Pamela Story’s office reflects her dedication to helping homeless students in Cumberland County Schools.
Her large L-shaped desk is piled with “Know Your Rights” cards and printed hotel reservation confirmations. Donated notebooks and other school supplies are in waist-high stacks in one corner. Next to them is a shopping cart and small boxes filled with underwear, socks, wet wipes and other hygiene products.
“I wish I could do more than what I do,” said Story, who serves as the school district’s homeless liaison and social work coordinator.
She hopes that her appointment to the state’s recently revived Interagency Council for Coordinating Homelessness Programs will allow her to make a bigger impact.
The council advises the governor, state agencies and others on issues impacting the state’s homeless residents, and develops strategies to reduce and end homelessness. Then-Gov. Roy Cooper established the council in 2021, though other statewide coordinating councils addressing homelessness existed before it.
Cooper appointed Story to the homelessness council in 2022. Under Cooper, she and other council members identified three housing-related priorities to address the state’s growing homeless population. The state needs more housing financial assistance, according to the council, and there is a need for more housing-focused services and rental units for those experiencing homelessness.
Gov. Josh Stein relaunched the council earlier this month with the same priorities, naming Story among its 37 members. Other members include state lawmakers, officials from cities and counties across the state, and representatives of state agencies.
As the school district’s homeless liaison, a legally required position for each school district under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Story helps guarantee homeless students an equal education. Her goal is to get and keep students in school, no matter their living situation.
“The doors of Cumberland County Schools are open, and we welcome them [homeless students] and we want them in school,” Story said. “That’s always my message. We want you to come.”
Story said she and her team typically work with 700 to 900 homeless students every school year. During the 2024-2025 school year, Cumberland County Schools had 855 homeless students, according to district data from the North Carolina Homeless Education Program. It’s likely an undercount, Story explained, since it relies on self-reporting.
Many of the district’s homeless students are living out of cars and hotel rooms, and couch-surfing between neighbors’ and relatives’ homes, Story said. She can still remember one of the first families she ever worked with. Eight people were living out of a room at the since-closed Tropical Motel on Bragg Boulevard. She recalled the room’s strong smell of Fabuloso and how organized it was, every child having their own small area.
“It just touched my heart,” Story said. “I made up my mind that I was going to do everything I could to make sure that the children were in school and had everything they needed.”
Story has been the district’s homeless liaison for over a decade. Her work earned her the National Homeless Liaison of the Year award from the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth in 2021.
Story said she brings a boots-on-the-ground perspective to the new state homelessness council. She plans to push for action to follow what she called “bold goals” the council set during its first meeting on Sept. 10.
“It’s easy to go dress up and go to a meeting and drink coffee and come up with all these ideas,” she said. “But the real work is who’s out there with the boots to the ground.”
Story wants it to be easier for families experiencing homelessness to enroll their children in Cumberland County Schools. She said bureaucracy often impedes homeless parents from registering their children, as data managers and other front office staff aren’t aware of the signs of homelessness and that families might not have the necessary documentation.
She also wants to see a center for homeless youth in Cumberland County. She said the closure of the Salvation Army of the Sandhills’ homeless shelter, which she oversaw as part of the nonprofit’s board, left a big gap in shelter offerings for homeless children. The shelter’s closure left Cumberland County without its only facility accepting women and families.
The county is building a homeless shelter that accepts women and families, but there isn’t a timeline for when it will open. In the meantime, the county has launched a pilot voucher program to help homeless residents and those at risk of homelessness find stable housing.
“I’m very much in the community and a community activist and advocate in my own time,” Story said. “I speak for the homeless children in my community.”
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the News Foundation of Greater Fayetteville.
