Open Your Heart to Women and Homelessness

Help provide homes and stability to women in WNC.

Donate Today

Homeward Bound EIN Number: 56-1568917

Get Involved: Send a Valentine’s Day eCard | Watch our Q&A series

Meet Tana

Tana is a strong and motivated individual who has felt like an adult since she was 11 years old. Her story shows how intergenerational domestic violence, trauma, and poverty become entangled across generations, shaping the lives of many women and families experiencing homelessness. 

Fleeing her abusive father, Tana moved to Asheville with her mother and siblings after living in a domestic violence shelter. As a young adult, she entered another abusive relationship.

“As a child of domestic violence, it’s like I brought that over into my relationships,” she says. “It was normal.”

Tana
Living on the streets in Asheville was extremely difficult. Tana stayed in abandoned buildings, in the woods, and with friends whenever possible.

With no remaining support system to rely on, Tana became homeless. Over the next decade, she struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and deep trust issues, eventually developing an addiction to cope with the pain of her past.  

Living on the streets in Asheville was extremely difficult. Tana stayed in abandoned buildings, in the woods, and with friends whenever possible. Over the years, she held jobs while homeless, including work as a certified nursing assistant and with a local city department, but housing unaffordability in Asheville left her feeling stuck.

Tana found the AHOPE Day Center and began to see a real opportunity for stability and healing. In the summer of 2025, she received life-changing news: an apartment was ready for her at Homeward Bound’s Compass Point Village. 

A Home Changes Everything

“This is the first time I’ve been on a lease,” shares Tana, reflecting on how difficult it became to find a home that was truly her own until the age of 30. “I’m starting to build some stuff back up. Things that bring me happiness and joy.”

Five months into her new home, Tana has the stability she needs to work toward her goals. She’s sober, searching for employment, and hopes to return to college to complete her cosmetology degree. While challenges remain, Tana remains determined and is now supported by several meaningful relationships, including her Case Manager, Amanda.  

“I’ve recentered myself,” shares Tana. “I tried not to let all the torture that I endured affect my mental health. I always tried to keep some goal alive or an aspiration to hold onto so that I didn’t lose my mind. I’m happy now…I’ve got a home base.” 

Tana and her Homeward Bound Case Manager, Amanda

Read Tana’s full story here

Research shows that poverty and interpersonal violence often ripple across generations: up to 40% of children raised in violent households face long-term trauma and a higher risk of domestic violence in adulthood*. Among homeless mothers, that cycle is even clearer—91% report traumatic experiences in both childhood and adulthood.** The numbers are staggering, and they raise a painful truth: for some women, the odds are stacked against them from the very beginning. Before they ever get a chance to choose stability or healing, trauma has already shaped their world.

This Valentine’s season, please consider Opening Your Heart with a tax-deductible gift that helps women like Tana build a new future—one rooted in safety, dignity, and a place to finally call home.

Donate Today

Warmly, 

Dr. Simon Dwight

Chief Executive Officer

Homeward Bound of WNC

*J. Kaufman et al. “Do abused children become abusive parents?” The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (1987)

**Hayes, M., Zonneville, M., & Bassuk, E. (2013)

Valentine’s Day eCards

As part of Homeward Bound of WNC’s Open Your Heart to Women & Homelessness campaign, we’re offering free Valentine’s Day eCards you can share with the people who matter most to you—friends, family, neighbors, and chosen loved ones. These cards are a simple way to spread kindness while helping raise awareness about our work and the realities women face when experiencing homelessness in our community.

How it works: Choose a card, add a custom message, and send it directly to a loved one’s email address.

Open Your Heart Q&A series

Submit a question, spread awareness.

Homeward Bound leadership, staff, volunteers, and partner agencies will be answering questions from our community on the experiences of women and homelessness here and on our social media, leading up to Valentine’s Day.

Submit a question!

Questions from our Community

Q: How do women exit homelessness long-term?

Q: Do women experiencing homelessness have access to healthcare?

Q: What is the intersection of homelessness and sexual violence?