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"Try to stay positive." The lives of our homeless neighbors in downtown Wilmington

WHQR | By Kelly Kenoyer,

Published July 22, 2024 at 5:29 AM EDT

From left: Chelsea Alicia Sterling, Victor Quillen, Theresa Shively, Leroy Lyons, and Cindy.

For several months, WHQR has been following the lives of homeless individuals in Wilmington. All have faced significant challenges, but many of them work together to stay safe, and share information about how to get by. Here are some of their stories.

This reporting project was made possible by a grant from the Fourth Estate Fund.

Nearly 1 million people experienced homelessness for the first time in 2023, according to the National Association to End Homelessness. Still more experienced it for a second, third, or fourth time. With a rising cost of living and high rents, more and more Americans are teetering on the edge. Here are the stories of some of those who've fallen through the cracks — and are trying to claw their way back up: Chelsea Alicia Sterling, Victor Quillen, Theresa Shively, Leroy Lyons, and Cindy (who asked that we only use her first name).

As Victor told WHQR's Kelly Kenoyer, despite the trials and tribulations he's faced, "I try to stay positive. You gotta keep the hope up. If you lose that — you ain't got nothing."

A sign inside the space that Vigilant Hope uses behind the Lake Forest Baptist Church. Vigilant Hope along with many other faith-based organizations provide a wide variety of services including meals, laundry services, and free mobile showers.

Numerous organizations in town work to care for the homeless population. Several church organizations, including Vigilant Hope, Anchor Church, First Fruit Ministries, and Living Hope Day Center, work together to provide meals and respite almost every day of the week.

(Left to right) Red, Russ, Pastor Jamie Thompson, Leroy, and volunteer Janice Fladd share breakfast at Anchor United Methodist Church in downtown Wilmington. Leroy makes coffee, helps serve the meals, and cleans up each Sunday. Various volunteer groups provide meals for those experiencing homelessness.

Donald rests his head on the table during a service at the Anchor United Methodist Church in downtown Wilmington. Pastor Jamie Thompson offers a sermon there every other week.

The unsheltered community in New Hanover County trade in information: many of them are happy to tell new faces in the streets where they can find more help or their next meal. Camping spots, however, are often kept close to the chest. Large numbers of people congregating together at night can draw unwanted attention.

Chelsea holds her mother's ring close to her chest outside of the Living Hope Day Center in downtown Wilmington. Her mother passed away in 2009 and she found the ring, one of the only remaining physical reminders of her mom, just last year. Chelsea, who has struggled with addiction, has three children who currently stay with relatives. She lives in her car with her partner and hopes to show her children that they can be proud of her even if they can't be together right now.

Listen to their stories: Chelsea Alicia Sterling

Chelsea has been through a lot in her 30 years of life, but she is fully confident she's on the upswing. She has to get to a better place so she can be there for her children.

People who become homeless at some point in their lives almost always have adverse childhood experiences in their backgrounds. That trauma can lead to a higher likelihood of suicidal ideation, maladaptive behaviors, and addiction, among other problems. If you, or someone you know, is coping with thoughts of suicide, call or text the national suicide hotline at 988.

Victor sits across the street from City Hall where he often sleeps outside. He admits that years of alcohol abuse led him to burn bridges with much of his family. A tattoo on his arm holds the names of his former wife and children. When he and his wife split up, Victor no longer had a place to stay and he ended up homeless. — Victor sits across the street from City Hall where he often sleeps outside. He admits that years of alcohol abuse led him to burn bridges with much of his family. A tattoo on his arm holds the names of his children and former wife. When he and his wife split up, Victor no longer had a place to stay and he ended up homeless.

Now, Victor says, he tries to keep a low profile and keep his mind occupied so that he isn't tempted to start drinking again. He often attends Sunday services at the Anchor United Methodist Church where he helps to clean up.

Pastor Jamie Thompson of Anchor Church says her congregants treat the restaurant they borrow each Sunday with reverence and respect. She says they feel a "shared ownership of the space," and many of them donate the limited money they have to keeping it going.

Jennifer Shively, center, sits outside the tent that she shares with her two sons Patrick, left, and Dorian, right, as well as with her sister Theresa Shively. The sisters had been living with their dad but when he passed away, they were forced to move out. They bought a camper van but when it broke down, it was stolen with little hopes of recovering it. The family has been sharing a single tent as they try to find more permanent housing.

Hear their voices: Victor Quillen

Victor grew up around alcoholism and domestic violence, and turned to the bottle to avoid that pain. Now that he's in the streets, he's trying to leave his substance abuse behind.

Sisters Jennifer and Theresa Shively eat a free meal at the Living Hope Day Center which is open every Monday and Wednesday. A patchwork of community and faith-based organizations help to meet the basic needs of people in the Wilmington area who are experiencing homelessness.

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Theresa Shively asks to borrow a phone so that she can call the city to try to get her dog Luna back. Luna was taken away after a woman kicked her and then Luna bit the woman. Luna is a registered service dog trained specially to alert people when Theresa is having a seizure. The $160 fee to get Luna released is a substantial amount of Theresa’s monthly income.

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Theresa Shively looks for apartments online as she plays bingo at the Vigilant Hope community center. Theresa recently applied for subsidized housing for herself and her family, but was rejected because she does not make enough money. The family continues to all live together in a tent in the woods despite soaring temperatures, fear for their safety, and having to ride the bus or trolley everyday to find food and water.

Homeless family: The Shivelys

A death in the family, disability — everyday tragedies can lead an entire family to homelessness. Getting out of it is much harder.

Theresa Shively hugs her service dog Luna after she was able to pay the fine to have Luna released. The family also has another dog and a cat named Raven, all of which are an important lifelines. The family prioritizes caring for their animals even over caring for themselves. When Theresa and Jennifer have a difficult time finding food, they still make sure their animals have something to eat. Having pets also makes it difficult to find housing in shelters, many of which do no allow animals.

Social workers often find their clients at the Living Hope Day Center and take it as a chance to help them move their cases forward. Getting out of homelessness can be a challenge: many people in the streets have their possessions stolen, and losing one's ID can become a major roadblock to getting Social Security, food stamps, or Medicare/Medicaid. For the able-bodied who can work, a lack of documents can prevent them from securing employment, getting a bank account, or renting an apartment.

Leroy talks to Cindy on the steps of the First Baptist Church while the Living Hope Day Center is open to serve free breakfast and lunch. Leroy, 68, sleeps on the church property.

Leroy has lived in Wilmington for the past 25 years and spent four decades in the construction business. As rents went up, he lost his apartment and was forced into homelessness.

Unsheltered people like Leroy are particularly hard to serve: many are forced to move around, making them hard for social workers to find. And their exposure in the streets makes them vulnerable to theft, violence, or arrest, which can create barriers to housing.

Now he helps with many of the food outreach programs downtown including at the Anchor United Methodist Church on the Anne Bonny's barge every Sunday. He makes coffee, serves breakfast, takes out the trash, and helps clean.

Leroy stands in front of Anne Bonny's Bar and Grill. The barge restaurant on the Cape Fear River provides a free venue for The Anchor Church each Sunday, and the regular attendees treat the space with reverence.

Leroy Lyons: A life fleeing violence

Leroy is from Durham, but had to flee that town because of a threat on his life. He's ended up homeless several times because of violence, and now keeps a bike on him at all times so he can escape if there's danger.

For the homeless, working with social workers can be a test of patience: it can take months or years to get all the needed documents lined up, and there can be setbacks from theft, stints in jail, or other barriers. Case workers are generally careful to not promise housing because there are so few permanent housing options available. But local organizations like Good Shepherd Center sometimes get a breakthrough: and get an unsheltered person into housing.

Cindy sits in her new apartment at the Driftwood Apartment complex. After nearly two years of living on the streets and sleeping outside, Cindy was able to move into her own private living space at Driftwood. She carries her apartment keys around her neck and still frequents downtown to get meals and see friends.

In her new apartment, Cindy has not been using her walker because the floors are so level that she feels more steady on her feet. After experiencing some digestive issues, Cindy also says that having access to her own kitchen will make a major difference for her.

The re-opening of Driftwood apartments was a boon for the unsheltered in Wilmington: 15 apartments that are capped at 30% of a chronically homeless person's income. These types of apartments are reserved for people who will never be able to resolve their homelessness on their own, either because of mental illness, physical disability, or mental disability. Good Shepherd Center Executive Director Katrina Knight estimates the region needs 100 more units of this type of housing, and Good Shepherd has plans to build and preserve 75 of them.

Coming home: Cindy

Cindy survived homelessness for year by looking out for others. Now, her kindness has been repaid, and she has a home.

Pastor Jamie Thompson leads a service at the Anchor United Methodist Church in downtown Wilmington. Her sermon focused on the story of David and Goliath. She proposed that perhaps David, a shepherd, was not actually and underdog, but instead already inherently possessed all the qualities necessary to defeat Goliath. Pastor Thompson ministers to the homeless community every week and groups also provide a free meal. — Pastor Jamie Thompson leads a service at the Anchor United Methodist Church in downtown Wilmington. Her sermon focused on the story of David and Goliath. She proposed that perhaps David, a shepherd, was not actually an underdog, but instead already inherently possessed all the qualities necessary to defeat Goliath. Pastor Thompson ministers to the homeless community every week and groups also provide a free meal.

For more information about this series and about Anchor Church, listen to the July 19, 2024 episode of The Newsroom: "Poverty is a sin. Being poor is not." A new reporting project on being homeless in the Cape Fear Region