Kelly Kenoyer

About Me

I'm a watchdog reporter and radio host for WHQR in Wilmington, NC. I've covered local government  inequality, housing, homelessness, transit, and urban planning. I'm always looking for my next investigative story, and I love powerful audio storytelling.

Previous bylines: The Assembly, The New Era, Portland Mercury, Eugene Weekly, The Guardian, The Lund Report, and Willamette Week. 

Want to work together? Email me at KellyKenoyerWriter [at] gmail [dot] com.

My Latest Work

WHQR •

Leland Laptop debacle continues to escalate during heated meeting

A special council meeting on Wednesday, March 18 devolved into yelling and accusations of lies, followed by a 40-minute recess during which council and staff tried to come to some kind of an accord. At issue: the procurement of a laptop, and one council member’s efforts to get that laptop more quickly, even though it violated policy.In January, newly elected Leland Councilmember Frank Pendleton wanted a laptop. Council members are typically issued an iPad, so the town council took it to a vote o...
WHQR •

NCDHHS reverses course on assistance cuts for rural homeless people

On January 26, housing providers across the state got a very concerning email that upended a program meant to give stability to people at risk of homelessness.The subject line read, “Immediate Corrective Action Required,” and the contents explained a need to suddenly cancel housing assistance for incoming clients and stop providing assistance to others already placed in rental homes. The clients would still receive the expected rental help in February, but some would lose their assistance the ve...
WHQR •

Homelessness is at an all-time high. Seniors are no exception.

Army Veteran Ivory Giles has seen far too much death in his life. He picked up bodies for transport during Desert Storm, then worked in a children’s hospital with cancer patients. The strain of it pushed him to leave pharmaceutical work. "I couldn't watch the kids pass away like that," he said.He ended up working as an engineer in his home state of Michigan. But when Covid hit, death began to haunt him once again. "We were having funerals every other week."
WHQR •

Evictions have risen to their highest rate in 13 years. Housing costs are likely to blame.

After a dramatic drop during the Covid-19 pandemic's eviction moratorium, evictions in North Carolina have rebounded — and then some. Data from the North Carolina Judicial Branch shows 4,133 evictions filed in fiscal year 24/25 in New Hanover County alone — the most filed in any year since statewide data became available. Across the entire state, there were 202,861 evictions filed in that same time period. The statewide trend is particularly strong in fast-growing counties around major metros, li...
WHQR •

Invisible Homelessness: Working and unhoused in America

It’s been said before that homelessness is a housing problem, and there’s no bigger proof than the hundreds of thousands of Americans estimated to be homeless, but uncounted by the federal government.These are often people you’d never assume are homeless. They don’t fit the stereotypes, after all: they have jobs, they dress in clean clothing, they don’t sleep in the street. Instead, they crash with family or friends until they wear out their welcome, sleep in their cars, and sometimes live preca...
WHQR •

Affordable housing redevelopment of Azalea Inn gets pushback from community, councilman Kevin Spears

The proposed development would replace the old Azalea Inn on Market Street — a motel that was for many years a nuisance for the city. By right, land owners could rebuild a larger motel or other office building there — but to build a housing complex the property has to be rezoned. Notably, the rezoning vote was on the same night as a contentious ordinance impacting the homeless — so there were dozens of people in the audience with signs opposing homeless criminalization.
WHQR •

Wilmington cyclists honor the dead with annual Ride of Silence

May is National Bike Month, which aims to promote the health benefits and fun of cycling. But it’s also a time to remember those who’ve lost their lives while cycling, particularly with the Ride of Silence.Tammy Swanson is the Education Chair of the Terry Benji Bicycling Foundation, named after a local cyclist who died in a crash in 2013. The group organized this year’s Ride of Silence.“I'm taking part because I ride these roads," she said. "I'm out here. I'm a mother, I'm a wife, I'm a grandmot...
WHQR •

Driftwood Apartments reopen after three years, housing the Wilmington community's most in need

Driftwood Apartments, located on a quiet street off Princess Place Drive, were originally conceived as permanent supportive housing.The federal government program mandated affordability- capped at 30% of a resident’s income, regardless of what that income was - for 15 years. But at the end of that term, the previous owners kicked most of the tenants out and tried to sell the complex on the private market.
NPR •

Volunteers pick blueberries from a research farm for local food banks

A blueberry research farm in North Carolina can only donate — not sell — its berries, so volunteers help out by picking them for local food banks.MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: In rural North Carolina, a research farm grows new blueberry varieties for gardeners and farmers alike. And the berries - well, they have to be harvested. Reporter Kelly Kenoyer from member station WHQR went along on a recent picking.
WHQR •

Granny Flats: The secret solution to the housing crisis

The affordable housing crisis is national in scope, but it’s uniquely painful in the South because of low wages and surging demand. So what are some creative solutions to this rapidly growing and intractable problem? Backyard cottages? Flipping hotels into rental housing? Or building out job training programs? We asked smart people in the housing space what they consider the most effective strategies to improve housing with help from the New Hanover Community Endowment.
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