Ideas that Work

Ellen has emphasized creative solutions to the issues that we face including:

• Spearheaded the creation of the East Durham Children’s Initiative (EDCI) to provide cradle to career services in Durham’s poorest neighborhood to help more children succeed
• Led the effort to purchase the New Hope Preserve, an unprecedented partnership between four local governments and two nonprofits
• Spearheaded the creation of the award winning City-County Neighborhood College
• Helped guide the effort to obtain funding for the East End Connector
• Proposed greater use of technology to help the police and sheriff work smarter
• Developed a proposal to work jail inmates on county projects, saving the county over $200,000 / year
• Promoted greater accountability in school budgeting
• Led efforts to use schools for recreation during non-school hours
• Initiated the award winning SOS middle school after-school program
• Spearheaded effort to create the Little River Community Park with Orange County
• Helped start the Night Light program to provide greater supervision to juveniles on probation
• Spearheaded the preparation of Durham’s Transportation Demand Management Plan and Action Strategy that has achieved the goal of   reducing peak hour congestion
• Promoted the development of a System of Care for at-risk youth that is providing enhanced services and reducing treatment costs