Author: Joe Hart

Alex, Kortney, and their three boys decided to move to Asheville from Central Florida after Alex was offered a lead role in an upcoming solar farm. Even though Kortney was an established teacher and their children were surrounded by their friends, they all decided to support Alex’s new venture and create a new home in North Carolina together.

In March 2023, Alex and Kortney quit their jobs, sold their larger items, packed their cars with everything else, and started their drive North. But the drive was more complicated than they thought, and before they left Florida, Alex’s car lost two tires and its catalytic converter began having serious problems. Alex joked, “I’m convinced Florida is like the Twilight Zone and didn’t want us to leave.”

Eventually, they replaced his car’s tires and made it to their temporary home at an Airbnb in Waynesville. Knowing how much rental homes can cost, they only planned to stay for a few weeks while Alex’s job started up and they searched for a home.

Unfortunately, after several weeks of no updates, Alex was informed his new company had lost the contract in Asheville and would no longer be doing business in the city at all. Alex was distraught and explained to them, “I just took a leap of faith to move here and work with you guys.” The company replied, “Too bad. It didn’t work out for us, hope it works out for you.”

Even though his job stability fell through, Alex thought things might still be okay. They had a little bit of savings, and he was confident he’d find a job in time. However, things took another turn for the worse. Two weeks into April, Alex and his family were told they needed to leave their Airbnb early. The owner had a family emergency and needed the home.

“We had to jump from Airbnb to Airbnb, which anyone who’s stayed in a rental in Asheville knows that’s not an economic thing to do, and it tore into our savings. Moving here with three boys and a dog put us back at the beginning of everything we built in the past 11 years.” Alex explained their longest stay at an Airbnb was 13 days and cost them $2,000.

Alex is an incredibly dedicated and proactive person. In January 2015, he joined the Air Force and served for 6 years as a structural engineer in the Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers, (known as the Red Horse Squadron) and later served in the Air National Guard in Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas. He’s also a father who would do anything to care for his family. For weeks, he grappled with the disappointment of letting his family down.

 “Anyone experiencing homelessness shares a set of emotional distresses.” Says Alex. “But when you’re doing it with a family and you have worked your butt off for things not to happen and things happen, that emotional distress jumps another level. When we were going through those tough times, my personality was getting tough to deal with, for everybody; my wife, my kids, and my oldest son who still lived in Florida. The situation was causing a lot of conflict.”

After exhausting all of their resources, Kortney and Alex reached out to Homeward Bound in May 2023. Two days later, Alex was approved for the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program and was connected with his Case Manager at the time, Kristin. There, he found a beacon of hope.

“In my 49 years of life, contacting Homeward Bound has been one of my best decisions in life.” Says Alex, “They jumped on business and knew we were at the end of our resources. Within 48 hours, we were placed in a Super 8 while we waited for housing. I was grateful to have a place in the process, but we were worried about starting all over again.”

Alex and Homeward Bound both knew a hotel wasn’t the most ideal place for a family of his size, and Alex wanted to know how he could help speed up the process. He wanted to help look for homes on his own.

In June 2023, Alex began reaching out to local Airbnb owners to see if they’d agree to a long-term rental agreement. After a few no’s and no responses, Alex remained determined and eventually found an owner willing to agree to the proposal with zero hesitation. Homeward Bound’s Housing Team worked with the owner to create a custom rental agreement, and by July 2023—less than three months after Alex first contacted Homeward Bound—he and his family moved into a beautiful home near Leicester, NC.

Alex explained “I had so much negative energy in me, I didn’t react well to the amount of stress my family was dealing with. My oldest son and I’s relationship was strained. We were slowly sailing apart. My wife and I even talked about going our separate ways. Homeward Bound saved my relationship with my son and definitely played a part in saving my marriage.”

Over a year later, Alex and Kortney say they’re better than they’ve ever been. In the same month as their move-in, Alex landed a job as a solar technician with a better company with coworkers and bosses he considers good friends. Kortney now works at a middle school in Asheville and says she’s in love with her teaching more than ever. They’re grateful their children are growing up in a more holistic environment and are excited to become “Ashevillians.” In fact, they love their home so much that they’re now exploring the possibility of buying it from the owner.

“We really try to do things on our own, use our own resources to make things happen.” Says Kortney. “Unfortunately, life throws things at you, especially now with the world we live in. Even though we are two hardworking people who never quit and are constantly trying to be successful and work hard, we still have those bumps in the road.”

Alex and Kortney are incredibly thankful for the support of Homeward Bound and their former and current case managers, Kristin and Kat. Alex says that while the process was difficult, it strengthened his family’s bond, and he couldn’t ask for anything more.

Chayse is one of the most resilient people I’ve met, and her journey is a powerful testament to determination and self-growth.

After losing both of her parents at four years old, Chayse was placed in the child welfare system. At age 11, she started an active addiction and dropped out of school in seventh grade. When she turned 16, she emancipated from her guardians and began crisscrossing the country aboard trains with a group of young train hoppers collectively known as “Dirty Kids.”

As she traveled, she would stay anywhere she could, including hotel rooms and friends’ couches. If she was lucky, she and some of the other women she worked with would rent a home for two or three months before eventually being evicted. In 1999, Chayse moved to Asheville, living in what she said was a combination of Buncombe County Detention Center and whatever woods she found safe enough to sleep in.

“The biggest struggle of being homeless,” she says, “is that most people experiencing homelessness don’t believe they’re worth having a home. They have no self-worth. A lot of people experiencing homelessness feel hopeless. Everything to them feels like a battle.”

Chayse says homelessness has become so common in Asheville, that people have become “immune” to it. She’s even experienced moments where people have yelled and thrown half-eaten food at her from their cars as they drove past. “When you’re already hopeless and feel like nobody cares, and people shout at you and belittle you, it doesn’t help.”

While interviewing over coffee, Chayse pointed to an abandoned building nearby and said she used to sleep on its roof. It would take her an entire day to go downtown to AHOPE to shower, eat, and come back, and by then, she would feel so sick from withdrawal symptoms that she would feel like the trip downtown wasn’t worth it. She went on to add that the supplies needed to be homeless are incredible. “If it’s cold outside, you’ve got to stay warm. If it’s raining, you’ve got to stay dry. That means you’re carrying all of your things everywhere you walk, just in case it rains or starts to freeze.”

In the winter of 2022, Chayse struggled to stay warm while sleeping under Patton Street Bridge as two feet of snow piled up around her tent. She collected almost 30 thin fleece blankets given out that winter into a small tent with a tarp over it. Inside, she created a homemade Sterno Fuel Can using rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, and Vaseline.

“You would need to burn through three to four bottles of rubbing alcohol to get through the night, which is dangerous when you have tons of blankets, a tent, and a tarp over you.”

She explained how rubbing alcohol’s clean-burning properties were the best way to stay warm in a tent without producing carbon monoxide. “Some people have knocked themselves out or poisoned themselves, just to stay warm.”

Chayse explained how dangerous it is for a woman to sleep outside. While staying by a secluded river, she noticed her tent stakes kept coming loose throughout the night, seemingly without reason. Suddenly, the tent was thrown open by three men wearing ski masks. Chayse was luckily able to escape, but she’s never felt more scared. Soon, she began tying ratchet straps to trees or poles to raise herself within her hammock high above the ground, just because she wanted to sleep without being robbed or hurt that night.

After getting into criminal trouble, Chayse realized she needed a bigger change to get clean and off the streets, and when her lawyer offered the possibility of probation, she said no. She told them she wanted to go to Drug Court, despite the rigorous requirements.

Since then, everything has changed. In September 2023, Drug Court placed her in a halfway house, connected her with mental health and substance use resources, and set her on the path to earning her GED.

By February 2024, Chayse was sober, had secured housing through Homeward Bound, passed her placement test, and after 18 hours of Academic Preparation, received her GED!

Chayse was recently featured on WLOS! Read more of her story here.

“Homelessness is a trauma response,” she said. “When you’re battling with addiction, all it takes is one wrong decision, one event, to turn to the streets. I believe housing is a human right. But I also believe people need to address their mental health to stay housed.”

This belief, fueled by earning her GED, has led Chayse to pursue a career as a case manager for organizations just like Homeward Bound. In March, she started working as a Behavioral Health Technician at a mental health center for adolescents, enrolled in AB-Tech for an Associate’s Degree in Human Services, and completed the NC Certified Peer Support Specialist program.

“I want to help people who I know that are still homeless today. I want to help people who’ve been housed see a better way of life through healing their mental health, or work with people coming out of jail on probation who don’t have access to the resources they need to recover.”

Chayse, who lives at Homeward Bound’s Key Commons, likes to keep an active schedule. She has responsibilities in her recovery group, has two sponsees, and loves taking care of her dog, Tripp, who she considers a hobby. She’s also dedicated time to helping other residents at Key Commons learn about how detox and substance use treatment works.

“They’ll ask me questions about being clean, my work, detoxing, and I always take the time to answer those important questions. It puts a ‘little bean of hope’ in their day. And the only thing a bean needs to grow is water.” Since moving to Key Commons, Chayse has helped two people enter a detox program and says both are still sober with one celebrating two months the day after we interviewed.

Chayse wants to encourage Asheville, and other communities impacted by homelessness, to treat people on the street with respect. She hopes that the city opens more public community centers, where individuals don’t have to feel excluded and have access to the same compassion and resources given to others.