Shoresides

On this episode of Shoresides, host Nicholas Magrino explores the challenges and realities of substance use disorder in coastal North Carolina. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly 10 to 12 percent of North Carolinians struggled with substance use disorder in 2022.

To better understand the journey of recovery, we speak with Megan Weber-Youssefi, Director of Development at The Healing Place of New Hanover County. The Healing Place offers a low-barrier recovery program providing detox services, long-term residential recovery, and overnight shelter beds—entirely free of charge.

Weber-Youssefi shares insights into the stigma surrounding addiction and homelessness, the role of peer-led recovery, and the changing landscape of substance use in the region. She explains that the most commonly abused substances in Wilmington are methamphetamine and alcohol, with fentanyl-laced meth contributing to overdose rates.

Despite the challenges, The Healing Place remains a beacon of hope, providing not just treatment, but community support, job training, and housing assistance to those working to rebuild their lives. Many program graduates go on to work at The Healing Place, helping others navigate the same struggles they once faced.

Tune in to hear how The Healing Place is transforming lives, one step at a time.

Learn more about Shoresides at Shoresides.org.

Supporting a friend struggling with substance use disorder (SUD) requires patience, compassion, and boundaries. Here are ten meaningful ways to help:

1. Listen Without Judgment – Offer a safe space for them to share their feelings without criticism. Avoid shaming or blaming.
2. Educate Yourself – Learn about substance use disorder, treatment options, and the challenges of recovery. Understanding addiction as a disease helps reduce stigma.
3. Encourage Professional Help – Suggest they seek support from a counselor, support group, or treatment program. Offer to help research options or accompany them to an appointment.
4. Set Healthy Boundaries – Support them while protecting your well-being. Avoid enabling behaviors like giving money or covering up for their actions.
5. Be Patient – Recovery is a long process with setbacks. Let them know you’re there for them even when progress is slow.
6. Offer Practical Support – Help with transportation to meetings, job searches, or childcare if needed. Small acts of kindness can remove barriers to recovery.
7. Support Their Recovery Efforts – Celebrate milestones, encourage sober activities, and respect their commitment to staying clean.
8. Help Reduce Stigma – Avoid negative labels like “addict” and instead use person-first language, such as “a person struggling with substance use disorder.”
9. Encourage Connection – Suggest joining a support group like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) to build a strong recovery network.
10. Take Care of Yourself – Supporting someone with SUD can be emotionally draining. Seek your own support and ensure you’re maintaining your own mental health.

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Rising seas. Dredged rivers. Dying forests. In this episode of Shoresides, we investigate one of North Carolina’s most subtle yet devastating climate threats: ghost forests. These vast expanses of standing dead trees are creeping inland, driven by rising sea levels and relentless dredging of the Cape Fear River.

UNCW scientists Monica Rother and Andrea Hawkes join us to explain how their research—combining tree ring data and microscopic marine organisms—paints a stark picture of environmental change. They discuss why ghost forests are spreading, how they disrupt ecosystems, and what it means for communities, flooding, and environmental justice across the region.

Rother and Hawks are at the forefront of research on North Carolina’s ghost forests, using innovative methods to track the impact of climate change and human activity on coastal ecosystems. Rother, a forest ecologist and tree ring scientist, analyzes tree growth patterns to understand long-term environmental changes, revealing how rising salinity levels stress and ultimately kill freshwater trees. Hawks, a micropaleontologist, studies tiny marine organisms preserved in sediment to reconstruct past sea level changes and pinpoint when saltwater intrusion began affecting these landscapes. 

Together, their interdisciplinary work provides a clearer picture of how dredging and rising seas accelerate the spread of ghost forests, offering crucial insights into the future of coastal resilience and community health.

Learn more...

1. Ghost forests are dead tree stands caused by rising salinity. These eerie landscapes form when saltwater intrusion—driven by rising sea levels, coastal erosion, and human activities like dredging—kills freshwater-dependent trees, leaving behind lifeless trunks.

2. They are a visible sign of climate change. Ghost forests are one of the most striking indicators of global warming, as they mark areas where land is transitioning from forest to marsh due to sea-level rise and increasing storm surges.

3. The Cape Fear River dredging accelerates ghost forest formation. In Wilmington, NC, repeated deepening of the Cape Fear River has allowed tides to push saltwater farther inland, increasing salinity in freshwater wetlands and rapidly killing off bald cypress and other trees.

4. They disrupt ecosystems and increase flooding risks. The loss of forested wetlands means less natural flood protection, leading to higher flood risks for nearby communities. 

5. Ghost forests are expanding along the East and Gulf Coasts. While they are particularly noticeable in North Carolina, ghost forests are appearing from the Mid-Atlantic to the Gulf Coast.

Useful articles...

1. Bernhardt, E. (2022, June 29). “Coastal freshwater wetlands squeezed between migrating salt marshes and working lands.” Science Advances, 8(26).

2. Carolina Public Press (2022, August 12). “‘Ghost forests’ are creeping across NC’s coast at an alarming rate. Researchers are trying to stop them.” Accessed October 29, 2024.

3. Coastal Review (2022, June 15). “Research network to link environmental, social sciences.” Accessed October 29, 2024.

4. The Conversation (2021, April 6). “

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In this episode of Shoresides, we hear from Charles Seaton, President of International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) Local 1766 in Wilmington, North Carolina, as he speaks on the fight to protect jobs from automation in the maritime industry. Historian David Cecelski connects the modern labor struggle to the long and often-overlooked legacy of African American maritime labor on the North Carolina coast, while Portia Allen-Kyle of Color of Change provides a critical perspective on how automation and AI are reshaping labor markets, with disproportionate impacts on Black workers. Together, they explore the intersections of history, technology, and equity, and portray a vivid picture of coastal North Carolina's future.

Useful report to read for more context:
McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility. The Impact of Generative AI on Black Communities. McKinsey & Company

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Shoresides explores life in coastal North Carolina through the lens of resilience, justice, and community action. In this episode, host Nicolas Magrino examines the implications of President Trump’s second term, focusing on the private prison industry’s role in mass deportations and the human cost of immigration policies. Featuring insights from immigration defense lawyer Martin Rosenbluth and Prison Legal News editor Paul Wright, we uncover how systemic practices affect families, communities, and the economy—highlighting the resistance and the profit motives driving these policies. Listen to understand the stories behind the statistics and the people fighting for change. 

Note: Paul Wright is the board chair of Narrative Arts, the publisher of Shoresides.

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In this episode of Shoresides, we explore the challenges faced by low-income and elderly homeowners in Carteret County, North Carolina—a place of vibrant coastal life but growing climate vulnerability. Host Nicholas Magrino speaks with Catissa Head, Executive Director of Coastal Community Action, whose organization supports those struggling to maintain safe and livable homes amid increasing financial strain and extreme weather.

Head describes the housing crisis affecting her clients, from fixed-income seniors barely managing property upkeep to families forced into unsafe living conditions due to financial and bureaucratic barriers. Coastal Community Action offers essential services to sustain its clients’ homes and lives through weatherization, urgent repairs, and community advocacy.

Head’s work highlights the critical need for safe spaces and affordable housing in rural coastal North Carolina, where community action agencies play a vital role but face significant obstacles. Her story sheds light on a population often overlooked but deeply affected by our changing world.

Listen to learn about Coastal Community Action's efforts and the community resilience it fosters in the face of these pressing challenges.

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On this episode of Shoresides, we dive into the hidden side of North Carolina’s senior housing crisis. Coastal North Carolina has long been a retirement hotspot, but the influx of wealthy retirees has made it harder for lifelong residents to remain in their communities. While some seniors receive critical services like meal delivery and in-home care, others compete for the few affordable housing options left, often with younger renters and families.

We’ll hear from Casey Poplosky, an aging resource specialist at Brunswick Senior Resources Incorporated, who sheds light on the harsh realities seniors face: eviction due to rent hikes, long waitlists for in-home support, and limited access to shelters—some of which can’t accommodate seniors with disabilities. Poplosky also discusses the need for more shelters, temporary housing, and greater collaboration among local agencies to address Brunswick County’s growing senior needs.

Join us as we explore how rising demand is straining resources and leaving some seniors sleeping in parking lots, while organizations struggle to provide solutions.

Produced and edited by Nicolas Magrino

Photo credit: Spencer Platt

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You Don’t Need a Home to Vote dives into the intersection of homelessness and democracy in America. In this episode, Donald Whitehead, Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, speaks candidly about the barriers unhoused individuals face in accessing their voting rights. Whitehead shares why this issue is vital, detailing the practical steps and advocacy efforts needed to ensure everyone can participate in our democracy. From navigating ID requirements to the importance of representation, he reveals how voting rights can transform both policy and individual lives, proving that housing status should never be a barrier to having a voice.

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North Caroloina voter ID requirements. With the 2024 election underway, many voters are encountering ID rules for the first time, raising questions and concerns about how to vote without a hitch. Host Rend Smith shares his own experience of uncertainty at the polls and digs deeper with insights from experts, including Amy Campbell Bogie of You Can Vote and Karen Brinson-Bell of the NC State Board of Elections. They share tips for navigating ID issues, from alternative documents to emergency options for those facing unexpected challenges.

Tune in for a straightforward guide to help North Carolina voters show up with confidence and ensure their voices are heard.

Useful resources from the NC State Board of Elections.

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In this episode, we take you to Wilmington, North Carolina, where community members have gathered for Souls to the Polls, an event organized by local faith groups and the NAACP. We speak with Larry Dennis, the social action chair for St. Stephen's AME Church, on why supporting voting access is critical to democracy.  Tune in to witness democracy in action.

Early Voting Dates and Sites

• The in-person early voting period for the 2024 general election:
  • Begins Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024.
  • Ends 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.
• The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
• Find early voting sites and schedules in your county: Early Voting Site Search.
  • Locations and voting hours are also available here: Early Voting Sites for the Nov. 5, 2024 General Election (PDF).

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Welcome to Shoresides and our series on voter access. In this episode, Rend Smith sits down with Nicole Wolf-Camplin, the Adult Literacy Coordinator at the Cape Fear Literacy Council. Nicole discusses the range of programs offered by the Council, including their ESL program, which supports non-native speakers on their path to citizenship. She highlights the critical role literacy plays in ensuring voter participation, especially for individuals navigating language barriers. Join us as we explore how literacy programs can open doors to civic engagement and empower more people to vote.

Address:
1012 South 17th Street
Wilmington, NC, 28401

Phone:
(910) 251-0911

Email:
[email protected]

Here are ten ways people with literacy challenges can be supported in voting in North Carolina:

1. Accessible Voting Guides: Provide easy-to-read, plain-language voter guides that break down candidates and issues clearly.
2. Assistance at Polls: Voters can bring someone to assist them with reading or marking the ballot.
3. Curbside Voting: For voters with physical limitations, curbside voting is available at polling locations.
4. Audio Ballots: Accessible voting machines offer audio instructions and ballots for those who struggle with reading.
5. Election Day Transportation: Offer free rides or arrange transportation to polling places, especially for those attending literacy programs.
6. Pre-election Workshops: Host community workshops to explain ballots and election processes in simple, understandable language.
7. Literacy Support Staff at Polls: Recruit volunteers or staff trained in literacy assistance to help voters on Election Day.
8. Early Voting Options: Encourage early voting, which allows more time for assistance and reduces pressure.
9. Mail-in Voting Support: Offer help in understanding and filling out absentee or mail-in ballots, especially for those who may struggle with written instructions.
10. Bilingual Resources: Ensure materials are available in multiple languages to support non-native English speakers.

These steps help ensure that voters with literacy challenges have the tools and support needed to cast their ballots.

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