"I want to teach seniors not to fear AI" — Meet Colette
There are seasons in life when everything seems to come at once — and for Colette, it did. A job loss. Eviction notices stacking up. Legal battles draining her energy and her hope. Any one of these could break a person. Colette was facing all of them at the same time, and like so many of the women who come to Healing Vine Harbor, she was carrying it largely alone.
Here’s what we know and believe at Healing Vine Harbor: no one should have to face crisis alone — and when community steps in, outcomes change.
Instead of just helping Colette weather the storm, we walked alongside her toward something bigger. With tuition, books, and a laptop covered through our partnership with the Truist Bank Foundation, Colette enrolled in the Computer & IT program at Central Piedmont Community College — and she finished it!
Let that sink in. A woman who arrived in crisis, facing housing loss and legal turmoil, just earned a credential in one of the fastest-growing, most future-proof fields there is.
And Colette isn't stopping there. Her dream is to teach senior citizens not to be afraid of AI and new technology. A woman who was once on the receiving end of support is already planning how she'll turn around and lift others up. That's the ripple effect. That's what your support builds.
Colette's story is not an exception at HVH — it's the model. Stabilization-first, relational, one-to-one - all with the support of a community around you. We don't just stabilize a crisis; we walk with a woman until she's standing on solid ground.
Will you help us support more women in crisis? Every gift — whether it’s $35 to cover a Healing Bag or $2,500 to cover a full season of support — keeps this work going for the women who join the Healing Vine Harbor family.
Watch Colette’s speech at our graduation in May: