As Losses Mount, Foreign Aid Workers Want A Stronger Response from Local Leaders

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Good morning, readers.

Foreign aid workers in the Triangle who’ve lost their jobs amid USAID cuts want their representatives to step up.

North Carolina’s Fourth Congressional District—which includes Durham, Orange, and parts of Wake counties—is the fourth-highest recipient of USAID funding among all 435 congressional districts in the country.

When Kirsten Weeks, who was furloughed after 25 years in the field, reached out to Representative Valerie Foushee’s office last month, she received what she describes as a tone-deaf response touting failed legislation from two years ago.

“Honest to God, if they just used AI to be like, ‘How could these messages resonate with my constituents?’ it would be an improvement,” Weeks says.

Workers who live in the district say they want to see more urgency from Foushee. Foushee has taken some steps, sponsoring legislation and joining an amicus brief challenging the administration’s directives. But workers are disappointed with her communication—from a February telephone town hall with little time for constituent questions to her boycott of Trump’s joint speech without an alternative event and newsletters during the height of the layoffs that failed to mention the local economic impact.

Meanwhile, Republican senators Thom Tillis and Ted Budd have remained largely silent on the USAID cuts. Neither senator has addressed the impact of foreign aid cuts on their state, according to their websites.

Read the full story below and have a good Monday.

 —Lena

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Durham

ICYMI: Durham’s school board approved a first-in-the-state agreement to give workers a role in district decisions, after months of advocacy by the Durham Association of Educators. INDY’s Chase Pellegrini de Paur reports on the surprise vote and why it landed like a loss.

Wake

A new report catalogues a history of Raleigh’s queer communities, more than 200 places throughout city limits significant to local LGBTQIA+ history, and 20 sites that could be designated as local landmarks, INDY’s Jane Porter reports. 

A dispatch from Dreamville’s not-really-final year, from Ryan Cocca via the INDY.

Orange

Orange County commissioners are looking to buy land to build a crisis diversion center, where people can access resources and help during behavioral health crises, WCHL reports.

North Carolina

FEMA will stop matching 100 percent of the state’s spending on Hurricane Helene recovery, costing the state critical federal assistance, NC Newsline reports.

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