Today we’d like to introduce you to Isha Reed.
Hi Isha , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
EPIC—Empowering People In Communities—was born from both my lived experience and more than a decade of walking alongside people through some of the hardest moments of their lives.
For over 10 years, I have worked as a Care Manager Extender and Peer Support Specialist, helping individuals navigate mental health challenges, substance use recovery, housing instability, access to resources, and the many barriers that can make people feel unseen or forgotten. At the same time, I was carrying my own story—my own experiences with recovery, mental health, healing, and learning how to turn pain into purpose.
Over the years, I began to realize that my professional experience and my personal journey were not separate. Together, they gave me a unique understanding of what people really need. Sometimes people need resources, but they also need connection. They need someone who will listen without judgment, meet them where they are, and remind them that their current circumstances do not define their future.
That realization became the foundation for EPIC.
I created Empowering People In Communities because I wanted to build something that went beyond traditional services. I wanted EPIC to be present in the community, creating meaningful connections, providing resources, supporting mental health and recovery, advocating for individuals experiencing homelessness, and bringing hope directly to people who may feel overlooked.
Everything I had learned through more than 10 years of care management and peer support helped shape the way I built EPIC. My experience taught me how to navigate systems, connect people to services, advocate for their needs, and understand the gaps that still exist in our communities. My lived experience taught me compassion, patience, resilience, and the importance of never giving up on someone simply because they are going through a difficult season.
What started as a desire to help has grown into a mission to empower.
Today, EPIC is a reflection of everything I believe in: community, recovery, dignity, advocacy, connection, and second chances. I continue my work as a Care Manager Extender and Peer Support Specialist while expanding EPIC through outreach, community partnerships, events, peer support, mental health and substance use advocacy, and resources for individuals and families who need them.
I am also growing into other areas of advocacy through speaking, writing, and my podcast, Healing Out Loud, because I believe our stories have the power to reach people in ways that programs and statistics sometimes cannot.
My journey has taught me that some of the most difficult chapters of our lives can become the very chapters that prepare us to serve others.
One quote I live by is, “You can’t keep what you don’t give away.” That is the heart of EPIC for me. Everything I have gained through experience, recovery, healing, knowledge, and community, I want to pour back into someone else.
EPIC is not just an organization I created. It is the purpose I discovered through my own journey—and a reminder that when people are empowered, supported, and truly seen, lives and communities can change.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Heavens no—it has not been a smooth road.
Behind the work I do, the people I serve, and the strength others may see in me, I have had to fight through some very real battles of my own. I live with depression and anxiety, and there came a point when I had to recognize that being the person who helps everyone else did not mean I could ignore my own mental health. I had to get into therapy, do my own healing work, and learn that asking for help is not weakness—it is part of survival, growth, and becoming whole.
Then life brought another challenge I never expected: I was diagnosed with breast cancer. That diagnosis changed everything. I had to have surgery, and I am now facing radiation as part of my treatment. When you hear the word “cancer,” it forces you to look at life differently. It makes you think about your purpose, your time, your relationships, and what truly matters.
There have been moments when I have been tired, afraid, overwhelmed, and unsure of what the next chapter would look like. I have had to learn how to show up for myself while still carrying responsibilities, serving my community, and continuing to build EPIC.
One of my biggest lessons has been realizing that strength does not mean pretending everything is okay. Strength can look like going to therapy. It can look like crying and still getting back up. It can look like admitting you are scared. It can look like receiving help instead of always being the one giving it.
My struggles have also made me more intentional about the work I do. When I tell someone, “I see you,” or remind them not to give up, those words come from a real place. I understand what it means to have your life interrupted by circumstances you did not choose. I understand what it means to keep pushing forward while carrying things people may never see.
So no, the road has not been smooth. There have been detours, heartbreak, mental health struggles, health challenges, and moments when life has tested me in ways I could never have planned for.
But I am still here.
I am still healing. I am still growing. I am still serving. And I am still building.
If anything, these experiences have made the mission behind EPIC even more personal. Empowering people is not about pretending life is easy. It is about helping people recognize that even in difficult seasons, there is still purpose, hope, community, and a reason to keep going.
I do not believe my struggles disqualify me from helping others. I believe they have deepened my compassion and strengthened my understanding of what it means to truly meet people where they are.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
EPIC—Empowering People In Communities—is built around one simple belief: no one organization can meet every need, but when we work together, we can change lives.
What I specialize in is connection. I build relationships with domestic violence shelters, mental health providers such as Coastal Horizons, medical providers, community resource centers like the Harrelson Center in Wilmington, and other nonprofits and service organizations throughout the community. My role is often to help connect the dots. If EPIC has something a person needs, we provide it. If another organization has the right resource, I build that relationship and help connect the individual to that support.
I never want someone to hear, “We can’t help you,” and then be left with nowhere else to go. Even if EPIC cannot meet a specific need directly, my goal is to help find someone who can.
That is what sets EPIC apart. We believe in meeting people where they are—not where we think they should be. We look at the whole person and the real-life barriers they may be facing. Sometimes the immediate need is mental health support or recovery resources. Other times it may be transportation to an appointment, help with a copay, groceries, assistance with a utility bill, housing support, or simply having someone advocate for them and help them navigate a system that can feel overwhelming.
I have a special place in my heart for veterans, individuals experiencing homelessness, people living with mental health or substance use challenges, and mothers who are struggling to keep their families together. One of my long-term goals for EPIC is to open two to four supportive homes that can provide safe, stable spaces for different populations we serve. I especially want to create opportunities for veterans and for mothers who may be on the verge of losing their children to foster care because they do not have the stability, resources, or support they need.
Sometimes people do not need someone to judge their situation—they need someone willing to help remove the barriers standing between them and a better one.
I recently took another step that was difficult for me personally by creating a GoFundMe to support the work EPIC is doing. Asking for financial help was not easy, but I had to remind myself that this mission is bigger than me. Those funds can help us respond to practical needs such as transportation, food, medical copays, utility assistance, and other unexpected expenses that can make the difference between someone continuing to struggle and someone getting the support they need to move forward.
What I am most proud of about the EPIC brand is that it is rooted in authenticity, collaboration, and action. I am not interested in competing with other nonprofits or organizations. I want to partner with them. There is enough need in our communities for all of us to have a seat at the table.
When organizations come together instead of working in silos, the person needing help becomes the priority—and that is exactly how it should be.
EPIC is about empowering people, but it is also about empowering communities to take care of one another. I want readers to know that we are building something where lived experience, professional experience, community partnerships, advocacy, and compassion all come together.
We may not always have every resource ourselves, but we will work to help you find the right door.
That is EPIC to me: connecting people to people, resources to needs, and communities to solutions—one person, one family, and one partnership at a time.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
What I like most about Raleigh is the energy of the city and the amount of opportunity there. There is always something going on, from community events and local businesses to arts, culture, education, and networking opportunities. I also appreciate that Raleigh has so many different organizations, professionals, and community leaders doing meaningful work. Even though I live in Wilmington, I see a lot of similarities between the two cities when it comes to the potential for people to come together and make a difference.
What I like least is not necessarily something I would place only on Raleigh, because I see the same challenge in Wilmington and in many communities across North Carolina. I believe we still have a long way to go when it comes to supporting people who are unsheltered and veterans who are struggling with housing, mental health, access to services, transportation, and other basic needs.
For me, it is difficult to see people fall through the cracks when there are so many organizations and resources in our communities. I would love to see even stronger collaboration between agencies, nonprofits, businesses, and community members so that people do not have to navigate these systems alone.
So, what I appreciate most about Raleigh is the opportunity, diversity, and sense of community. What I would like to see improved is how we collectively care for some of our most vulnerable neighbors. I believe a great city is not only measured by how much there is to do, but also by how well we take care of the people who need us most.
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