Healing the Port City

A Trauma-Informed Economic Development Assessment of Wilmington, North Carolina.

Mission: To identify the historic, geographic, geologic, and governance traumas that have shaped Wilmington's current economic landscape, and to propose restorative strategies.

From the 1898 Massacre to the GenX contamination crisis, Wilmington's challenges are not just logistical—they are deeply psychological and systemic. This report outlines the path from trauma to resilience.

The Genealogy of Trauma

Understanding Wilmington's economic present requires acknowledging the scars of the past. This section chronicles the specific events—governance failures, violence, and displacement—that severed the community's ability to build generational wealth.

Systemic Indicators & Environmental Stress

Trauma manifests in data. Below, we visualize two distinct types of injury: the acute environmental stressors (GenX, Flooding) affecting our geography, and the chronic economic disparities resulting from historical governance failures.

The Wealth & Housing Gap

Comparison of Median Household Income and Homeownership rates between Black and White residents in New Hanover County.

Insight: Despite Wilmington's growth, the racial wealth gap remains a persistent legacy of the 1898 coup and subsequent redlining, limiting capital formation for minority entrepreneurs.

The Matrix of Existential Risk

Mapping environmental and geologic traumas by their Persistence (how chronic they are) versus their Acute Impact (severity of a single event).

Insight: "GenX Contamination" represents a high-persistence trauma, while "Hurricanes" represent high-impact acute trauma. The intersection creates "Climate Gentrification."

The Resilience Coalition

Healing is a collective effort. This directory lists organizations and individuals actively working on the identified traumas. Use the filters to find partners for the Trauma-Informed Economic Development coalition.

Strategic Framework for Healing

Trauma-informed development requires moving beyond "growth" to "restoration." These strategies address the root causes identified in the report.

Truth, Reconciliation & Governance

To address the coup of 1898 and subsequent disenfranchisement, we must institutionalize truth-telling.

✓ Municipal Truth Commission: Establish a permanent body to audit city ordinances for historical bias and exclusionary zoning effects.
✓ Participatory Budgeting: Allocate 15% of the capital improvement budget to historically marginalized districts for direct community voting.