🧵 In Today’s Edition

1. After 15 years, Greensboro’s Interactive Resource Center now owns its downtown home.
2. A Hike on one of Greensboro’s many trails is a great way to start the new year.
3. What We’re Reading

IRC Takes Ownership of Its Downtown Home

outside downtown Greensboro’s Interactive Resource Center.

After years of struggle and speculation about its future, Greensboro’s Interactive Resource Center—a day center for those experiencing homelessness— now owns the downtown building in which it has operated for more than 15 years.

When the center, known as the IRC, first opened in 2009, the Strasser Family donated the space with a stipulation that if it was still operating successfully in 15 years, the deed to the property at 407 E. Washington Street would go to the non-profit that operates the center. Last month, the group took ownership—a milestone that wasn’t easy to achieve.

“The gift of this building is a profound act of generosity that will shape the future of the Interactive Resource Center and the people we serve,” said Jim King, chair of the IRC board, in a statement. “For fifteen years, the IRC has called this building home. Now owning it will allow us to grow, innovate, and respond more boldly at a time when our unhoused neighbors need us most.”

Read the full story here.

Thanks for reading The Thread, a 3x week newsletter written by Greensboro editor Joe Killian and reporters Sayaka Matsuoka and Gale Melcher. Reach us with tips or ideas at greensboro@theassemblync.com.

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Take a Hike

Tucked into the nooks and crannies of Greensboro, seek and you shall find more than 30 miles of hiking trails winding around the city.

It’s the result of millions of years shaping the earth, stretching and molding the terrain into rolling hills and wide ranges in elevation. 

No two days are ever the same out in the wild.

On New Year’s Day, the city’s parks and recreation department led a party of hikers around Lake Brandt through seven miles of the Laurel Bluff Trail, leaving behind dozens of footprints and discarded worries.

Read the full story here.

What We’re Reading

Meet the New Boss: Cone Health announced Dr. Paul Krakovitz as its next chief executive officer after a nationwide search. He’ll begin March 16. WFMY has the story.

Case Dismissed: The deportation case against Greensboro’s Mohamed Naser has been dismissed. Naser was detained by ICE agents in July and held at a detention center in Georgia, where he was questioned about Iran, a country he had never visited and of which he had no knowledge. His only previous legal issues were two dismissed traffic citations. A judge dismissed the case after the Department of Homeland Security failed to offer evidence for its contention Naser stayed too long in the country while seeking asylum. WFDD has more.

Parking Prices Going Up: Parking prices are going up in downtown Greensboro with the start of the new year. All city surface lots will now cost $2 per hour on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., FOX8 reports.

Joe Killian is The Assembly's Greensboro editor. He joined us from NC Newsline, where he was senior investigative reporter. He spent a decade at The News & Record covering cops and courts, higher education, and government.

Gale is a Report for America corps member and Greensboro-based reporter for The Assembly. She previously covered local government and community issues for Triad City Beat. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from N.C. State University.