History Copy

Celebrating Over 55 Years of Legacy

ESR was chartered in 1964 and has served the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County community for more than 50 years, working to eliminate poverty and homelessness, and help people help themselves. Like its sister Community Action Agencies (CAAs) across the nation, ESR was born out of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty and the Equal Opportunity Act of 1964. In North Carolina, ESR was one of the original 11 CAAs supported by Governor Terry Sanford’s North Carolina Fund.

ESR’s growth during the 1970s and early ‘80s was assured under the leadership of the legendary community servant Louise Wilson. Its mission was preserved and fostered through the 1980s and early ‘90s by Bob Law.

ESR played a pivotal role in launching such integral local organizations as Head Start, Crisis Control, TransAid, Legal Aide in its early years before transitioning to the Senior, Youth and Emergency Assistance Services of the middle years.

Its current efforts under the leardership of Executive Director Twana W. Roebuck aim to the gaps in welfare-to-work, including promoting long-term self-sufficiency for the working poor, housing for working and chronically homeless, first-time homeownership, tax services, vocational and college education, and Hispanic/Latino services; ESR has been here for the community and its families.

We serve hundreds of families in a variety of situations that many of us could conceivably find ourselves in—victims of house fires and domestic violence, those who have encountered a major financial setback due to health care costs, those who have experienced a change in life circumstances such as divorce or death of a family member, and people who are caught up in the endless cycles of generational poverty and chronic homelessness.

As ESR passes its 50th anniversary and looks forward into the next half century, the expectation is that it will continue to lead in community action in Forsyth County, and continue to provide a safety net and a hand up to those in need.