What does it look like to rebuild your life when you’ve lost work, lost stability, and need someone in your corner?

In this episode of ReCity Chronicles, host KJ Hill sits down with Cashmere Bentley, Interim Executive Director of StepUp Durham—one of ReCity Network’s longest-tenured partners—to talk about how StepUp helps people move toward employment, confidence, and long-term stability.

Cashmere shares her journey of coming to StepUp during COVID after losing her job, then growing from participant to apprentice, success coach, program leader, and now executive leadership. Along the way, she explains what makes StepUp different: practical job-readiness support paired with real relationship, warmth, and belief.

Together, we talk about:

• Step 1 pathways: Walk-In Wednesday intake and the four-day Jobs Week workshop
• Resume support and mock interviews that help participants feel prepared and confident
• Weekly one-on-one coaching and resource connections through a success coach caseload
• Step 2 program for employed participants: “What’s next?” Life skills like budgeting, wellness, and entrepreneurship
• The power of community, cohort learning, and a space where people feel safe and seen
• Ways to get involved as a volunteer: resumes, mock interviews, meals, and co-partners

Get Involved / Learn More: Visit StepUp Durham: https://www.stepupdurham.org/

Interested in learning more about ReCity Network? Visit: https://www.recitynetwork.org/

What does it look like to come home—and actually have the support to stay home?

In this episode of ReCity Chronicles, host KJ Hill sits down with the Restorative Transitions team—Sarah Landis, Bobby Harrington, Clint Barrett, and Geno Eaves—to talk about reentry, belonging, and the practical steps that help justice-involved individuals rebuild their lives in community.

Restorative Transitions empowers participants through holistic case management, meeting people where they are and helping them set their own short- and long-term goals. From stable housing to IDs, healthcare, job readiness, budgeting, transportation, and mentorship, RT provides wraparound support—along with something just as essential: a culture of welcome with no strings attached.

Together, we talk about:

• Why belonging is often the turning point in reentry
• What “welcome home” looks like in real life
• How RT supports participants beyond housing through layered, practical case management
• The role volunteers play (meals, rides, work days, mentoring, and more)
• RT’s impact—including a 98% graduate success rate and 42 graduates living in the community

Get Involved / Learn More:

Visit Restorative Transitions: restorativetransitions.org

Interested in learning more about ReCity Network? Visit: https://www.recitynetwork.org

What does it take to build a city where everyone can move safely—no matter how they get around?

In this episode of ReCity Chronicles, host KJ Hill sits down with John Tallmadge, Executive Director of Bike Durham, a longtime ReCity partner that’s been part of the community since 2018. John shares how Bike Durham began as a grassroots effort to make biking safer—and how that work grew into a broader mission: safe, affordable, and sustainable transportation for everyone in Durham, regardless of who they are or where they live.

From organizing residents to influence transportation decisions to teaching bike safety in Durham Public Schools to creating community-wide events like Move-A-Bull City, Bike Durham is helping shape a Durham where walking, biking, rolling, and transit are safer and more accessible for all.

Together, we talk about:

• Why “safer streets for biking” ultimately means safer streets for everybody
• How Bike Durham advances its mission through advocacy, education, and events
• What students learn through bike education beyond riding (resilience, cooperation, confidence)
• How Moveable City / Open Streets brought partners and volunteers together across generations
• Ways to get involved: events, volunteering, membership, and staying connected

Get Involved / Learn More:

Visit Bike Durham: http://bikedurham.org/

Interested in learning more about ReCity Network? Visit: https://www.recitynetwork.org

What does whole health really look like when it’s rooted in community?

In this episode of ReCity Chronicles, we sit down with Tonita Flowers, Program Coordinator with PIRE (Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation) and the TakeCare initiative—bringing a powerful, research-backed model of well-being from the VA space back into the community, right here in Durham.

Tonita shares how TakeCare centers mind, body, spirit, and community through a nine-week cohort experience (plus a new two-hour introductory experience) designed to help people move from “What’s wrong with me?” to “What matters to me?”—without judgment, without therapy talk, and without anyone being told what to do.

Instead, TakeCare creates space for peer-to-peer learning, storytelling, and practical goal-setting that supports real, lasting behavioral change.

Together, we talk about:

• Why Durham was chosen as the pilot city (and its connection to Whole Health and integrative medicine)
• How TakeCare supports both community members and the leaders serving them
• The power of cohort-based wellness: “standing shoulder to shoulder” with others and realizing you’re not alone
• The three core questions at the heart of the program: Why, What, and How
• What’s next for Take Care Durham, including a youth component coming in 2026
• How to get involved (and why it matters that all programming is free)

Get Involved / Learn More:

• Email Tanita: tflowers@pire.org
• Visit Take Care: https://takecare.org
• Learn about PIRE: https://pire.org

If you’re a community organization, leader, or team looking to strengthen wellness and resilience from the inside out, this conversation is for you.