Just Paula: Building Power Without Permission

What happens when everyday people stop waiting for permission and start organizing for liberation?

This month, Paula Swepson Avery, Tzedek's 2025 Ella Baker Brilliance Award recipient, shares her journey into community organizing. It didn't begin with a plan or a grant, but with a plate of food, a room full of neighbors, and a question that changed everything: What is your vision for your community?

That simple ask sparked a new way of thinking about power, one grounded in listening, trust, and shared responsibility rather than titles or credentials.

About Paula:

Paula Swepson Avery spent over 28 years as a CNC programmer and machine room manager before discovering her calling as a grassroots community leader in Marion, NC. When layoffs brought her manufacturing career to an end, Paula turned toward mutual aid, gathering neighbors, building relationships, and co-creating a new vision of people-powered possibilities. She is the Founder and Executive Director of West Marion, Inc., the first and only Black-led nonprofit in McDowell County.

From starting a community garden to reclaiming a historic Black school building to imagining a future resilience hub, West Marion's work shows what's possible when dignity is treated as a non-negotiable. A visionary and equity-driven leader, Paula has grown the organization from $10,000 in seed funding in 2016 to a $1.2 million annual operating budget in 2024.

Her strategy secret? "Chase the work, not the money." It's a reminder that movements built on hot meals, deep listening, and a shared sense of belonging are often the most powerful.

Paula is the recipient of the 2025 Ella Baker Brilliance Award, which honors a Black community leader in Asheville who has empowered and organized others to address systemic oppression.

🎧 Hit play to be inspired by the energy that comes from working with—not just for—community.

Visit westmarion.org to support West Marion Inc.'s transformative work, including its ambitious $15 million legacy project.

We'll see you same time, same place next month. Until then, peace.

Transcript

Welcome & Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:03

We're profoundly, profoundly interconnected. We don't always live that way, we don't always acknowledge it. But if we're going to heal, we have to live it, experience it, and create institutions that celebrate it. Can we create a we when no one's on the outside of it?

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Welcome to the Uplift with Zedek, real talk for real change. Before we jump in, a quick reminder of why we're here and what we hope to achieve. We're here to build authentic community relationships and help fuel social transformation in Nashville, North Carolina. We believe collective liberation is not only possible but probable as we share, listen, and learn together. We're here for the process. However, the views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

Welcome to another episode of The Uplift. My name is Libby Kyles and I'm the Ediazetic Social Justice Fund. And today, today, today, we are honored to have with us Ms. Paula Swepson Avery. Miss Avery is our Ella Baker Award winner this year for 2025. The Ella Baker Award recognizes individuals who embody the spirit and legacy of Ella Baker through their commitment to social justice, human rights, and advocacy, centering racial justice, inclusive of women's voices and work. Thank you so much for joining us today. How are you doing? I'm doing good. Thank you for having me. Oh, thank you. Thank you for all the work that you do and the many ways that you show up for all the different communities that you are a part of. Can you share just a little bit with us about who you are and your background and what got you into this work that you're currently doing?

On How It All Started

On Discovering Voice And Shared Vision

SPEAKER_03 1:42

Okay, so I actually come from manufacturing for over 28 years. And in 2015, I found myself laid off with no direction. No one wanted to hire me because I was in a white male-dominated career. I was a CNC programmer and a machine room uh manager. So what I found is there's not many people look like me in those places. So I searched for a job for about a year. I started one on third shift, and one of my friends, Vicky Stinson, told me about community meetings that were happening in my community. And she said, You should come. It's really nice. They're trying to do things. I said, Well, Vicky, I ain't coming to a meeting about a meeting. She said, Well, they have dinner. I said, Oh, okay, I'll come and see what they're talking about. So the food got me there. And my first um meeting in that room, uh, Mary Snow was the facilitator. And she's asked the question, what is your vision for your community? And I thought, do we have a choice? I never knew that we could say when what went on in our own community. So that question still excites me today. So in that room, I was like, hey, people, this is my community, people sitting with me. I grew up with. I was like, do y'all hear what she's saying? We got a choice. We can do something. We can do what we want to do. I think my ignorance to nonprofit world is what made us successful because I didn't know who was in the room, who had the money, how I should be acting. I was just my true self and who smiled at me and spoke, I spoke, and I just like we could do this. And so about two months in, it was we could do this with or without the money. I knew nothing about grant making or anything. I was like, if we all come through like mutual aid, say Miss Tweety up the street, she needs some windows, or can we do a kitty where we're all putting$10 a month in this kitty and let's get Miss Tweety her windows that she needs. That was my perception of it from the beginning. Um, but what I have found out is we don't have to put our our$10 together. That there's plenty of money out there in the philanthropic world to get us some new windows and the other things that we deserve and need.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

I'm curious when you first stepped into that room, you said didn't realize you had a choice. Once you knew that you had a choice, what was your vision and how has it changed?

On Supporting Future Leaders

SPEAKER_03 4:02

Oh, my vision is what the people say they want first. I'm very I'm an introvert, really bad. But when I'm standing up for my people or fighting for my people, I'm just like, it don't even matter about me. I take self out of it. I'm like, this is what we say we want, this is what we deserve. It was the the sharing of the resources. We we had people of color in power in the county, but they weren't sharing the resources in the way I I expected to know about them. I'll say that. They they did the best job they could with what they knew. But coming from an institution uh way of thinking, I was like, okay, we have to do this a certain way. So I had to grow into there's more ways, more ways than one to be right. I could give you an example. Our youth group started, a group of young people. I was like, okay, so who's gonna be the president? Who's gonna be the vice president? Who's the treasurer? Who's the secretary? This like, why we gotta have that? I was like, because you do. And Mary's like, do they? I was like, well, who's gonna be in charge? How they can be able to do this? And she said, Well, they all can be the leaders. And I was like, mm, that's interesting, but it's gonna fail. That was my, you know, thing. But as I seen those young people start having a different way of thinking, I felt like it was my job to make room for them, to fight for them, because I'm I'm over 50 at that time. So I, you know, I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be here. But if we have young people in community who are wanting to do something different outside of the box of the way it used to be because we can see that way it doesn't work, I'm gonna support them in every way I can.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Oh, I love that. What do you say to young people today? I just heard you say, if we have young people and they want to think outside of the box, I feel like it's my duty to support them. What would you say to those kids that might hear you today? Are there any words you'd like to say to inspire them in the way that you've been inspired?

On Lessons & Legacy

SPEAKER_03 5:53

Well, what I try to live by today is you have the rest of your life to do this work. So if you die today, you'd give it your best on yesterday. So just letting them know, you know, tomorrow's not promise, but we can't worry about the fears of tomorrow. We just got to do what's best for what we see is best for our community to make the changes.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Okay. Thank you so much for that. I want to just kind of switch gears a little bit. As I was listening to you talk about being in this space with your neighbors, I asked a question, and you said, Well, my vision is what the people want. So what is community power to you?

On Community Power

SPEAKER_03 6:24

It's just getting the things that that you say you want, what you feel like you want. You feel like you you're having a chance to it to get something different. It it's different for everybody. But there are common goals, you know, we work on together out outside community garden because we don't have an actual office where we work. So the community garden is the visual. So when people ride through the street, they see keeping it fresh. And they're like, oh, I didn't know that was a garden. What is that about? And then, you know, they find out about West Marion through there. I mean, I can't say the garden has always been a wonderful thing for me because it's been a thorn in my flesh for most of the years. But that was my control issues, I'll say. That I I I was deep too deep in it to let people grow. So through that garden, I've learned to let people grow into whatever their power is that they they want to see, or want to see, want to do however they want to live. I think it's just showing them the the vision part that you have control over that. So you couldn't be here. Your kids are gonna be here, and your kids' kids are gonna be here for the rest of how everybody's living. So what what one thing do you want for them to see or to have? So that is the vision.

On Chasing the Work

SPEAKER_02 7:33

Awesome. It's kind of funny because every time I have a question coming up, you kind of so what answer it before I get to the question, but I'm gonna read my question anyway, and then you can kind of fill in. Um, so under your leadership, West Marion Incorporated has grown significantly from a small seed funding to a 1.2 million annual operating budget. What has been the key factors that have enabled that growth?

SPEAKER_03 7:55

Honesty and transparency. I think those are those are the key things because we have nothing to hide. Because if you hide stuff, then people don't trust you. And I think uh just having the opportunity for people in community to come together monthly to talk with one another and share stories, lived experiences, and what the future needs to look like. I say our staff, the youngest now is 21 and the oldest is 73. So we're all all important, you know, and we all bring something different. To become an employee of West Mary Incorporated, there's no application process. There's a a willingness to be in your community and give your heart and soul. And then we find the money. We don't chase the money, we chase the work.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Can you speak a little bit more to the intergenerational building that you all are doing? Because I heard you say the youngest is 20, the oldest is 73.

SPEAKER_03 8:45

Yeah, so it just it just worked out that way. I I you couldn't write this story. I can say before I got laid off, I was saying, okay, I'm 50, I was getting ready to buy me a Corvette, and I was just gonna ride it out until time to retire. But God had another plan. He knew that I was not going to quit my good paying job to go work in nonprofit, because at the time, only thing I knew about nonprofit is you didn't make no money there. And that was the bottom line. I was like, okay. So just thinking about how I didn't know about this world, but I had a passion for people. I had a passion for a community. I just say my church. I'm I become the one person that everybody asks things to. But that's after 30 years of working in there, because you know, people don't like to leave their positions. So it's usually when someone leaves, it's because they pass away. I've just always been willing to help people as much as I can. And I think that's what makes our organization work. We're all a diverse group of people with different backgrounds, different skills. And that's what this special sauce is, is where we all come together, even though we may not always agree we respect each other where everybody's coming from. If I don't know anything about data and research, I got people on my team that that's their jam. They love to do it. So I don't have to do it. You know, so it's just like numbers. I'm the numbers person. You know, if you want to hear, make a budget, come on, holler at me, because I I'm the one that can get you where you need to be. Uh, we got people good with the youth, good with the elderly. It's just, it's just such a great group of people that make this work. And we don't work in hierarchy. It is the the linear way of working, is what I found works best. I'm the boss, but I don't have to tell nobody I'm the boss.

On West Marion Inc. Successes

SPEAKER_02 10:29

Oh, I love that. That's so much of the spirit of Ella Baker, that non-hierarchical leadership where everybody's vision, everybody's want, everybody's need is equally important. Thank you so much for that. Share a little bit more about the successes that you've experienced in this work that you've been doing.

SPEAKER_03 10:48

I'm so deep in it. I have to step back at times and say, hey, uh, we did something over there. You know, uh, we don't do this job for the awards and the accolades. Early on, there was some tension behind the recognition that I was getting from the few employees that was there. I was like, if you in this to get a award, you're in it for the wrong reason. The reward to me is getting up every day to uh work in my community to do things that's better for them. Even though the things, you know, I benefit from being the executive director. Also, I'm not the only one that benefits. When we started this, what we wanted to see in our spaces is the diverse group of people coming together to have conversation. And if you come to anything that we do, you'll see exactly that.

SPEAKER_02 11:33

So tell me what's the what's the baby for you? What's that thing that you are so proud of that you birthed?

SPEAKER_03 11:39

Uh I think just just the organization itself, uh, because it wasn't intended to be anything but what it is, but it has not been hard to do because of the willingness of the people involved wanting to see something different. This building, I think that that right there, the the old uh Mountain View School, that was the black school my parents went to. We own it now. Even though it's not renovated yet, but it's gonna be renovated. But the fact that other people wanted that building and it was given to us, that is the thing saying, yeah, we're doing something right because in our mission at the end of it says to create a community center to honor our ancestors and to be able to get the place that they grew up in, that they have the knowledge of that they are still proud of today, that that that's the baby right now. Because of the demographics in in our county is 3.9% black, you may not see black people when you come through. But this right here is gonna let you know that we're here and we matter and we can get things done.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

Oh, I love that. I often meet people and they say, Where are the black people in Asheville? And so hearing you talk about the demographics where you are and and having a place where people can see that although you may not see us all on the street, you you know that we are here, we've been here, and we have impact. What's the vision for that building? What what are the things you all are hoping to have?

SPEAKER_03 13:01

Okay, so we're gonna have a primary care clinic, behavior health, and the pharmacy with Party Hospital. So we're already working with them, got the letter of intent. It's gonna be a child enrichment center. So we're looking to see if we're gonna, West Marin's gonna run it or we're gonna have someone lease it out. A commercial kitchen, event space, and our offices. It's also a resilience hub. If you um think about Helene and everything that happened and the way people, some of them still don't have housing, and they were living in tents. So this building is gonna be a shelter, which is already in the works with the ELC in our county. We will have culturally appropriate food and bedding and everything that you need. It's a welcome place. We own the building, and so no one's gonna tell us when we have to put people out. So that is all in phase one. So that is uh$15 million that we're raising. I'm not even gonna say trying. We're going to raise it because it's that important. And then that's phase one. And in phase two, we'll have a gymnasium and a pool. And also phase one, uh, we're gonna have a greenhouse. So we'll continue to have our community garden uh where it's at now, but we'll have a greenhouse extension there at the new building.

On Obstacles

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Oh, that all sounds so amazing. So, what obstacles have you had to face as you've been doing all this amazing work?

SPEAKER_03 14:19

People not believing, institutional partners not believing in us. So we very early on, we did a recommendation to policymakers, and we had data talking about the social determinants of health, and we sat down with uh the county manager and he was going through it. He was like, Oh, this is nice. Uh so where did y'all get this data? Did you sit down at your kitchen table and make it up? Yeah. So those are the obstacles that people really not believing in who we are. Because what we have been able to do, no one else has done. Other nonprofits in the county, there may be one that's raised more money than us, other than, you know, the YMCA, something such as that. But most recently, and I say the county has been the thorn in our flesh, we were leasing uh office space at the health department. And the new director went to the county commissioners to, you know, just giving an update. And they were like, Well, who's in there leasing now? And he said, Well, West Marion's got a couple offices, and it was told to me because I was not there that uh one of the board chairs said, Well, those people are too political, and the work they do don't have nothing to do with health. So the ignorance of the county commissioners is a big thorn. We've been able to do these things without them. The city of Marion is one of the greatest allies we have. They were the fiscal agent for our first grant, and we've worked really closely uh with them ever since. And the reason we got the building is because the people who owned it called the mayor and wanted to give it to the city, and he was like, No, give it to the people you took it from, basically. Institutional partners, Matt Dow Tech, EMS, those are just wonderful partners that like during Helene, we've had such a good relationship with the ELC that because of the rain the couple of days before 36 hours, they were already worn down and their staff needed to rest. And they called and said, Can y'all come and in your organization come and help answer phones? And we went there. It's just like we we have each other on speed down. We can call each other whenever there's a need. When I got there that night, the sheriff's department was running out of fuel for their cars. And I was like, Well, where I live, there's a gas station right there, and they got gas, so you might want to call over there. It's like, wow, thank you. But that's just the relationship we had because when we go into the room with the EOC, we're respected. They have simulations and they have an actual table for community. One thing we decided this year is that if there's a hurricane or evacuation, we'll set up in a certain spot and take people's name and where with their address and where they're going to. So when their loved ones is looking for them, we'll already have that information. So even though we don't have, you know, those uh licenses that you need to be a paramedics or anything like that, we do have the voice and the ear of community. Anything you do, community is involved, whether you realize it or not. So for them, understanding that yes, we need to be in those spaces is amazing.

On Keeping Hope

SPEAKER_02 17:04

Well, I'll tell you, often when I speak about you, or if someone asks a question and I'm around and it's about you, I'm like, oh my goodness, Miss Paula is always so stoic and I'm just a little bit, you know, in awe. I'm wondering, how do you, how do you maintain hope and how do you keep your energy in the face of some of the things I just heard you say, like people not believing? What is it in you that helps you keep that hope and that energy? I don't know that you know how amazing you are. I I'm I'm just I want you to know that.

SPEAKER_03 17:33

I mean, I just do what I do. I mean, anything I can do to help. I think my mom father died when I was nine, so there was five girls and mama raised us. What she showed me is everybody matters. My dad had five girls. His uh brother had five boys. How I seen mom after my dad had passed, just interact, you know, with the open house. Anything you can do for somebody. I can remember it was a summer and this lady, she was drunk and she, I was in the house and I heard somebody hollering, and I went outside and she was cussing my mama out. And my mama, excuse me. My mama was just laughing. I was like, I started cussing the woman out. She's like, Paula, just don't no worry about her. Those days growing up, I like I say, I'm an introvert. I hardly ever talk. If I don't know you, I'm not gonna talk. It's not that I'm stuck up. I got to feel you, and then I'll be able to speak. What's in me is it's it's nothing about me. I'm I'm just a vessel that is here to speak for the people who are afraid to speak. Because I thought I'd pass out getting up and talking in front of people, but I don't even care now. I just get up there and I I just say what I say and do what I do. Like I say, it's not for award when I do things, it's for the betterment of people. So I just disconnect myself because this this work, you can get a big head. And I have to remind myself, you you got this because of the people you're around, not just because of who you are. But I I I just I just like helping people.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

I hear that in the entire time that we've been talking, you constantly go back to saying it's not just me, it's us. As a mentor, what advice would you give to other people in terms of this mindset that you have? Like it's not just about me, but it really is all of us.

SPEAKER_03 19:17

Q tip, quit taking it personal and listen to understand, not to respond. Because I was the person who was listening to respond. I was like, though, this is the way you gotta do it. If you let the outside forces get in your ear, you you can't do this work because you're gonna get tied up in some mess. When things happen, I just be like, take a breath, take a breath, and then I speak. That's hard to do because people, you know, they want to to react to things. They feel like somebody might be ponging them down if they don't say nothing. But the the best way to combat that is show. You ain't got to tell. Just show people who you are, what you are, what you stand for. Be honest and transparent. If you mess up, say I messed up. Don't make any excuses and always look at the whys. Not the why not. Thank you for that.

SPEAKER_02 20:02

The next five or ten years, what do you see happening at West Marion Incorporated in the next five or ten years?

SPEAKER_03 20:08

Well we're gonna be in the building and you know the book shift happens. Shift has been happening a lot. We're thinking now, what is West Marion Incorporated gonna be when we have a building we have to take care of? We will still be in community, but what is it gonna look like? Where will we host our meetings? Hopefully we have them all in the building, but we still, you know, the the coordinators and the program managers, they know their job is to listen to community, to be in community. We're we're never gonna sit up in the Ivory Tower and look at what's going on out there. We're gonna be still boots on the ground doing the work. We know what needs to be done. We know we can do it because we got this far.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Looking back on your journey so far, what are the lessons or the truths that you wish more people understood, particularly around community organizing and social justice work?

SPEAKER_03 20:57

First of all, everything that we talk about, what we hear, is real. And it's sometimes just your own people don't understand what social justice is. It's like, well, I made it. There ain't nothing held me back. I was like, well, you were one of the lucky ones. Praise God. But you know, there's still injustices happening on a daily basis. I just want people to understand they do have a voice. Don't let nobody try to shut you down. You know, do good. Try to put yourself in someone else's shoes. If you only go with what you know and what you feel, you're missing out. Because there's a whole nother world out there. So just to always be open to learning. I listen a lot and I don't react a lot. It's not because I'm afraid to be the angry black woman, because if you know me, if there's something wrong, I'm gonna let you know it. I've learned how to let you know it without looking like the angry black woman, I guess. But there's nothing wrong with being the angry black woman, too. I mean, it's just you'll get more respect, unfortunately, if you just speak and not holler. And that's a terrible thing because people got the right to be whoever they are and get whatever they need to get across. But what works for me is just listening and then speaking. I try to understand where you're coming from. I just say I had one employee that wanted to do an event, and it was a four-hour event, and they wanted to do a change every hour. And I I sit on this phone with this person for two hours, letting them understand the why that wasn't gonna work. I did get upset and I wanted to fire them right there because they wasn't getting it. But what good am I gonna do if I just get upset? I need you to understand the whys, why we do it this way. I don't want you to think that I I don't believe in you and your vision, but at the same time, we gotta make this make sense.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

So well, wise one, I really wish you could give me some tips on not worrying about being the angry black woman. Because I'm gonna tell you, I I still stay in that lane sometimes. I I get the jitters thinking that, you know, how is someone gonna perceive me? So it's really nice to hear you say, you know what, if something's not right, I'm just gonna say what needs to be said. So thank you so much for that. What does this award mean to you?

Wrap UP: Ways to Support the Work

SPEAKER_03 23:04

When I got the call from you, I I was like, what? I mean, I don't, like I said, I am so deep in it. I don't I'm surprised when people know who I am. I'm I'm just Paul. I'm the same person that I've always been. But this award, I think, is a appreciation to my community. More than anything else. When I read it and when Mary shared it with me, I was like, you kidding, they ain't gonna pick nobody like me for this, you know. What am I doing so special? I'm just out there talking and, you know, sharing ideas and resources and knowledge. One of the biggest things I've been telling people here lately is I'm working on black reparations, whether y'all like it or not. Because what I'm making sure is everybody who works for me, they get a living wage. They felt appreciated. And whenever we have an event, even though I don't know how long we're gonna be able to do this, but God will provide. We we don't charge you. You know, people come to our meetings, well, let me pay you for the meal. Like, no, this is we got grant funding for this. So the way we have been able to use our resources in a way that made people feel special. Just like the community any of our community meetings, we have a hot meal. My team knows you better not have no sandwiches at none of our meetings because people can get sandwiches anywhere. And they may not get to try the fancy restaurant that's downtown. Let's bring some food in, let's get it catered in so you have the opportunity to share, you know, in a meal that you normally wouldn't. I was a single parent. If I had somebody that would give me a hot meal for me and my kids, and I could just go home and bathe them, put them in the bed. All I had to do was sit there and listen. Those are the things that we're trying to do is getting people out of their comfort zone, understanding that there is somebody who cares about what you're going through, and we're gonna share our resources. So we do a lot of events, and most of them you don't have to pay for. That's what you're supposed to do with this money. You know, this is not my money, you know, it's the community's money. It's going back to the oppressed people that it was taken from. So why come they don't get to enjoy it? You know, you could give somebody, well, they should be happy, they just got a meal. You know, those are some of the things that we hear. You know, it's free. Why are they worried about it? No. Treat them with respect. And when people feel respected, they feel powerful. And that's when they go out and they do their things. And we've seen it, you know, people that used to uh didn't go to city council meetings or show up anywhere and use their voice. The city gives us mulch in the garden. And I was like, oh yeah, let me talk to because the city council comes in our community and host a meeting. I said, Well, let me make sure that mulch is coming. And when I went to the city manager, it's like, yeah, they they said that when we first got here, we're gonna get it taken care of. I was like, I don't have to do it all. So that was early on when we seen that people were feeling powerful enough to say, hey, you did this for us. Are you gonna continue to do it? Or when is it gonna come? So that this is what this work is about. Just if more people speak up for themselves and their community, then it'll continue to grow and be better.

SPEAKER_02 25:55

All right. Well, I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your day to sit and have this conversation with us. And I'm I'm still a little bit over here in awe because I feel like I've known how amazing you are. But when I listen to you talk and I hear how you center community, it just is that much more amazing. So thank you for all the beautiful ways that you've shown up for your Marion community and for all communities. Miss Paula, how can our listeners support the work that you're doing in Marion?

SPEAKER_03 26:23

So you can go to our webpage, Westmarion.org, and we have a donate page. This building, this is a legacy project. We want everybody that can uh be a part of it, and the money will most definitely help you be a part of it. It's it's weird for me to have to raise$15 million. I don't even know how I'm gonna do it, but I just know it's gonna happen because of what it means. Uh we got a donate page and we got an endowment with the community foundations of Western North Carolina that you can donate to also. Uh, so you can contact me, go to the website or Paula at Westmarion.org and get in touch.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

All right. So, people go to Westmarion.org to donate and to learn more about the amazing work that is happening. The Brilliance Award is nice, but it is not enough. So I want you to know that we are so thankful for you and all the ways that you've improved the way that people in your community are able to show up and able to live, and the way that you empower folks to know that every voice matters. So thank you so much. Thank you for the award and the opportunity to speak. So again, that's westmarion.org. All right. Have a blessed day, everybody.