Getting out

“I feel like people kind of judge us — as if homelessness is something you can catch, like it’s a disease,” says Ramada Inn resident Lynze.

Lynze says her life started bright. After growing up in Haywood County, the 29-year-old had attended early college at Haywood Community College and eventually got her GED in 2015 from A-B Tech. She then got a job in the cafeteria of Asheville’s Claxton Elementary School.

But an abusive relationship that included drug use quickly derailed her hard work.

“We ended up getting a hold of drugs, and we just started arguing and having family problems,” she remembers. “And I ended up having a lot of days where I’d be late for work. Eventually, I just had to resign.”

Lynze says she was later evicted from her apartment after her husband was arrested on drug charges. Since leaving the relationship in 2018, she has continued to struggle with substance abuse disorder. She lived in tents or stayed with friends before coming to the Ramada last year.

As the deadline approaches for the Ramada to close, Lynze says she hopes to find another temporary shelter instead of returning to the streets.

“They always say, ‘Everything happens for a reason.’ Even though being on drugs and getting evicted and all that stuff may have seemed bad at the time, it got me out of an abusive relationship,” she says. “It sounds weird, but that’s how I try to look at things.”