Red Pepper, Crushed

Homeward Bound of WNC's mission is to prevent and end homelessness in our community through permanent housing and support. Their work is anchored in the belief that housing is a human right. Their AHOPE Day Center is the front door to services for those experiencing homelessness. They offer prevention, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing to help neighbors find stability. Since adopting the Housing First model in 2006, they’ve moved over 2,658 people into their own homes!Homeward Bound remains dedicated to helping WNC rebuild Post-Hurricane Helene.

On September 27th, 2024, Hurricane Helene completely devastated MANNA FoodBank’s facilities and operations. With the help of hundreds of incredible volunteers and dedicated staff, MANNA was able to immediately activate their disaster response plans, begin a food distribution in a central location within 2 days, and secure an emergency lease for an 84,000-square-foot existing warehouse by the end of the first week (which has now been purchased). MANNA is anticipating exponential growth in the need for food across WNC due to loss of livelihood and damages to land, residences, and vehicles. Many of our agency partners suffered catastrophic damage as a result of the storm as well. MANNA is currently serving an average of 160,000+ people monthly across WNC.