Home is where the heart is: Marimer McKenzie prioritizes community
When most think of community, they think of home, but for military families, building community can prove to be a bit tricky. Having to move every few years can get in the way of getting involved and making lasting friendships, but New Hanover County’s Diversity & Equity Outreach Coordinator, Marimer McKenzie, has proven otherwise.Around 2021, McKenzie and her husband had just moved to Wilmington when shortly after she found that the county had an open position for an outreach coordinator.
“It’s just a great way to reach out to the community and get involved with so many things,” McKenzie said.As a military wife, McKenzie found this line of work most fulfilling.
“I’ve just always been a community organizer during my husband’s career in the military,” McKenzie said. “Everywhere we’ve moved, we’ve planted roots, because that’s what the military encourages you to do.”McKenzie also volunteers with the nonprofit, Cape Fear Latinos, a local organization dedicated to providing social services and developing programs for New Hanover County’s Latino community.And her work has not gone unnoticed. After recognizing her passion and dedication to advocating for those in her community, McKenzie’s colleagues nominated her to be on Gov. Roy Cooper’s Hispanic and Latino Affairs Council.“I had the backup of our own local Hispanic and Latino commission that we have here in New Hanover County. They were very supportive and wrote a letter on my behalf, and then I got the appointment,” she said.McKenzie’s service on the governor’s council requires a trip to Raleigh every three months, and a monthly virtual meeting for the language access committee that she sits on.
“I hope that I can bring back to New Hanover County what I’m learning over there so that we can help our community here," she said.While McKenzie certainly stays busy with work and community outreach, its spending time with her family, traveling to new places and walking her dog, Oliver, that helps her unwind.
“I have a big golden retriever and I start every day walking him so that I can relax, listen to a podcast and seize the day,” she said.There’s also a good chance she’s traveling to visit her three adult children when she's not busy with outreach. “They’re all over. One lives in New York, one attends App State University, and one is going to school at Boston University," she said.Even in her free-time, McKenzie inherently prioritizes community. When she’s not working, she can be found hanging out downtown with her husband of 33 years.“We love exploring the downtown of Wilmington and all the small shops and little restaurants. We really try to support our community,” she said. “There are all these little hidden gems here, which is one of the reasons we fell in love with Wilmington when we moved here. My husband and I want to support our community and the local economy as much as we can.”
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Community is the heart of New Hanover County's Marimer McKenzie's work
