AVERY COUNTY, N.C. — Greg Jenkins can be found in a garden in Avery County every day.

“I have never gardened before, but I have a World War II veteran local native that is guiding me,” Jenkins said.

What You Need To Know

  • Greg Jenkins is working to house homeless veterans in the mountains

  • His nonprofit has opened a short-term shelter

  • Jenkins has started a garden to help feed veterans

It’s a garden he started to help veterans in the county. He came to Avery County one year ago to check on a fellow veteran. He noticed there weren’t many services for veterans in the mountains.

“Everywhere I go, I am always looking. At a truck stop, at a convenience store, a city hall meeting,” he said.

Jenkins is a fifth-generation veteran and a fourth-generation law enforcement officer.

“I got messed up in the military and it ended my career,” Jenkins said.

His life changed drastically in 2015 when he ended up homeless.

“Had to try to get help and couldn’t find it. It was a very challenging situation I never wished upon anyone,” Jenkins said.

He decided to start the nonprofit American Veterans Emergency Response Team in 2022 to help veterans around the county. 

He is using a 33-bed building with Habitat for Humanity for short-term emergency housing for single veterans. He has another building for families.

“We’re trying to move families from this shelter into transitional housing and then from that into permanent housing, so we want this to be as temporary as possible,” Jenkins said.

The second building can hold two families.

“Downstairs there will be a coffee shop where they can work toward their goal of getting reunited and back with society,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins says it is important families stay together and have a chance to overcome setbacks.

You can find out more about his organization here.