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Healthy and Sustainable

Economy

  • Attract diverse and good-paying jobs to help with economic mobility

  • Ensure access to affordable high-speed internet to homes, businesses, and schools

  • Promote a variety of recreational and performing arts events for community enjoyment, educational opportunities, and relationship building

Healthy and Sustainable

Community

  • Facilitate and support housing options at different price points, and initiatives to end homelessness

  • Partner with our community stakeholders to invest in educational programs from pre-school to community college

  • Improve accessibility and affordability for medical and mental health care

Healthy and Sustainable

Environment

  • Continued commitment to achieve county clean energy goals by 2050

  • Preserve, protect, and maintain open space county land as well as farmland, public parks/preserves, greenways/trails and recreational areas

  • Partner to promote and create more public transportation options

Cheryl's Vision

Accomplishments

DRIVING ECONOMIC GROWTH

Welcomed major employers and healthcare expansions, including:

  • Amgen

  • Biogen

  • Coriolis Pharma

  • Fujifilm Biotechnologies

  • Genentech

  • NC Children’s Hospital (UNC–Duke Partnership)

  • WakeMed Whole Person Health Campus in Garner

SUPPORTING VULNERABLE RESIDENTS

  • Purchased the Second Street Shelter Building to serve as a permanent, low-barrier shelter with intervention for those facing homelessness

  • Launched housing dashboard in 2025 to track county trends with growth, affordability, supply, and demand

  • More than 5,000 units of affordable housing created since 2018

  • Expanded to 195 beds at South Wilmington Street Center

  • Created Housing Opportunity Fund in 2025 with $5 million start-up to help developers expand a range of housing options countywide

  • Wake County becomes the Lead Agency with the local Continuum of Care, working to make homelessness brief, rare, and nonrecurring

ENHANCING PARKS & PRESERVING FARMLAND

  • Opened Beech Bluff County Park (300 acres)

  • First phase of Kellam-Wyatt Preserve (59 acres) opening Summer 2026

  • First phase of Lake Myra Park (over 300 acres) opening 2027

  • Permanently protected 314 acres for agricultural use through the Farmland Preservation Program, with more farm applications coming

IMPROVING PUBLIC HEALTH

  • Expanded dental services for uninsured children at 4 Regional Centers plus the Sunnybrook Clinic with monthly appointments

  • Purchased a Public Health Mini-Bus with ARPA funds to deliver mobile health resources across Wake County

  • Investing nearly $76 million over 18 years from opioid settlement funds for early intervention, treatment, and recovery programs with a dedicated program manager

STRENGTHENING PUBLIC SAFETY

  • Opened Apex Barbeque Road EMS Station and Fire Station #3 in Holly Springs

  • EMS Hub in Cary scheduled to open Spring 2026

  • Launched award winning “Career in a Year” Fire Academy in 2023 which includes a full salary with benefits while training to be a certified firefighter

INVESTING IN EDUCATION

  • Developed and funded Wake ThreeSchool, a Pre-K program for underserved 3-year-olds

  • Opened 6 new schools: Baucom Elementary, Bowling Road Elementary, Felton Grove High, Pleasant Plains Elementary, Rex Road Elementary, and Woodscreek Elementary

  • Allocated facility and operations funding for Wake Tech expansions in Apex, Raleigh, and Wendell

EXPANDING LIBRARY ACCESS

  • Voter-Approved Library Bond (November 2024) – Funding for 5 new libraries in Apex/Friendship, Athens Drive, Rolesville, Southeast Raleigh, and Wendell

  • Expansion of the Fuquay-Varina Library

  • Renovations at 7 library branches (Express, Green Road, Leesville, Northeast, Richard B. Harrison, Southeast, Zebulon) plus the Library Administration Building

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