ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Apex native Hollan Steen battled addiction, spent time in prison and nearly lost everything before turning his life around.
Today, he works at the Asheville Recovery Center, helping others take the same steps he once did.
But just as recovery is an ongoing process, the storm put both his mission and his community to the test.
From addiction to recovery
Steen’s struggles with addiction began at just 15 years old. Alcohol and drugs led to expulsion from high school and then three years in prison. Even then, he wasn’t ready to admit he had a problem.
“I knew that I was a wild kid who broke the law. But even after all that time in prison, I still wasn't willing to accept that I was an alcoholic, that I had a problem,” Steen recalled. “I also didn't want to lose the drugs and alcohol, so it became like a second full-time job of acting like I had everything together. When everyone knows I didn’t.”
It took another arrest and potentially three more years in prison before he hit rock bottom.
“I decided this was it. My life needed to change. Enough was enough,” he said.
That decision led him to a sober living community in western North Carolina, where he spent 72 days rebuilding himself. It was there that he rediscovered what real connection and laughter felt like again.
“I remember playing cards with men while I was doing my stay. The first time I ever belly laughed in years,” Steen said.
After completing the program, Steen faced a moment he never expected, one that proved just how much he had changed.
“He said he was proud of me. I never had a judge say that he was proud of me, and I've been in front of a lot of judges,” Steen quipped.
For the first time in a long time, he wasn’t just fighting to stay out of trouble, he was building a future.
About six years have passed, and Steen never left the Asheville Recovery Center. His commitment extended beyond his own recovery. He worked his way up from patient to admissions director.
"I joke with people. I say I was the client that wouldn't leave," Steen said.
Arguably his biggest challenge came about five months ago, when Helene hit. The storm devastated the region and shook the very foundation of the recovery community.
The recovery lodge where Steen previously stayed, separate from the Asheville Recovery Center, became a lifeline for many during the crisis.
“This place has a Generac generator. This place has a natural well. The fact that we can take a shower or have a refrigerator or two that's running — there's people that are not having anything close to that for weeks,” Steen said. “It very quickly dawned on them that, going out there, amongst all the other reasons, is just a recipe to relapse, right? Whereas I'm safe here.”
A community rebuilding together
While the lodge served as a safe haven, the devastation beyond its walls was unavoidable.
Steen’s own property was spared, but in his neighborhood a concrete bridge was washed away. Fields where kids once played soccer turned into flooded wastelands. Debris and wreckage from the storm remain lodged in a nearby creek.
“This entire soccer field was under at least 10 feet of water up to the road. We were just watching these trees and shipping containers float like rubber duckies in a bathtub,” Steen said.
Just as construction crews worked to rebuild roads and homes, Steen worked to restore structure in people’s lives.
“Whether you're in recovery or not, everybody was pushed to the edge. It was this constant battle of how can we get back to being the beams of sunshine that these patients need to see,” he said.
When the storm hit, Steen says the recovery community rallied, restoring power, ensuring patients had water and medication and keeping doors open for those who needed them.
“Rely on your community. If I didn't have a strong network of people in recovery and also people out of recovery — my neighbors in my neighborhood, for instance — who knows how dark of a place I could have gone to?” Steen said.
Today, the Asheville Recovery Center is back to 95% capacity. In the immediate aftermath of the storm it was operating at about 50%. But with some treatment facilities never reopening after the storm, the demand for addiction recovery services has only grown.
“As long as we keep western North Carolina on people's timelines or on the news, I do believe people will continue to step up to help rebuild,” Steen said. “That’s all I think we can ask for. Just don't forget about us.”
