The StartUP Fund, previously, StartUP Siler, LLC, and I, Kristen Picot, the managing partner of the StartUP Fund and President of CJF America, Inc. want to send congratulations from the bottom of my heart to Mayor-Elect Donald Matthews and Town Council Member-Elect, Travis Patterson for their victory. I understand that this is a momentous and historical moment for those in Siler City.

In late 2021, StartUP Siler signed the lease at 235 E Raleigh St. Suite A, Siler City, North Carolina. We were excited to open up an office and to start involving the community and to build relationships. However, each step of the way was met with those who wished we were not there.

The opposition was partly due to my familial ties to two candidates running in the 2022 Siler City Municipal Election. This was enough to destroy relationships, cause damage to myself and more.

For nearly two years, I, and those at the Foundation, have experienced daily harassment in the form of text messages, people following me home, lies spread on my character and the Foundation’s, work ethic and more. This served to hurt my position and StartUP Siler’s work in Siler City. We lost out on opportunities for the community, such as North Carolina State University bringing their Data Explorers Program to Jordan Matthews High School, and more.

I find it difficult to relay how incredibly challenging and dehumanizing this has been, and I have only encountered it for a few years. I know these types of situations have been occurring for decades, and I truly do not know how people cope with the abuse.

I can speak of my feelings in regards to this matter, and how it has affected me. It has resulted me in being fearful to walk outside, I am scared to post on my social media, or tag any friends as they receive messages from it. Again, I am grateful for the support of my company, my friends, mentor and my oldest brother.

Below are a few of the thousands of texts, from multiple numbers that I have received. I want to reiterate, this is only from what I have received, my esteemed colleagues and those that have partnered with the Foundation, have received them as well. These messages and vandalism of my office at the Foundation, contain threats of rape.

Please be forewarned of the insidious nature of the content, and proceed with caution.

With each attack, we would adapt. However, each step we would take forward, would be met with accusations and allegations and then silence.

During this time, everyone at the StartUP Siler office was receiving harassment in the form of texts and social media. This was long after the Election ended. Finally, it accumulated into violence and vandalism.

In 2023, our office was broken into and vandalized not one, but three times. Graffiti was throughout the office and a used condom was left in the hallway. Threats written on the walls correlate with text messages threatening to rape me for being there.

Pictured is the door to Kristen Picot’s office at StartUP Siler.

Picture is the wall in the Reception Area at StartUP Siler.

Pictured is from another act of vandalism, a used condom was left on the floor in the common area for the building, that is behind a locked door. 

During our time in Siler City, the lies began to wear on relationships. Those relationships that we had built in the community were torn apart by those falsehoods. Anything that I would do to bring opportunities to the community, an opposing view would be propped up as the narrative that suggested that I was anything other than what I was doing to help the community. Those chances slowly dwindled, because of these accusations and allegations made by the select few, who only sought to prosper themselves rather than to prosper as a whole town. As a professional and as a human, it has been frustrating and disheartening, to continue to defend against such lies and attacks.

My resilience comes from the people that I am able to encounter and those who still hold their trust in me. From a foster mother who I became an advocate for in the school system, to hearing the countless stories that those in the community have to tell, that is what fueled me to stay until we had to leave for safety. I have seen what can be done in other cities and that is why my fortitude is only established by the overwhelming need of the same resources that metropolitan cities, like Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Chapel Hill, receive, and other cities that are governed and run by people who are there to serve the people rather than themselves.

This is a historic win, and for that reason, I would like to, on behalf of Startup Siler, LLC and CJF America, Inc., congratulate Donald Matthews and Travis Patterson for their victory. Because those two will bring to the table the progression that the city needs to move forward and I cannot wait to work with them.