HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) —
Advocates for “women warriors” are hoping to make progress this week toward opening a residential care facility for female military veterans who are at risk of homelessness in Hendersonville.
The city’s Planning Board on Thursday is considering an adaptive reuse to convert a long-vacant, former rest home site at 1744 Meadowbrook Terrace for an 11-unit project dedicated to women veterans.
The applicant, Alyce Knaflich, founding director and board chair of Aura Home Women Vets, said it would be a start toward addressing a disparity in resources for female veterans compared to male veterans.
Both women and men have served the country, she said, “and they deserve better than sleeping out in the car or sleeping in a tent.”
The 8,020 square foot building, within close proximity to Hendersonville’s Patton Park, has long been considered to be in disrepair, contributing to urban blight, the city’s planning division said in a staff report.
With a large number of unhoused citizens overall, “Some of the most vulnerable within an already vulnerable unhoused population can be our veterans,” the staff report states.
Based on VA statistics, Knaflich estimates there are 85 female veterans in Henderson County who “need our help,” and more across neighboring counties who don’t have the same options as male veterans.
Knaflach, a U.S. Army veteran who said she has lived experience with being “housing unstable,” said she founded the organization to help address that disparity.
“There was a huge disparity for how they treated men veterans and how they were treating the women veterans,” she said.
She said the Hendersonville facility is desperately needed, in a great location near a bus stop and businesses where residents can seek employment, and small enough to manage with a live-in staff member, visiting social workers and peer support specialists.
The planned facility is named the Felicia Reeves Home in honor of a U.S. Army veteran who was reported missing in Henderson County in 2015 and later was found dead in New Jersey.
The city staff report noted, “The existing building is largely in disrepair and contributing to urban blight.” Knaflich said the renovation calls for adding separate restroom facilities in all the rooms. A full renovation could cost an estimated $600,000, and if it wins Planning Board approval and clears other financial and regulatory hurdles, the hope is for it to open as early as the second quarter of 2025, Knaflich said.
“I’m hoping one day we won’t have homeless veterans anymore,” Knaflich said.
Aura Home Women Vets has scheduled a “Full Moon in June” fundraising event from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, June 21, at Patton Parker House, 95 Charlotte St., Asheville. It features the music of Ada Khoury Band, The Moon and You band, and Kim Nelson. Tickets are $20 online or $25 at the gate. A link is HERE.