Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help (REACH) is a left-of-center advocacy organization founded in 2002 in Duplin County, North Carolina following Hurricane Floyd to build political power for low income and people of color. The organization calls attention to the potential health effects of industrial pig farm operations, mental and emotional oppression, employment, education, and economic and cultural outcome imbalances, and advocates for left-of-center policies to ameliorate them. ¹

Activities

Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help joined North Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NCEJN), that seeks economic and political equal outcomes; Waterkeeper Alliance, founded by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.; and left-of-center Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) to campaign after the release of photos of flooding waste lagoons and research showing the impact of surface water spreading farm waste, forcing North Carolina to place a moratorium on new pork-farming operations not meeting minimum standards. The same group filed a 2014 Title VI complaint against North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality with the federal Environmental Protection Agency claiming a disparate impact of hog operation waste based on race and ethnicity resulting in new policies that ensure compliance with federal civil rights law. ^{2 3 4}

REACH partnered with Coalition Against Racism, Friends of the Earth, North Carolina NAACP, Black Workers for Justice, and multiple other organizations at the Hurricane Florence Survivors Summit in organizing resources for hurricane victims in Eastern North Carolina. ^{5 6}

REACH founder Devon J. Hall was a co-producer of a study titled “Connecting Environmental Justice and Community Health: Effects of Hog Production in North Carolina” demonstrating the disparate health outcomes of communities of low-income and people of color. ⁷

Programs

Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help offers programs and advocates for the development of leaders for local communities and prepares candidates for political office. The organization partners with University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Johns Hopkins University to conduct research that will empower community members to participate in the decision-making process and hold leaders accountable for their actions. REACH works with middle school students to introduce the concept of environmental equal outcomes and demonstrate monitoring of air and water quality. ⁸

Partnerships

The organizations nonprofit partners include: Earthjustice, a public interest law firm that litigates on behalf of left-leaning climate policy organizations; Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), a member of Ohio Organizing Collaborative; North Carolina Environmental Justice Network; North Carolina Land Loss Prevention Project; Natural Resources Defense Council; Public Justice Foundation; Southern Environmental Law Center; Waterkeeper Alliance; and North Carolina Conservation Network. ⁹

REACH partners with multiple universities and government agencies including University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, John Hopkins, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and United States Department of Agriculture. ¹⁰

Funding

Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help (REACH) received 2022 grants from the left-leaning groups Schmidt Family Foundation, Laughing Gull Foundation, and Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. ¹¹

People

Devon Hall is co-founder of Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help and its executive director and collaborator in water, air, pediatric health, and occupational health research projects with UNC-Chapel Hill and Johns Hopkins University. ¹²

1. “Our History.” REACH. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.ncruralempowerment.org/our-history.
2. “Environmental Justice: Duplin County North Carolina.” Square Space. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b92c279f93fd42a56797e0f/t/5be3a28a8a922dc40a09d054/1541644948662/Envitonmental-Justice-Duplin-NC.pdf.
3. “Communities Thrive within Strong Networks.” NCEJN. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://ncejn.org/.
4. “Robert F. Kennedy, Jr..” Discover The Networks. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individuals/robert-f-kennedy-jr/.
5. “Fruit of Labor.” FRUIT OF LABOR. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.fruitoflabor.org/.
6. “A Just Florence Recovery |.” A Just Florence Recovery. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://justflorencerecovery.org/.
7. Guidry VT;Rhodes SM;Woods CG;Hall DJ;Rinsky JL; “Connecting Environmental Justice and Community Health: Effects of Hog Production in North Carolina.” North Carolina medical journal. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30228142/.
8. “Our Work.” REACH. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.ncruralempowerment.org/ourwork.
9. “The Problem.” NCEJN. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://ncejn.org/about/.
10. “Our Work.” REACH. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.ncruralempowerment.org/ourwork.
11. “Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help (Reach).” Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help (REACH) | Warsaw, NC | Cause IQ. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/rural-empowerment-association-for-community-help,061649804/.
12. “Our Leadership.” REACH. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.ncruralempowerment.org/leadership.