“A forever home”
Ella and her husband, Arbor, work hard to provide their family with a safe and supportive home. Ella, who’s from Hendersonville, and, Arbor, who moved to the area when he was nine, had no idea that raising a family near their hometown would become a nearly impossible challenge. Over the years, they’ve watched friends and relatives move hours away in search of cheaper housing, an option Ella says isn’t possible for them because of their jobs and the need to stay close to their aging parents.
“Affordability-wise, [this area] has changed drastically,” shared Ella. “We grew up here. We love the area but so many people I went to school with are moving. It’s not because of the area or the people. It’s because they can’t afford to work in Asheville and live in Asheville.”
Two years ago, the family was forced to give up their apartment when their rent increased to $2,000. They couldn’t find anything affordable enough for a family of their size, and living on the streets with five children wasn’t an experience Ella wanted to repeat. Just over 10 years ago, Ella and her kids were homeless for two years after Ella left an abusive relationship. They found stability through Homeward Bound’s Rapid Rehousing program until Ella met and moved in with Arbor.
After losing their apartment, Ella and Arbor moved their family into a 100-year-old, 900-square-foot house owned by Arbor’s parents. The house was small and had issues, but it provided a home for their family for two years. Still, Ella says it was hard to simultaneously pay their bills and save money for a future life. “Between me and my husband, we make more than the poverty level, but even then, you can’t afford food, lights, and rent when it’s 80 – 90% of your income,” she explained.
Just a few weeks after Ella and Arbor spent savings to replace their one vehicle, Hurricane Helene damaged their home’s roof, leading to severe mold growth. Their insurance company said they’d cover the damage, but due to the backlog of claims in WNC, repairs wouldn’t happen for at least six months. Ella and Arbor were overwhelmed as they worried about their children getting sick from the mold, missing work to care for them, and potentially struggling to cover medical expenses and hospital visits on top of their other bills.
“Once the savings were gone; It was like, ‘We can’t do this,’ Ella said. “The problem with the mold was not going away. It was just getting worse. We knew we needed to move, but how?”
Ella shared these concerns with her oldest son’s mental health provider. Wanting to help, they told her about the Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP), a North Carolina program designed to help families with Medicaid who are struggling with food insecurity, housing stability, transportation, and personal safety. HOP then connected Ella with Homeward Bound, which, as a HOP participant, was able to step in and provide the support their family needed.
“Homeward Bound said, ‘What do you need?” Ella remembers. “I said, ‘I found this rent-to-own [home], and I need a down payment. I need a deposit. I need first month’s rent. Your essentials: cooking utensils, bedsheets, the things that most people might not think of.”
It brought tears to Ella’s eyes to hear in return, “We can do that.”
It’s now been over two months since Ella and her family moved into their brand-new, three-bedroom, home in Black Mountain, where they say a slower life on the outskirts of Asheville is perfect for them. They have kept their jobs, can still live near their parents, and they’re happy to see their kids thriving in their new schools. Setting up a new home can be a major expense for families, but HOP helped ease the transition.
“Between the deposit and the first month’s rent, to kind of say, ‘Hey, here you go, you don’t have to pay rent that first month.’ And being able to get what you need into the home. The kids got new beds to be able to sleep in, and that was just—tears. We went from having 5 kids in one room to two separate rooms and not knowing how to split them up.”
Ella says Homeward Bound and HOP have given her family the chance to “have a forever home.” She adds, “The joy and happiness and the relief that came with finally not only having our own place, but a place that is safe—that was a blessing.”
