Meet Neighborhood Coordinator Roberta Romano

Having worked for two decades in the field of international humanitarian aid, Roberta Romano has a deep understanding of food insecurity and its effect on families. 

“Food is a human right,” she says. 

Roberta, who was born in Italy, met her husband while stationed in Darfur, Sudan, responding to the needs of people affected by the genocide. Then, they went to northern Uganda and helped with the reconstruction phase, in terms of infrastructure, community reconciliation, and socioeconomic support. They married and started a family. After five years, they left for family and work reasons. 

The family moved to the U.S. in 2014. Her husband’s family is originally from North Carolina. The couple continued to do aid work, but from a headquarters setting in Washington, D.C. 

Roberta became involved as a volunteer with Meals on Wheels in D.C. “My role was to get a list of groceries to purchase, and then I would do grocery shopping for one or two families in my neighborhood and deliver them to their doors on a weekly basis,” she says. 

Roberta still works in international aid, as a consultant. When the family moved to Orange County a few years ago, they settled in a rural area – the township of Bingham, between Carrboro and Saxapahaw. Today, Roberta is the PORCH neighborhood coordinator for the area.  

More than 125 PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro neighborhood coordinators organize monthly food collections for a neighborhood, street, or geographic area. They are responsible for spreading the word about the designated day(s) for the monthly food drives, collecting donations from neighbors, and getting the non-perishable bags of food to PORCH so that it can be distributed to more than 700 local families. 

But Roberta didn’t assume this neighborhood coordinator role immediately upon moving to North Carolina. So many of the people who live nearby have been in the area for generations. She didn’t want to swoop in and announce herself as an organizer without creating connections and establishing relationships.

“Relationship building is the first step for most things we have to do in life,” she says. “I needed to wait and understand. I needed to get to know the neighbors a bit.” 

Roberta first learned about PORCH while attending Carrboro’s Latin American Festival – PORCH staffed a table there. 

“I decided that [PORCH] was a good way to start working on the symptoms and helping neighbors that are food insecure, and unfortunately, there are many,” Roberta says. “Despite the fact we are in one of the wealthiest countries on Earth, we are still dealing with this fundamental need.” 

She adds: “This is not a radical approach, and it scratches the surface, but I think it’s still relevant. And sharing the resources we have is the first thing we can do.”  

Her work as a neighborhood coordinator began in August, and neighbors have been very generous, bringing multiple bags of food to her porch. (The approach of neighbors coming to her instead of her picking up food from their doorsteps is preferred by all in a quiet area with long driveways and houses set far from the road.) About a dozen households are participating right now, but Roberta thinks that number will increase as she connects with more neighbors. 

“This type of work is quite bipartisan, and it can really bridge possible cultural or political divides,” she says. “This neighborhood is quite diverse in that sense; there is a bit of everything. So it’s nice to see that sensitivity – supporting food security – present in everybody, or at least most people. The response from the neighbors has been very reassuring, quite overwhelming.” 

In the spirit of fostering community, Roberta is hoping to host a neighborhood gathering in the spring and invite a PORCH staff member to speak about the impact of the non-perishable contributions. 

Roberta is passionate about treating the root causes of income inequality. “Sometimes we take a box to a charity, and then we believe our responsibility is over,” she says. “That’s not the way. There is so much work to be done to change the conditions that create and breed poverty.” 

But, she adds: “[These non-perishable food items] are a low hanging fruit in terms of a way to help. It is not time consuming. It is not expensive. There is a strength in numbers. The more people are involved, the more we can collect, and the more families we can reach. I really think [PORCH] is an easy and effective way to share resources.” 

We are currently seeking Neighborhood Coordinators in communities all around Chapel Hill and Carrboro. If your neighborhood doesn’t have a Neighborhood Coordinator, would you or someone you know want to help fill this role? This is a great leadership opportunity for students! Prospective NCs can reach out to us at chc@porchcommunities.org. You can pass along the link to our Neighborhood Coordinator information page, which gets into the nuts and bolts of what NCs do; it includes this very handy video.