The Good Neighbor Fund

CLARIFICATION: IN LIGHT OF CONFUSION REGARDING THE FUNDS, ASHLEY 1) DID NOT ORGANIZE THIS FUND; 2) HAS NO ACCESS TO THE FUNDS AND 3) IS RECEIVING NO PERSONAL GAIN FROM THESE FUNDS. THIS IS A COMMUNITY EFFORT THAT SHE DIDN'T NOT COORDINATE.  WE DID HOWEVER REACH OUT TO HER WHEN WE THOUGHT ABOUT SETTING UP THE FUND TO ASK IF IT WOULD BE USEFUL FOR THE RESIDENTS. SHE AGREED THAT IT WOULD BE SO  WE MOVED FORWARD. IF YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS, PLEASE CONTINUE READING BELOW.

- Apparently scammers have been starting bogus campaigns so please be assured this one is legit.  

1.23.20 Hello All. Residents are now spread across 13 hotels many of which don't even have microwaves or mini-fridges. We are continuing our efforts to provide nutritious meals to residents with an emphasis on those housed without any means of preparing a meal. DHA has provided vouchers to residents but they actually don't go far if every meal has to be eaten out and the hotels tend to be surrounded by fast food. We will provide at least one hot meal a week. Thank you for your support of the Good Neighbor Fund. We are keeping an accounting of dollars spent and will report back when the fund is depleted.


The residents of McDougald Terrace have been evacuated and displaced due to the inhabitable conditions in their homes. For details as to exactly what issues led to the evacuation, the News and Observer published an article that clearly lays out the conditions.

Residents are now being housed in 8 different hotels and they won't begin receiving food vouchers from the Durham Housing Authority until January 6th. To address the immediate need, Zweli's Restaurant is making a simple dinner on January 5th and donations of hotdogs and buns can be dropped off at the restaurant, 4600 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd.

We hope to know from the Durham Housing Authority within a few days what will be done to ensure the residents have food security while they're away from home but in the interim we want to support our neighbors. All donations to this fund will go toward providing meals. If those meals become unnecessary,  all funds will instead go to the purchase of tangible, essential items for residents such as diapers, wipes, feminine hygiene products and other personal care items or non-perishable food items. 

Our Promises to you, our donors:

** We will work respectfully and in cooperation with residents by listening and responding to their stated needs. 

* No funds will go to any sort of administration other than what GoFundMe collects for itself.

*We will collect funds with complete transparency and maintain an accounting so you know where every dollar was spent.

A bit about me: I'm Frances (Fran) Castillo. I grew up in Durham and until recently lived there. I got married and I still struggle to say I live in Chapel Hill. If you're from Durham, you get it. I worked for over a decade as an indigent defense attorney (Wake PD (still lived in Durham); Deputy Capital Defender; Center for Death Penalty Litigation and NC Prisoner Legal Services.) Currently I'm on the board of the Carolina Justice Policy Center and the Orange County Human Relations Board. I've left the criminal defense arena but working on social justice issues is still what inspires me. 

Who will access your funds? I will be drawing the funds down and working in conjunction with Zweli's Restaurant (Leo Williams and his wife, Zweli) and Liz Jackson (co-sponsor of this GoFundMe and community organizer who is coordinating meal packaging, service and delivery) to provide hot meals to displaced residents. After the funds are exhausted I'll publish a ledger so you can see where each dollar went.