Operation Gateway

08/26/2026

💜 International Overdose Awareness Day 💜

Operation Gateway is honored to join SeekHealing and our community partners for an evening of connection, remembrance, and healing as we recognize International Overdose Awareness Day.

📅 Monday, August 31st
⏰ 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
📍 Carrier Park

This evening will include light refreshments, connection activities, community story sharing, and a special reading of names and remembrances as we honor the lives of those we have lost.

Overdose awareness is about more than remembering those who are no longer with us. It is also about standing beside the people who are still here, reducing stigma, strengthening connection, and reminding our community that every life has value and no one should have to walk this journey alone.

We hope you’ll join us as we come together to remember, connect, support, and heal. 💜

08/26/2026

🎉We may be a few days late with this important post, but we couldn’t let this milestone pass without celebrating someone who means so much to our Operation Gateway family!🎉

We are incredibly proud to celebrate the 2-year work anniversary of Deja Benton, our Director of Operations, Human Resources Manager, and Finance Director!

What makes this milestone even more special is that all of the accomplishments we are celebrating below have happened during Deja’s two years with Operation Gateway.** Her drive to continue learning, growing, and becoming a stronger leader while carrying so much responsibility within our organization is truly something to celebrate.

🎓 In May 2025, Deja graduated from Mars Hill University with a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice, earning an impressive 4.0 GPA.

In just these two years, Deja has also:
✨ Completed Adult Mental Health First Aid
✨ Completed the North Carolina Nonprofit Institute
✨ Completed ARC Ready
✨ Completed Into Human Rights Leadership
✨ Completed the North Carolina Notary Public course
✨ Completed Working Smart Train-the-Trainer through the Urban League of North Carolina
✨ Became a Community-Based Doula
✨ Bank of America Emerging Leaders Conference & Training cohort

Deja is also a member of SHRM and the Western North Carolina Human Resources Association.

And somehow, she continues to make room for even more growth! Deja is entering her second year at Blue Ridge Community College, pursuing an associate degree in Accounting and Finance, and earned Dean’s List recognition twice during her first year. 📚👏 Deja was also nominated by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce for a Propel Award, another reflection of the leadership and impact she continues to have in our community.

Her dedication to others doesn’t stop with her professional life. Deja is a proud mom to a 6-year-old son and also serves as an assistant with the Children’s Church at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. Whether she is leading at OG, continuing her education, serving her community, or being a mom, Deja continues to pour into the people around her.

But beyond the degrees, certifications, trainings, and accomplishments, we appreciate Deja for the person she is and everything she brings to OG. She wears many hats, carries tremendous responsibility, supports our staff, and continues to help our organization grow.

Deja, we appreciate you, we love you, and we are so grateful to have you as part of the Operation Gateway family. Watching everything you have accomplished in just two years has been incredible, and we can’t wait to see what comes next!

08/24/2026

🎉🎂 Happy Birthday, Lynn Mouyios!

Today we’re celebrating one of our amazing Operation Gateway team members, Lynn AKA "Powerhouse"! 💙

We are so grateful to have Lynn on our team and for the compassion, dedication, and heart she brings to her work every day. She continues to make a difference in the lives of so many women by offering support, encouragement, resources, and most importantly—showing up when it matters.

Lynn, we appreciate the heart you have for helping others and everything you bring to the OG family. We hope your birthday is filled with as much love and kindness as you give to others! 🥳💐

Please help us wish Lynn a very Happy Birthday! 🎈🎉

08/24/2026

🎒 Community connection in action! 💙

Last week, Operation Gateway had a great time tabling at the Backpack Giveaway at Pisgah View Apartments! We enjoyed connecting with families, sharing information about our resources, and spending time alongside other organizations serving our community.

Events like this are about more than backpacks—they’re about building relationships, creating connections, and making sure our neighbors know what resources and support are available to them.

We’re grateful for the opportunity to show up, connect, and be part of such a great community event! Check out some highlights from the day in our reel. 🎥✨

08/21/2026

Asheville has empty apartments. Let that sit for a second.

WLOS reports the vacancy rate here has climbed to about 10 percent, above the national rate. Landlords are cutting prices and offering incentives. Even affordable units are sitting empty. Lakeshore Village, built by a nonprofit developer, has filled only about 70 of its 120 apartments, and their own spokesperson said they are baffled as to why.

We are not puzzled at all.

Operation Gateway helped host focus groups for the Just Homes planning grant, and we sat with people and listened. What we heard again and again was that folks coming home from prison need real opportunities to get ahead. Not slogans. Not a pamphlet. Opportunities. And one of the loudest themes was reentry housing that does not cost so much that a person can never save anything.

Think about what we are asking of people. A man comes home with nothing and immediately owes rent at a halfway house. Every dollar they earn goes right back out the door. Then when they are finally ready for their own apartment, they need first month, last month, a security deposit, application fees, utility deposits, and furniture. That is often two to three thousand dollars up front. How does anyone save that while paying halfway house rent on a job that does not pay a living wage?

That is why living wages matter. A paycheck that does not cover rent is not a solution, it is a treadmill. And that is why fair chance housing matters. Because right now we have people with jobs, with income, with a peer support specialist standing beside them, who still cannot get past a background check over something they already paid for years ago.

So here is our challenge to landlords and property managers across this region. You have empty units. We have people ready to fill them. Pull out your screening criteria and look at it honestly. Ask whether a conviction from a decade ago actually predicts who pays rent on the first. Ask whether your policy is protecting your property or just protecting a habit.

A person who has paid their debt to society should not have to keep paying it at every rental office in Buncombe County.

An empty apartment helps nobody. A working person with nowhere to live helps nobody. This is fixable, and it is fixable right now.

If you are a property owner or manager willing to have this conversation, reach out to Operation Gateway. We will bring you good tenants, and we will stay in the relationship.

After years of apartment shortages, Asheville is seeing a very different housing market: a growing number of new units are sitting vacant.

08/19/2026

Today, Tess and Lynn traveled to Clay County to proudly represent Operation Gateway and NC FIT at the NC Rural Health Transformation Program (NCRHTP) Health Workforce Community Sensemaking & Strategy Session.

It was a wonderful day of collaboration, shared learning, and strategic planning alongside partners like Impact Health from across Western North Carolina. Together, participants examined regional experiences and data, identified health workforce needs, and helped develop strategies that will inform the implementation of North Carolina’s Rural Health Transformation Program.

We are grateful for the opportunity to ensure that the voices and perspectives of reentry, community health, peer support, and—most importantly—the people and communities we serve are represented in these important conversations.

Building stronger systems takes collaboration, and we’re proud to have a seat at the table as plans take shape to strengthen healthcare access, expand the rural health workforce, and improve outcomes for communities across Western North Carolina. 💙

08/19/2026

🌿 Operation Gateway is hosting Trauma Informed Response Training! 🌿

We’re excited to welcome Beka Karner with Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness for a FREE highly interactive training designed specifically for community-based criminal justice professionals, including police officers, community corrections personnel, and court personnel.

Participants will gain a greater understanding of trauma and its impact, practical strategies for trauma-informed responses, and tools to help build stronger, safer, and more supportive communities.

📅 September 23rd
⏰ 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
📍 50 S French Broad Ave, Suite 222

💚 Understanding trauma. Empowering compassionate responses.

Space is limited, so reserve your spot today! Scan the QR code on the flyer or register here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vrPTJJxo6IomAS-ReNdXdXkA-LHPxwZkDxYm47b3AmE/viewform?

Questions? Contact Beka Karner at [email protected] or Amanda Patterson .[email protected]

Please share with criminal justice and community-based professionals who may benefit from this training!

08/18/2026

Peer support is powerful because it comes from a place of lived experience, connection, and hope. 💙

In this video, Alivea, Director of Operations at Love & Respect, shares her perspective on peer support and the importance of empowering people to make informed decisions for themselves.

One statement that really stood out to us at Operation Gateway:

“Peer support is all about intentional self-disclosure to build rapport with populations so that we can direct their care, we do not disclose, we do not tell people what we think we should do. We give them tools to make informed decisions for themselves.”

That message speaks directly to the heart of peer support. It isn’t about telling someone what they should do—it’s about walking alongside them, sharing lived experience with intention, providing tools and support, and empowering them to make their own informed choices.

We appreciate Alivea and Love & Respect for recognizing the value of peer support and the difference it can make in the lives of the people we serve.

Take a few minutes to hear Alivea’s perspective. 👇

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0emdiC4zzg

Sometimes the hardest experiences can become your greatest strength...

08/17/2026

🎉 Congratulations to our newest Peer Support class graduates!

This dedicated group completed their training this weekend under the guidance of trainer Jeff Walker. Your commitment, compassion, and willingness to use your lived experience to support others will make a meaningful difference in our community.

We’re proud of each of you and excited to see where your peer-support journey takes you next! Please join us in celebrating this incredible accomplishment! 👏💙

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