The City of Durham’s 2025 Municipal Primary Election is on Tuesday, October 7th with the General Election on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. To learn more about how the candidates running for this year’s election support aging in-place, the Durham Aging Plan’s Community Advisory Council prepared and sent a questionnaire to the candidates. To get a preview of their ideas, Aging Well Durham is sharing their responses to one question about Durham’s shortages in home health care workers that support older adults to remain safely in their homes and communities.
The responses are organized by office and alphabetically by the candidates’ last names.
All of the views expressed by the candidates in their responses to the questionnaire, are their own. Aging Well Durham does not support or oppose any political candidates or parties.
QUESTION:
“Because of factors like low salaries, lack of professional advancement, the growing aging population and burnout – Durham has a shortage of people who are working in home health. One of the objectives in the City of Durham’s current strategic plan is to build a talented and competitive workforce. If elected, what will you do to support current home health workers?”
ANSWERS:
DeDreana Freeman, Ward I Council Seat:
My vision is for Durham to be a city where older adults can age in place safely, with dignity, and fully participate in their communities. If re-elected, I will continue to support organizations that provide resources and advocacy for seniors by partnering with them to expand services, funding, and programming, ensuring that older residents have access to safe housing, transportation, healthcare, and social supports that meet their needs.
Elijah King, Ward I Council Seat:
Part of this starts with our youth. I am thrilled by the early college opportunities as well as City of Medicine Academy that are preparing our youth for the workforce, and even the healthcare field specifically. We need to continue to encourage these options, especially for youth who might not see themselves in that way. I am also committed to true collaboration with Durham Public Schools and our local community college and universities to continue these pipelines.
I am realistic about the fact that even a talented and competitive workforce isn’t sufficient if we can’t retain them, and I want to work with local businesses to understand what barriers to success our home health workers face so that we can address them head on. I also recognize that all working folks are facing some of the same challenges regardless of their field, and ensuring safe and stable housing, reliable transportation, and meaningful community safety can address these issues tangentially.
Matt Kopak, Ward I Council Seat:
Durham’s home health worker shortage shows how undervalued care work is and how systemic barriers prevent this workforce from thriving. As co-founder of Durham Living Wage, I know supporting workers means meeting immediate needs while also building long-term career pathways.
Much of home health in North Carolina is carried out by unpaid family caregivers, which is a crisis we must acknowledge and address. For paid workers, I will push the city to use its economic development tools to strengthen the workforce. That includes supporting training and certification programs through partnerships with institutions like Durham Tech, creating stackable credentials that lead to advancement.
I’ll also advocate for pilot programs that provide wage supplements or benefits, modeled after similar efforts in childcare. While the city can’t directly employ all home health workers, it can support them through smart use of resources. Transportation is another major barrier. Expanding fare-free buses and creating targeted assistance would help workers reliably get to their clients.
The city should also partner with Durham County and local healthcare systems to push for higher wages and better working conditions, including support for organizing efforts. In addition, I want to see the city’s minority business development programs used to support home health cooperatives and worker-owned models that give caregivers more control and stability.
Finally, we need to recognize the emotional toll of care work. I will champion partnerships with local organizations to provide mental health support and wellbeing resources for those who care for others every day. Care work keeps our community functioning. Durham has the opportunity to value these workers not just with words, but with policies that make the job sustainable.
Samaria McKenzie, Ward I Council Seat:
Once again, the issue is accessibility and awareness. There are plenty of people who would love an opportunity to start home health jobs, but most of these jobs require certifications. How are people supposed to afford that education, and when are they supposed to do it while already working?
We need to expand our grants for the most vulnerable. That includes creating grants for trade schools and incentives for Durham residents to get trades, certifications, and licenses. We can partner with NCCU right here in Hayti Village, and we can even partner with Duke. We can partner with the No Zero Initiative plan as well. What we have to do is isolate the reasons people are not already pursuing these jobs: they cannot afford to, and they cannot afford the education needed to earn more.
I would also highlight what is happening right now in Hayti Village, next to the barbershop in Heritage Square, where classes are being offered to become an electrician at a price everyday people can afford. We need more of that, and the City of Durham should be supporting and expanding those opportunities instead of putting the responsibility on the community. That responsibility belongs within City Council chambers, where the budget can be reallocated to prioritize workforce development in critical fields like home health.
Ashley N. Robbins, Ward II Council Seat:
The first step in supporting workers in all industries, but especially essential workers that provide healthcare for some of our most vulnerable residents, is to pay them a thriveable wage. I would support the unionization of home healthcare workers to negotiate fair wages, benefits, time-off, etc. In order to attract and retain dedicated, quality professionals we must ensure they are compensated properly. I would also reach out to area hospital systems, high schools, colleges, and universities and advocate for cross-training programs and exchanges that provide pathways for advancement for both students and home health workers interested in furthering their career in the medical field while offering training opportunities for students at area schools.
Chelsea Cook, Ward III Council Seat
First, I will continue to use my position and voice to advocate for fair pay, benefits, and
opportunity for advancements in the field of home healthcare. Second, I plan to work closely
with the City’s new director of Workforce and Economic Development to prioritize skill
training and mentorship of Durham’s young folks, allowing them true pathways to gainful
employment, including in healthcare and home health work.
Terry McCann, Ward III Council Seat
1) The new Durham Early College of Health Sciences that opens this year would be an
excellent place to start. Working with DPS and perhaps the city and county, a
scholarship program could be developed to grow talent in the Bull City where after
graduation from college recipients work at least 4 years in Durham. The same
opportunity could be offered to other students that attend other schools, too.
2) The city and county can consider a supplement to base pay program based on merit.
The goal is to keep these workers here in Durham and for the to also stay abreast of
best practices in the field. To obtain the supplement, they must be good at what they
do and pursue staff development and trainings.
Diana Medoff, Ward III Council Seat:
Since we moved to Durham, my husband has been working in home healthcare. Because of this, I understand the importance of this vital field. I also understand the challenges these workers face – unusual hours, lack of childcare availability when working, cost of living increases in Durham. Because of this, I’m dedicated to addressing this issue head-on. This means looking at it from a workforce development perspective and collaborating with our local colleges and universities. It also means building systems that work for shift workers like home healthcare workers – advocating for late night childcare options, improved bus stop infrastructure to ensure rider safety late at night and early in the morning, and availability of affordable and attainable housing.
Lloyd Phillips, Mayoral:
Make pay structured based on experience and skill sets with minimum wages set.
Leonardo Williams, Mayoral:
I will ensure that the incentive structure in Durham’s strategic plan is geared towards facilitating the cultivation of a robust home health workforce as well. A rising tide lifts all boats, and part of our task as elected leaders is to always work to ensure that none are being left behind. I will be happy to coordinate with home health workers to ensure that the initiatives undertaken by the city are sufficiently accessible to individuals in their profession.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Aging Well Durham does not endorse or oppose any political candidates. Our focus remains on our mission to promote collaborative efforts to build a safe, affordable, accessible & connected community for aging adults in Durham. We engage in non-partisan activities to educate the public on policy issues relevant to our work
