A true success story
To say the Veterans Restoration Quarters and Transitional Housing in Asheville, N.C., saved Ron Kennedy's life might sound a bit dramatic. Unless you ask Ron Kennedy himself.
The son of an abusive father, Kennedy began drinking when he was a teenager. He went into the U.S. Army and served from 1976-1982, got married when he left the military, and eventually got divorced eight years after the marriage started. He battled depression and continued to drink heavily as he traveled across the country, working part-time jobs in the process.
Kennedy was at rock bottom when he settled in North Carolina and eventually was living in the woods just off a state highway. "It was bad," Kennedy said. "I kept praying that I would wake up from this nightmare. I was having suicidal thoughts. I was, in every form, a broken man."
Through a recommendation from a veterans coordinator, Kennedy made his way to the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM) homeless shelter, was put on a waiting list and eventually got a bed in the shelter. But he continued to drink on and off, violating the rules of the shelter. "They could have told me to hit the road," Kennedy said. "But they didn't, and I was able to get a few clean months under my belt."
Kennedy got a paying job working the front desk at the facility, but his old nemesis - alcohol - made one final attempt to take back control of the veteran's life. Feeling a need to celebrate, Kennedy bought a six pack of beer, walked to a section of woods, sat down and opened the beer. But it was different this time.
"There was nothing happy about this," he said. "I was really sad. I realized I needed to make a choice. I had three or so beers, and on the fourth one I just stopped and started praying to God. I asked him to show me what to do."
Kennedy went back to ABCCM's shelter and that's when his life turned away from alcoholism for good. The facility was in the process of transitioning into a new facility in a former Super 8 motel in Asheville, and the program's director, Michael Reich, asked Kennedy if he wanted to be on the advance team. Kennedy did so, and then took a job at the front desk once the new Veteran's Restoration Quarters and Transitional Housing was opened in December 2007 along Tunnel Road in Asheville. A few months later, Reich asked Kennedy about taking the position of front desk supervisor. Stunned, Kennedy accepted, and he now still holds that position - along with intake specialist - and oversees a staff of 16 men. And he does so in a building not very far from the woods where he once nearly drank himself to death.
"This place, the people here, they believed in me," said Kennedy, who still resides in the shelter in a Program Free Room, which means he pays rent and buys his own food. "And I could have moved out of here two, two and a half years ago. But it's not about the money. It's so important for me to have the camaraderie I get here. And it's important for me to show other people who come here that this isn't a final outcome."
Kennedy's success story is one of many that have been created through the Veterans Restoration Quarters, which isn't simply a homeless shelter. The facility does have 148 beds through the Department of Veterans Affairs per diem program. Veterans can stay there for up to two years and are provided a cubical with a bed, as well as meals, laundry services and case management. As they go through the program, they can advance to more private rooms within the facility.
The facility offers an employment training track that can include either attending school or being placed in a job-training program. The facility offers training in culinary arts, hospitality, truck driving and health care. And for disabled veterans who cannot work, there is the option to go to school and do volunteer work. And classes are available to the residents that include anger and stress management, chemical dependency, money management and GED/tutoring.
The facility also receives support from the Legion Department of North Carolina and serves as the home of Post 526. "This is a jewel in our crown when you talk about The American Legion in North Carolina," immediate Past Department Commander Bill Oxford said. "It's really a shining light for veterans."
"The circle wasn't complete until The American Legion became involved," said Scott Rogers, executive of ABCCM, a cooperative ministry of more than 250 churches that was formed to respond to emergency assistance needs in the community. "And Ron is proof that, ‘I did it. You can do it too.'"
Kennedy has served as post commander and said the post brings additional camaraderie between the quarters residents. "When you serve in the military, protecting your country, it's an honor," Kennedy said. "That is something that veterans share. The post gives us a chance to share in that bond. When we formed this post, we felt it was about time we started taking some more pride in ourselves.
"This place helps rehabilitate you in so many different ways: your mind, your spirit, your education and your finances. But most of all, it provides you a sort of community, and that's something everyone needs. You can go to school or go to work, but if you're not part of something, you still have those gaps in your life. This place fills in those gaps."