working her way through classes, and dreaming of starting a small business with a friend after she graduates. I told her about the BCCC Small Business Center and encouraged her to talk with Jack Dugan if she truly wants to chase that dream. She’s not...

Behind the storefronts, schools, farms, and care centers are ALICE households stretched to the breaking point. In Eastern North Carolina, we pride ourselves on hard work. It’s part of our identity, woven into the fields, waterways, small businesses, and the people who keep our communities running. But today, far too many of those same hardworking families are being pushed to the breaking point, not because they’ve made poor choices, but because the math of modern life simply no longer adds...