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When You say Yes, you...
Unite People. Improve Lives. Strengthen Community.

Thank you for choosing to make a gift to United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County. Together, we mobilize our community and fight for the education, health and financial stability of everyone. When you say yes, you're helping to provide the vital resources the community needs. 

 

Meet Four Community Members, Featured In the Video Above,

Who Were Able to Access Needed Resources Because You Said Yes...

 

Meet Lakeia. Lakeia has called Asheville home for the past 12 years. While pregnant with her son, Lakia lost her job as she needed to take maternity leave. Her rent was past due and she was facing homelessness when someone told her to call Homeward Bound of WNC. 
 
“It started with just a phone call to Homeward Bound,” she shared with me one morning in her apartment, holding her newborn baby. “They asked me a few questions on the phone then had me come in to fill out paperwork, which wasn’t anything too hard or tedious. It’s the fact of taking your time out to do it. If it’s going to keep you from losing your house or help you get into a place, it’s well worth it,” she shares. 
 
Homeward Bound of WNC helped Lakeia pay past due rent that she owed as a result of her maternity leave during the final stages of her pregnancy. Thanks to their support, she and her son were able to remain in their apartment and avoid homelessness. It is because of your willingness to say yes and your ability to lend your support, that Lakeia was able to find the help she needed. “I always remind people that everyone has needed help in one way or another in their lifetime,” she says. “The worst thing someone can tell you is no, but how can they tell you anything if you never ask.”

 

 

Meet Patricia, an Asheville native who retired in 2010 shortly after her now 92-year-old mother began to show signs of memory loss. Thankfully Patricia was able to access services for her mother as she was diagnosed with a severe case of dementia, including Council on Aging of Buncombe County, a funded partner organization that you help support through your contribution to United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County.
 
"I bumped into a friend and she told me about Council on Aging and the services that they provide so I went to them," she shares. "I was number 300 on the list before I could even be eligible for something, so there is certainly a great need for these services. It took a year or more for that to come through. Before Council on Aging, it was all family and friends. I would recommend that folks check with Council on Aging and Land of Sky Regional Council because they can give them direction and let them know what’s available to them in the community."
 
 

Meet Olivia, a freshman at Erwin High School and graduate of Erwin Middle. With the support of United Way of Asheville & Buncombe County and Asheville City Schools weekly family engagement Homework Diner program, Olivia was able to spend quality time with teachers outside the classroom as well as student peers outside of her regular social circles. This enabled her to increase her grades in Math and other core subject and better transition from middle school to high school with the familiar faces of students and teachers who acted as mentors.

"To me, Homework Diners are for everyone," she shares. "So many different people showed up, super smart or very athletic, it didn't matter. Everybody went and everybody loved it and got so much help from it that it just benefitted everyone in so many different ways. There are just so many different people coming together and helping one another."

Listen to Olivia share how Homework Diners helped her via United Way of Asheville & Buncombe County's Soundcloud page.

 

Meet Eric. Eric found Green Opportunities during a difficult time in his life while watching his friends go to prison. Green Opportunities offers a combination of technical training, life skills training, and personalized support services to unemployed and under-employed residents of Asheville and Buncombe County. He decided he wanted something more for his life and his family and began their workforce training program in construction. Within a few years, Eric became Assistant Instructor then Lead Instructor of the program and an Adjunct Professor at Asheville Buncombe Technical College.

"I really tell everybody that Green Opportunities saved my life," he said. Without Green Opportunities, I don't know where I would be. It enabled me to show people that I am worth it. One of our models at Southside Woodworks, a social enterprise program born out of Green Opportunities with Eric's help, is that we use a lot of repurposed wood so: 'Where you see trash, I see treasure.' "A piece of wood can look so bad on the outside," he continues, "but as soon as you put it through all the tools, it's like a brand new piece of wood. People are the same way."

Listen as Eric shares some of his story and how he's inspiring others to believe in themselves and invest in their future via United Way of Asheville & Buncombe County's Soundcloud page. 

Because you said yes, the families above and so many more in our community are able to access the resources they need.

When You say Yes, you...
Unite People. Improve Lives. Strengthen Community.