If you believe that helping distressed children is a bad investment, then you haven’t met Tom Simmons
Most of us have fond memories of our childhoods, of being raised by loving parents and enjoying the kind of security that can only come from being a member of an intact family. Unlike us, Tom Simmons’ childhood memories are filled with recollections of abuse; physical, sexual and emotional. Life at home was so traumatic for Tom that at the very young age of 10, he ran away. Taken in by the Boys and Girls Homes of NC, where he was raised until he completed high school, Tom went on to attend three colleges where he ultimately earned a doctorate degree in education. As an adult, Tom spent more than three decades as a teacher, an assistant principal and a principal at public schools in Brunswick, Hyde and Bladen counties. Grateful for the life-changing support that he received from the Boys and Girls Homes of NC, Tom returned to serve as a board member and its Vice-President of Education “to help give students the same hope and opportunity that I was given as a resident”. Tom lives with his wife of 51 years, Janis. They have two sons and two grandchildren. He is passionate about the economy, improving education, affordable healthcare, clean water, winning the opioid battle, and protecting our beaches and fishermen from the risks of off-shore drilling. He has been frustrated over the past decade as local and state representatives of Brunswick County have neglected their duty to provide for the highest standards of education for our children, failed to protect our coast from potentially devastating harmful environmental policies and ignored the overall well-being of our citizens. As our representative in the NC House, Tom will promote policies to make Brunswick County, one of the largest and fastest-growing counties in North Carolina, a leader in education and economic development. Tom’s life story is about defying the odds. Now he is ready to defy those odds once again, running as a Democrat for the North Carolina House of Representatives. Let’s give this amazing man one more opportunity to serve our community. He’s earned it.
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