The United Way of Wayne County was full of community leaders, elected officials, citizens, and their respective concerns, ideas, and insights on Monday afternoon as the United Way partnered with Mayor Charles Gaylor to host A Community Conversation.

A panel featuring representatives from 13 different organizations spoke to a large crowd that filled the conference room at the United Way and spilled out into the lobby.

The panelists included Mayor Gaylor, Timothy Whitfield, pastor of Refuge Temple Church, Selena Bennett, Communities Supporting Schools of Wayne County, Yvette Mason, Chapter President, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., John Barnes, CEO, Rebuilding Broken Places, Christina Watts, Community Engagement Coordinator, WAGES, Dr. Marc Whichard, Superintendent, Wayne County Public Schools, Sharita Oates, Director of Administration, the Housing Authority of the City of Goldsboro, Raymond Smith, St. James AME Zion Church, Dillard/Goldsboro Alumni & Friends, Inc., Safe Space for Youth, Corey Lewis, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Kellie Floars, Tommy’s Foundation, and DJ Coles, Founder, 4 Day Movement.

Also in attendance were Goldsboro Police Chief Michael West, Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce, and Goldsboro City Council members Beverly Weeks, and Roderick White.

With the end of the school year less than 50 days away, the panel discussed opportunities, solutions, and challenges facing Goldsboro, as the City’s leadership aims to prevent a repeat of the violence that plagued Goldsboro last summer.

“This started from a conversation just acknowledging that we’re coming up on summer, and last summer, I think we can all agree on this, there was far too much violence in the City of Goldsboro,” Gaylor said. “At the end of last summer, and during last summer, there were a lot of conversations around, ‘What are we going to do different this year?’ The reason this wasn’t announced a month ago, and everyone invited to be able to put schedules together, is because this is what happens when you just say it’s time and we’ve got 45 days until the end of the school year.”

Among the issues discussed was the need for mentors and volunteers to engage students on their respective campuses, and to make a positive impact in their lives.

Bennett touted the efforts of former Charles B. Aycock High School Principal, Dr. Earl Moore, who now serves with Communities Supporting Schools of Wayne County.

She also spoke of the pressures and temptations facing students today, and the need for positive role models and influences to look up to.

“If I had to say what kids are missing, every child wants to belong to something,’ said Bennett. “They’re going to find something to belong to, whether it be something positive or something negative. We believe in instilling those early literacy skills and trying to monitor and track these children.”

Barnes shed light on the struggles underprivileged students face with finding consistent meals during the summer, along with the challenges of transporting meals to those students when their parents are at work.

“We’ve provided the summer food program for about 15 years,” Barnes said. “That provided free meals to the kids during the summer months. Last year, was our last year of doing it. There are a lot of kids in Wayne County who do not eat (consistently) during the summer. If you remember during COVID, a lot of people were willing to go out and do different things to provide those meals. Requiring kids to come to a site to eat presents barriers, because kids cannot come to a site to eat because of a lack of transportation, and parents are working. The ideal solution would be the school system because they have the resources to do it. That’s something we need to look at is how can we provide those meals during the summer?”

Dr, Whichard elaborated on the needs facing the youth of Goldsboro and Wayne County.

“It’s about individuals, adults challenging themselves to do more for our schools,” Dr. Whichard said. “I’m very proud of the work we’ve done from an academic standpoint over the last year. We’ve moved 16 low-performing schools down to 10. When you start affect academics in a positive way, you start to see real change in your community. We are also fighting, just to be honest with you, challenges from a federal level, in terms of different programming cuts, uncertainties with different programs that existed before. We are thinking certain funds are going to be handed down from the state, but we don’t know that yet. We are certainly hoping our meals program and free breakfast and lunches for students will continue. Whether you’re of one political persuasion or the other, we can all agree, kids have got to eat.”

Coles shared the sobering details of the struggles facing one family that 4 Day Movement is currently working to assist.

He also shared his perspective on the realities of the challenges many people in Wayne County face on a daily basis.

“There’s a mom who is 38, she has three children, and they’re being illegally evicted from their home,” Coles said. “They called us, their furniture was trashed, and their clothes were thrown out. Clorox was put on things so they would not be able to retrieve their items. She gets $192 in food stamps, and her 18-year-old is 300 pounds, so the food doesn’t go very far. That’s a real case. I’m going to be transparent before you and say our community not only has a food insecurity, but it has a housing insecurity. I’m excited about the many things that everyone here is doing, but there are still many people that are falling in the gaps. I would challenge us to get a task force for the needs. There’s all kinds of programs for certain populations, but there’s populations that are falling through the gaps. In the gaps are the kids that aren’t getting access, they’re not getting exposure, and they’re getting in trouble. We’re going to do our best as a non-profit, 4 Day Movement to fill in those gaps.”