OUR
APPROACH

Rachel Bodkin-Fox has been a passionate and experienced advocate and activist for community engagement in all sectors-public, private, nonprofit, and for-benefit in the Cape Fear Region for the past 15 years. Rachel is in her element as the Director of Programs for Quality Life Blueprint, Sokoto House CBO Capacity Building Specialist, and HOP Project Manager. Rachel holds a Master’s in Public Administration with a Public Policy concentration from UNCW and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from IUPUI. Rachel was founder and owner of The Foxes Boxes, a unique fresh-food restaurant and home of the TFB Externship Academy, whose mission aimed to inspire and empower individuals with employment barriers by providing innovative on-the-job training, building leadership, communications, and job skills that led to self-sufficiency, professional fulfillment, and a confident value-added workforce for the always growing hospitality and service industry. After The Foxes Boxes closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Rachel became the Special Projects Manager for the Cape Fear Workforce Development Board, Community Project Manager for Our Future Cape Fear, Local Educational Attainment Collaborative, and Internship Director for IATSE-491, where she continued to identify career pathways for individuals from underrepresented and underserved communities to find employment that would lead to professional and financial fulfillment. Prior to The Foxes Boxes, Rachel was always advocating–she served as Director of the Building a Better Wilmington Campaign, where she produced and marketed films about the great work of the many nonprofits in Southeastern North Carolina, as well as volunteered as the Congressional District Leader for the ONE Campaign, an antipoverty organization co-founded by Bono from U2, where she led the charge on requesting funding for programs benefiting the world's poorest across the globe, including sitting as a board member emeritus of the ONE Moms Advisory Council in Washington, DC. Rachel participated in the 2011 ONE Mom's trip to Kenya and was showcased on ABC World News as "Persons of the Week". Rachel has served on numerous other nonprofit boards focused on local and global causes providing valuable strategic guidance in developing mission driven content and initiatives to raise the nonprofits to new levels. Rachel has been a guest on NC PBS, as well as keynote speaker at numerous events, including the NC USNC for UN Women Annual Luncheon, UNA-USA Breakfast, multiple Rotary chapter meetings and UNCW School of Social Work, School of International Affairs, and School of Anthropology.

After having been exposed for over 20 years inside America's criminal justice system, to the crisis of addiction and homelessness, Louis has emerged as a champion of transformation. In the years since his release, he has earned his Associate of Applied Science degree in Business Administration through Miller-Motte College in Wilmington, NC. Mr. Brown subsequently graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship from Colorado Technical University's online program. He is the first among his siblings to earn a college degree. He was also one of the first cohort of graduates of QLB's CHW-VPP course, having successfully completed 60 hours of public health community-based upstream training in the prevention of structural and interpersonal violence.

Advance Youth Outreach grew out of Vance E. Williams’ passion for working with at-risk youth. Williams’ passion stemmed from his own personal story of being raised in an abusive home and having experienced physical and emotional trauma while placed in the foster care system.

These experiences as an adolescent carried in to his young adult life, with a conviction as a felon for attempted carjacking. His experiences are extensive and his story is not for the faint at heart. However, overcoming those experiences are what drive him to work with at-risk youth, fully commit himself to developing and being an advocate for them.

Williams has worked at the ground level of mentoring youth for more than 10 years in cities as diverse as Detroit, Michigan to Wilmington, NC. Vance Williams holds a B.A degree in Christian Counseling from William Tyndale College and a variety of certifications in behavioral modification.

Bio coming soon.

Born and raised in Wilmington, NC, Brenda has been vested in the community for 30+ years, building relationships and gaining the trust of the community, which allows her access to family homes in order to support them in addressing their personal issues.

Ms. Galloway was the first Community Health Worker trained in Violence Prevention in NC (2017). During that same period she managed the Voyage Youth Leadership Council, who initiated the efforts for the Portia Mills Hines Park improvement campaign, addressed city council for lights, water, and restrooms, and was thus awarded $729,000 for the design project.

She maintains relationships with organizations while creating new partnerships and sponsors. She has established a solid youth base in the city, placed in agricultural science, contributing to community gardens in the city and Youth Empowerment Solutions programming. She is now the Founding Executive Director of the no for profit Helping Others To Proceed Effectively (H.O.P.E.).

Kevin Roberts grew up around the central US but moved to the Wilmington, NC area in the late 80’s to attend UNCW. While in Wilmington, he married and had a son in 2003. He and his wife made a point of teaching their son anti-racism as a core value, but following George Floyd’s murder, Kevin realized the need for direct action in service of racial equity, and he and his son began engaging first with the Black Lives Matter movement and then with Sokoto House and its constituent non-profit community-based organizations. Currently, Kevin devotes as much time as possible to operations and events at Sokoto House, including holding beginner's archery classes on Saturdays. He also leverages his 25+ year career in digital media, e-learning development, and information technology, plus his graphic design and multimedia production side business, Grey Raven Media, as a means to provide needed skill resources to community leaders, community-based organizations, Community Health Workers, and others for capacity building; to help amplify the voices of those who need to be heard; and to keep funds in communities where they are needed most.

See bio above.

Eden moved to Wilmington from Atlanta, GA with her husband and two young sons in 2005. As Wilmington became “home,” Eden became committed to learning about the city’s complex history around race relations and socio-economic divisions as well as the incredible strengths and assets grounded within our unique community. She has consistently sought opportunities to be engaged in community efforts where she will learn from others and center efforts to advance civil rights, equity and moral justice.

With Master’s degrees in Community Psychology and Social Work, Eden has an understanding of the intricacies of the impacts of social and structural conditions on the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities. Professionally, she is committed to working both directly to support individuals as well as on a broader level to strengthen communities and advocate for policies and practices which address systems of oppression. As a mental health professional specializing in working with young children and their families, she is attentive to issues around adversity, trauma and ruptures in families caused by social inequities and systemic failures. Eden is currently being trained as a Community Health Worker advocate with the goals of advancing new ways of working within systems to strengthen connections with individuals and naturally occurring community assets. At the heart of all of this is a commitment to nurturing relationships and promoting healing, both between individuals and within the community to enhance cohesion across social, cultural and economic lines.

Bio coming soon.

Sharon Brown-Singleton is an silent leader, who is frequently called upon for his knowledge of organizational operations. She always strives to do her best and her motto is to train others, so you work yourself out of a job. While easygoing by nature, she is direct and decisive when she needs to be. She intuitively sees the threads of opportunity that wind through an organization, brings them together into a coherent whole, and helps others extend their thinking. Respected as a credible voice in decision making, she earns a seat at the table wherever she serves.

Currently, as Director of Revenue Enhancement and Special Projects at MedNorth Health Center, a federally qualified health center, Sharon oversees the operations of multiple grants. She leads the successful implementation of the Community Health Worker program, having experience in writing, developing, and implementing various CHW programs centered around maternal and child health, substance use, and infant mortality. Grounded in community asset development, Sharon worked in three Eastern NC Counties to implement various iterations of HOPE Works in the Community through Community Based Participatory Research, with UNC Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Branch serving on the Community Advisory Board for over 20 years.

Previously, as Member and Chair of the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health, Sharon led the Council to provide recommendations to Secretary Becerra, J.D., the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, on matters and issues concerning Migrant and Seasonal Agriculture Workers. Sharon currently serves on the Health Outreach Partners Board of Directors, and has done so for over 10 years holding Finance, Vice chair and Chair positions. Earlier she rose through the ranks of a FQHC in eastern NC, starting as an outreach worker, lay health advisor and finally becoming Chief Operating Officer. She transitioned her role from a FQHC to the NC Community Health Center Association serving as the Director of Health Center Services and Support and Interim Chief Program Officer. She began her career migrating from NY, NC and Florida working in the fields and living on a migrant labor camp.

Sharon holds a Master of Science in Management from Troy University, a bachelor’s in business administration (Organizational Development) from the University of Mount Olive and is a Licensed Practical Nurse. Sharon is pursuing her dream of one day opening an Adult Day Center or Rest home for retired and/or disabled migrant and seasonal agriculture workers. It's not out of the ordinary to find Sharon working in the fields on a Saturday helping her husband, Frank.

Bio coming soon.

Bio coming soon.

Christopher Everett is an independent film director, producer and curator, based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Christopher is the Program Manager at the Southern Documentary Fund and is the founder of Speller Street Films and Black Kung Fu Cinema. He's a recent Firelight Media Doc Lab Fellow and is the guest curator at The Cary Theater in Cary, NC for their Kung Fu Film Series. His debut feature documentary, Wilmington on Fire, chronicles the 1898 Wilmington Massacre. He’s currently in post-production on Wilmington on Fire: Chapter II and also Grandmaster: The Vic Moore Story which looks at the life and teachings of martial arts pioneer Grandmaster Victor Moore.

See bio above.