Headstart

Board Leadership
Sallie Surface - Executive Director
J. Wendell Hall - President
Venus Michelle SpruillL- 1st Vice President
Alfred Riddick-2nd Vice President
Morris Rascoe-Secretary/Treasurer
Teresa Shearin - Asst. Secretary/Treasurer


CADA -- Working Together for a Better Community

In 1961, citizen groups in Bertie, Halifax, Hertford and Northampton Counties met to elect directors and committee chairman for what was then termed the newly organized area development association. In December of that year, the newly formed Choanoke Area Development Association (CADA) – with bylaws, officers and directors selected -- was approved.


While the initial thrust of CADA was economic development for the four county area – it soon evolved into and organization dedicated to human development. This evolution was not inappropriate, according to Dr. Bruce Whitaker, then president of Chowan College in Murfreesboro, who said, “Human development and economic development go hand in hand, each suffers without the other.”

In March 1966, the county governments of the four counties that CADA now serves designated CADA as the Community Action Agency for Bertie, Halifax, Hertford and Northampton. This designation allowed CADA to receive funds from the federal office of Economic Opportunity to fight the War on Poverty. At the time, census figures confirmed that nearly 57% of all families lived in poverty, with 23% living on average annual incomes of $ The numbers reflected a raw reality and presented an enormous challenge.

During CADA’s formative years of the 1960s, there were many places in the nation experiencing sometimes violent turmoil over racial issues. While riots were not part of the experience in the four-county area, racial tension did exist. According to Doris Cochran, a longtime CADA Board Member, CADA helped improve racial relations in the area. Before CADA, there was no opportunity for blacks, whites and Native Americans to get together. She said, “Black people had systematically been left out of planning . . . and had no tradition of being a cog in the wheels of community service. CADA was an opportunity for blacks to find out how an organization could work in and for the community.”

CADA – 1970 - 1990s

Starting with one leased station wagon in 1966, the Choanoke Public Transportation Authority (CPTA) (under the aegis of CADA) was formed in November 1977. The authority authorized CADA to provide transportation services to low-income, elderly and handicapped people. In 1983, CPTA assumed operation of the transit system and became completely independent of CADA.

During the early 1970s, the Roanoke-Chowan Regional Housing Authority was established as an independent agency to serve Halifax, Hertford and Northampton Counties, through the efforts of CADA. In addition, Ahoskie and Roanoke Rapids established their own authorities. Other programs begun by CADA include garden projects, summer feeding and recreation programs for youth, job training, adult basic education, later transferred to the area’s community colleges, and health services including home visiting nurses, now part of the county health department.

CADA – 1992-2002

During these years, CADA focused on the development of family and community assets. To achieve this goal, CADA designed self-sufficiency, family development and housing programs and sought new resources to implement these strategies. The result was partnerships that have increased resources and improved the lives of many in the area.

Some programs developed and administered by CADA in these years:

Weatherization Assistance Program
Heating Appliance Repair and Replacement Program (HARRP)
Urgent Repair
Single Family Rehab Program
Homeownership Program


In 1998, the conversion of historic Woodland-Olney School into 30 senior apartments was completed. CADA was the non-profit developer and it was the agency’s first tax credit project. This complex has received several awards for senior services and for historic preservation and was a second place national winner for Rebuild America.

Head Start


In 1995, CADA became the grantee for the Head Start Program in the four counties. In the beginning, 523 children and their families were served each year by this program. During these ten years, there were eleven centers. Partnerships with Smart Start, Chowan College, Roanoke Chowan Community College, Halifax Community College, and local school systems expanded services to more pre-school children through programs such as “More at Four” and blended classrooms. The self-sufficiency of the family unit was also a focus of the Head Start Program and activities were planned to meet the needs of the entire family. CADA is very proud of the fact that since CADA became the grantee, this program has had excellent peer reviews. Challenges for this program were and continue to be geographically locating space for centers that meet daycare requirements and providing transportation for children and parents.

Parenting Programs

CADA has also implemented a number of programs for families in the area, including:

Families in Focus (assisting families where removal of child is imminent)
Parents as First Teachers (age appropriate developmental strategies for parents)
Support our Students (after school program for high risk students in 4th and 5th grades)


Hurricane Floyd

In 1999, a natural disaster named Floyd hit the CADA service area and CADA’s resources were applied to meet the immediate emergency and housing needs of the storm victims. CADA served as a Housing Disaster Recovery Center to assist storm victims complete applications and secure assistance. CADA staff also assisted storm victims to secure the use of temporary FEMA units until their housing needs were resolved. CADA repaired/replaced 205 homes under the Repair and Replacement Program under the Centers for Crisis Housing Assistance Funding

CADA -- 2003-2009

CADA has continued to seek resources and to facilitate programs that assist families and communities to become self sufficient. Technologies and programs have changed and CADA staff has actively sought certifications and degrees that expand and enhance the knowledge-based skills the agency needed to provide current program options.

More recent programs include Early Head Start that provides child development services for pregnant women and children from birth to three years of age. CADA applied for this program through a national competition and received funding to assist sixty children.

The Parent to Parent Program was developed and funded to provide parenting and child development activities for families that reside in public housing in conjunction with the Northampton County Partnership for Children.

Utilizing historic and low-income tax credits, CADA began the process for the conversion of the historic Ahoskie High School into forty one (41) senior apartments. The facility, which opened in October of 2007, is comprised of thirty one (31) units under the Section 8 Project Based Assistance Program and five units are eligible for the Key Program. Partners in this highly successful collaborative effort include Community Affordable Housing Equity Corporation, North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, RBC Centura, The Ahoskie High School Restoration Committee and the Town of Ahoskie.
Ahoskie High School


CADA also partners with the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency to offer The Home Protection Loan Program to help prevent foreclosure for homeowners who are dislocated workers as a result of the economy.

In 2006, CADA was notified that the agency was the only one in North Carolina to receive a Responsible Fatherhood Grant from the Department of Health and Human Services. A five year grant, and targeting 75 young fathers or those in fatherhood roles, The Fathers in Focus Network is a voluntary program that provides a parenting curriculum designed to help build healthy families.

CADA continues to offer successful programs that have been a part of this agency for many years including the Weatherization Program, CSBG Self Sufficiency, Section 8 and Housing Choice Voucher Program. The Individual Development Account Program (IDA) has one of the highest completions in the state. This program has assisted more than 60 families become homeowners. CADA continues to provide housing repair programs funded by NCHFA such as the Urgent Repair Program and the Single Family Rehab Program and to provide housing counseling as a HUD Counseling Agency. CADA has also instituted a successful Tax Preparation Assistance Program and counsels families on their eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit. This has resulted in large refunds for families in all four counties where the program is available through volunteer efforts of CADA staff.

Current Executive Director, Sallie P. Surface, notes: “CADA and the community have benefited from diverse leadership that has leveraged resources and developed partnerships. Our community and local, state, and national partners are important to the success of this agency. It has been an opportunity to make a difference in peoples’ lives, an opportunity to help them help themselves.” Looking back 47 years, this reflects a sentiment by Fred Cooper, a founder of the agency in the turbulent 1960s, “I just wanted people to be treated equally and fair.”