Donna Gregory’s Extraordinary People: A Mission of Warmth and Dignity in Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — On the coldest nights in Wilmington, the Warming Shelter ILM on Grace Street opens to provide warmth, safety, and a place to rest for people seeking protection from freezing temperatures.

Meg McBride directs the local warming shelter that operates as a no-barriers refuge during cold weather emergencies.

The shelter can accommodate up to 125 people per night when temperatures drop. The shelter opened 20 nights this winter. Last year, it opened 34.

McBride’s commitment to people in crisis began decades before she stepped into that role.

“I was married to a person that had aids, who had received blood transfusions as a child and as an adult, young adult, we discovered that my spouse was HIV positive and had full blown aids,” she said. “And so that was back in like the early 1990s when the treatment and care was so different than it is now. It was very challenging”

She said the experience changed her perspective and shaped her work.

“There’s a lot more hard, heartbreaking moments than there are moments to celebrate, but I actually thrive in that kind of space,” McBride said. “I think that’s what keeps me personally being drawn to the work.”

On shelter nights, McBride coordinates dozens of volunteers who provide hot meals, showers and medical support. She said leadership requires a willingness to share every responsibility.

“I believe that a leader does all the jobs,” she said. “So I clean the bathroom. I clean up things that I don’t want to clean up. I do all the jobs, because I can’t expect someone to do a job that I’m not willing to do.”

While the shelter provides critical protection from freezing temperatures, McBride emphasized that it does not solve homelessness.

“Emergency shelter is not housing,” she said. “It’s not like we’re going to fix 40 people in one moment because emergency shelter is not housing.”

She said long-term solutions must focus on permanent, affordable housing.

“We want everyone to have their own home. We want everyone to know the freedom and the security and the safety of being able to unlock your own door and sleep in your own bed,” McBride said. “We don’t have enough of those super affordable opportunities here.”

When winter ends, her work continues. McBride helps operate a mobile shower trailer and founded Hope Recovery, a church that supports people working toward sobriety.

“This is a church for people in recovery where we’re trying to support the recovering community of Wilmington,” she said. There’s many people in recovery that have been homeless. So again, lots of crossover.”

Asked what she would say to those who hold negative views about people experiencing homelessness, McBride asks them to visit the Warming Shelter.

“Until you know somebody and have asked them to hear their story or to know the specifics of their life, you really don’t have a right to make a judgment about somebody,” she said.

On Wilmington’s coldest nights, when temperatures fall and the need grows, McBride is there to offer a helping hand. That’s what makes her extraordinary.

You can nominate someone for Donna Gregory’s Extraordinary People here.

All honorees get a year of free car washes from Tommy’s Express Car Wash.