When someone doesn’t encounter or see hardship and strife on a daily basis, it’s easy to live in a bubble and not notice anything outside of it. People are hungry, hopeless, scared, homeless and desperate for help right next door. McFadden looks out at the parking lot, deep in thought with tears brimming in her eyes. “I used to think why me? Why’d I have to go through this? Why’d this have to happen to me?” she said. “Now it’s like, why not me?” So why not you?

On Jan. 10, Wilmington’s city council voted unanimously to purchase The Salvation Army’s N 2nd St. property for $4.8 million. The city is currently leasing the property to the organization until its eventual closure in May of this year. A new facility off Martin Luther King Jr. Pkwy. is still under construction and will not be completed for at least a year.

An ordinance was proposed in New Hanover County last month that aimed to deter homeless people from camping out on county property, including the Wilmington Public Library downtown. Sleeping would have been prohibited between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and items left for more than two hours would be discarded. The ordinance initially included a $50 fine for violations, but this was soon removed. Violators of the ordinance could have been removed by law enforcement and prosecuted for trespassing, although government officials did state that this would be used as a “last resort.”

This is my first year living in Wilmington during the Azalea Festival. Is it worth going to? The Azalea Festival is a lot of fun. Downtown Wilmington is always fun, but with the festival in town there...