Charlotte nonprofit seeks community’s help to expand

CHARLOTTE — As Valerie McCray battled addiction, she was in and of jails and depressed with nowhere to turn.

“I was homeless,” she said. “My family had given up on me.”

After hitting rock bottom and what she calls the worst day of her life, she entered a program and left it a new woman with a new perspective.

“My heart was to help other women.”

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She says she was walking by her church, Clinton Chapel A.M.E. Zion, one day and saw a house on Whitehaven Avenue in west Charlotte. She got the blessing from her pastor to write a proposal for it. She did and he was all in.

The proposal? A nonprofit, Christ-centered recovery house for women battling homelessness and addiction. It’s called Women of Hope and Sisters for Life.

“This crisis with opioids is so overwhelming,” she said. “It is killing us. And we need help in trying to help these women survive through this.”

Sarah Rhyne says the home provided her with resources to get a job and counseling. After a year and a half, she was able to move into her own place.

“If it wasn’t for this home, I would probably be dead,” she said. “I’ve been able to find my purpose in life and give back. I’ve been able to come back to this house, which is very special to my heart and just give a helping hand.”

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The house is home to eight women with a waitlist of many more. There is a desperate need to expand and the nonprofit is raising funds to try to purchase a second home so more people can be helped.

Representative April Wallace says she is passionate about making sure this nonprofit has the means to thrive.

“I’m on a mission as well. I am a recovering alcoholic, that has battled this disease for over 37 years,” she said. “And if it wasn’t for places like this, if it wasn’t for Sisters for Life, if it wasn’t for being homeless myself, if it wasn’t for knowing how it feels to be unseen, that’s what drives me with this mission.”

“My heart is in helping anybody that needs to get off this stuff,” McCray said. “Treatment centers are fine. But when we come in here, we love these women. We love them back to where they can love themselves.”

The nonprofit has started a GoFundMe. Click here for information about how to donate.

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