Operation Gateway

10/15/2026

Happy Global Peer Support Celebration Day! 💜🫂

Today we honor the people who walk alongside others because they've walked the road themselves. Peer support is lived experience turned into hope, connection, and a way forward. At Operation Gateway, we see it every day: when someone who's been there says "me too," walls come down and healing begins.

To every Certified Peer Support Specialist, Community Health Worker, recovery coach, and reentry navigator across Western North Carolina and beyond: thank you. Your story is your strength, and your presence changes lives.

We also want to give a BIG shout out to Sunrise for putting on an amazing peer support conference! The energy, the wisdom, and the fellowship in that room reminded all of us why this work matters. Thank you for creating space for peers to learn, grow, and be poured into. We left encouraged and ready to keep going.

Peer support isn't just a service. It's a movement. And we're proud to be part of it.

Healed People Heal People. 🙌🏾

10/14/2026

Building Steady Hope in Western North Carolina.

Today, Operation Gateway's Finance Director, Deja Benton, and Director of Operations, Adrian Crawford, are representing our team at the Dogwood Health Trust Annual Convening in Rutherford County, connecting with leaders and organizations doing transformational work across our region.

A HUGE shout-out to Dogwood Health Trust. Your investment in the 18 counties and Qualla Boundary of WNC has been nothing short of a lifeline, especially as our mountains continue to rebuild after Hurricane Helene.

Just look at 2025 alone:

$134 million+ distributed through 687 grants
$55 million of that for Helene relief and recovery
$58 million+ invested in Health and Wellness
2,182 small businesses supported through the WNC Small Business Initiative, helping preserve more than 8,000 jobs
$40 million to launch the WNC Affordable Housing Loan Fund

Behind every one of those numbers are real people: families staying housed, businesses keeping their doors open, and folks getting the care and support they need to heal.

What I appreciate most is that Dogwood doesn't just write checks. They invest in capacity, collaboration, and connection, and they trust community based and community led organizations to do the work. That kind of partnership makes it possible for grassroots organizations like ours to keep showing up for returning citizens and people in recovery. If yall only knew the struggle of surviving reimbursement grants and foundations like Dogwood Health Trust play a MAJOR role in keeping the work running smooth - Coop, OG Founder & Executive Director

Thank you, Dogwood, for building steady hope alongside us. And thank you, Deja and Adrian, for representing Operation Gateway so well.

10/12/2026

What a turnout! 🍁🍂

Operation Gateway loved being part of the Christine W. Avery Learning Center’s 5th Annual "Fall-ing with Families" Fall Festival! There is nothing quite like seeing our community come together for a day of fun, connection, and family-centered joy.

A massive shoutout to CWA LEARNING CENTER for allowing us to be apart of this year's incredible event, and thank you to everyone who poured into our families today! 💙💛

Drop a 🍂 in the comments if you were there with us!

10/12/2026

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day. 🪶

A message from our founder, Rev. Philip "Coop" Cooper:

Today we honor the first people of this land and the generations who have carried their culture, language, and faith through centuries of hardship.

Here in Western North Carolina, we live and serve on the ancestral homelands of the Cherokee people. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is still here, still leading, and still shaping these mountains. Across our state, the Lumbee, Haliwa-Saponi, Coharie, Waccamaw Siouan, Meherrin, Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, and Sappony people continue to strengthen their communities every day.

At Operation Gateway, our work is about restoration: helping people reclaim their dignity, their families, and their futures. We can't talk about restoration without honoring the Native communities who have fought to protect theirs, and who still face real barriers in health care, the justice system, and economic opportunity.

So today is more than a day on the calendar. It's a call to listen, to learn, and to walk alongside Indigenous communities as partners, not just allies in words.

To our Native brothers and sisters: we see you, we honor you, and we're grateful for you.

"Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed." Isaiah 1:17

Healed People Heal People 🙏🏾

10/09/2026

When you get the chance to work with people who are also motivated by purpose, it’s the best feeling in the world - Attorney General Jeff Jackson

10/07/2026

🎉 Y'all help us celebrate Alvarez Abernathy! 🎉

We are proud to congratulate Alvarez on being inducted into the Johnson C. Smith University Athletic Hall of Fame! 🏆 This honor speaks to the dedication, discipline, and heart he has carried with him from the field into everything he does.

And we're doubly blessed, because Alvarez recently stepped into the role of Board Chair for Operation Gateway. We are grateful for his leadership, his vision, and his commitment to helping people rebuild their lives and come home to community.

Many of you have interacted with Alvarez over the years, and you know he has always been one to go above and beyond for the community. He shows up, he serves, and he leads by example.

Drop a congratulations in the comments and help us show Alvarez some love! 👏🏾

Congratulations, Alvarez. Well deserved! 🙌🏾

10/06/2026

October is Workforce Development Professionals Month in North Carolina! 🙌🏾 Shout out to everyone out here connecting people to good jobs and helping employers build strong talent pipelines.

And let's be clear: second chance hiring isn't charity. It's good business, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has the data to prove it. 📊

As the Chamber puts it: "formerly incarcerated individuals want to work." 💯

A few numbers that stood out to us:

🔹 More than 93% of formerly incarcerated people in their prime working years are working or actively looking for work.

🔹 People who keep a job for one year after release have a recidivism rate of just 16%, compared to 52% for those who can't maintain employment.

🔹 85% of HR leaders say second chance hires perform the same as or better than other employees.

At Operation Gateway, we see it every day. When people get a fair shot, they show up, they stay, and they build something. Employers, our returning citizens are ready. Let's open the door. 🚪

Read the full data deep dive here: 👇🏾
https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/data-deep-dive-the-workforce-impact-of-second-chance-hiring-3

Providing more employment opportunities for the formerly incarcerated bolsters the country's workforce and creates opportunities for those who need a second chance.

10/05/2026

It's Digital Inclusion Week (October 4–10)! 💻📱

Internet access, a working device, and the skills to use them aren't luxuries anymore. They're how folks apply for jobs, see a doctor, stay connected to family, and rebuild their lives.

We're so grateful to the NC Department of Information Technology for the grant that made our digital inclusion work possible, and we're excited to continue this work through a Digital Opportunity Grant from Dogwood Health Trust! 🙏🏾

Through this work, Operation Gateway provides:

📱 Smartphones
💻 Laptops
🛠️ Technical assistance
🤝 Virtual support groups
🙌🏾 Hands-on, one-on-one support

Nobody should be left behind in a digital world. Together, we're closing the gap one person at a time.

Want to learn more about Digital Inclusion Week and find events near you? Check it out here: 👇🏾
https://www.digitalinclusion.org/diw26/

10/04/2026

Lived experience is not a liability. It's a credential. 🙌🏾

This NC Health News story about the North Carolina Field Minister Program shows exactly what we believe at Operation Gateway: the people closest to the pain are often the closest to the solution.

Incarcerated men and women are earning four-year bachelor's degrees in pastoral ministry, getting training in counseling, and then serving their peers through grief, addiction, mental health crises, and everything in between. They are trusted because they've walked the same road.

Since the program launched at Nash Correctional in 2017, more than 80 men have graduated, more than 60 are now serving as field ministers in 16 prisons, 87 more are in school, and the first cohort of 19 women is earning their degrees.

And education behind the walls works. A landmark RAND Corporation study found that people who take part in correctional education programs have 43% lower odds of returning to prison.

One field minister, Timothy Johnson, put it this way: his story went from "life without parole" to "a life of purpose." 🙏🏾

That's what happens when we invest in people instead of writing them off. Lived experience plus education and opportunity is a superpower, inside the walls and out here in the community.

Read the full story here: 👇🏾
https://caro.news/peer-support-brings-faith-and-counseling-to-nc-prisons/

NC HEALTH NEWS – Inside North Carolina prisons, incarcerated people have long turned to fellow prisoners for guidance about faith, conflict, grief, addiction and simply how to navigate life b…

10/02/2026

Seen. Heard. Supported. Care Without Judgement. 💜✨

Operation Gateway is proud to share this vital summit centering Black & Brown mothers, hosted by our partners at Sistas Caring 4 Sistas, Thrive, and NC PSUD Network!

📍 Location: MAHEC Educational (121 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville, NC)
🗓️ Date & Time: Friday, Oct 23, 2026 | 9:30 AM – 2:00 PM
🎟️ Cost: FREE (Lunch included!)

Open to Doulas, Peer Support Specialists, CHWs, providers, and community advocates.

📲 Scan the QR code on the flyer or email [email protected] to register today!