Jessica Webb
editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com
There was a level of disbelief mixed in with hope and accomplishment expressed as about 50 people gathered at house in Birdtown on Friday morning, March 22 for a ribbon cutting ceremony for The Gadugi House, a men’s transitional living house that RezHOPE is opening.
Years ago, the house was known as a hotspot for drug use, but now the home will be a place of healing, where eight men—with spots open to both enrolled Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians members and others from the area—will build life skills and gain self-confidence after stints of incarceration or rehabilitation before returning to independent living.
A healthy lifestyle, physical activity and nutrition will also be a focus, as RezHOPE founder Kallup McCoy II and executive director Katelynn Ledford-McCoy have found it central to their own journeys of recovery.
“We’ve lost a generation to addiction. Many have lost sons, daughters, aunts, uncles. At this Gadugi House, we hope to change that narrative and change it into something powerful and sacred for generations to come,” said McCoy to the crowd gathered on Friday.
The home has been in the making since 2017. Its story is both personal and emotionally powerful for those involved. For McCoy, he shared how his Dad saw hope in him before his passing, even when he himself was still in the throngs of addiction. In 2019, McCoy also lost a sister to addiction.
“I can’t believe that this day is finally here,” he said, fighting back tears. He said the journey has been full of doubt and uncertainty and that he didn’t know for certain that it would come to pass.
Several tribal leaders joined the grassroots effort Friday. EBCI Principal Chief Michell Hicks asked former Principal Chief Richie Sneed to come up to speak.
Sneed said of the McCoys it’s been “exciting to watch them grow” and to gather for the culmination of their vision that God gave them.
“What we see today, it demonstrates it takes a community. It takes all of us to have something like this come to fruition,” he said.
Chief Hicks told them “You have a lot of support.”
“We all have the Lord’s grace and things can change for the betterment of our people. We just have to believe, we have to be confident not only in ourselves, but in our community and in our tribes,” he said.
Casey Cooper, CEO of Cherokee Indian Hospital, said he was proud of this grassroots effort that will provide another place of recovery and on the importance of courage, faith and service and the importance of Tohi.
“None of us can flourish and survive in an unhealthy ecosystem and we need Tohi in that system, all contributing as much as we take,” Cooper said. “When we’re living right with God, we put ourselves into the well-being of other people.”
Then, Earl Ammons, who has been clean without any relapses for the past 4 years, shared his personal story. He opened by stating there are often underlying factors and that being Native American, there is already a shared history of trauma. For him, having a father who didn’t want him was a factor that led to self-esteem issues.
He shared how he got into drugs and alcohol as a youth, but he also connected with his faith as a young man, and that’s what eventually led to his recovery. He prayed to God when his son, who just turned 10 years old, was a newborn baby and it seemed he might not make it.
“I know God is real. All I know is I give God the glory,” he said.
Ledford-McCoy closed out the ceremony, saying she felt honored by everyone there and that it has been an amazing experience to get to this point.
She shared how she decided to name the house Gadugi, which in Cherokee refers to the act of coming together as a community.
She was running at Kituwah one day and it struck her, “Why not Gadugi House?” The community has come together, she said, adding that they can’t do what they have done alone.
“It has taken every single one of our community members coming together to make this possible,” Ledford-McCoy said. “I’m just so grateful and humbled and thankful because so many helping hands have come together, and it’s going to continue to take that moving forward collectively.”
Then, it was time for the culminating moment of the ribbon cutting ceremony, with a dark blue ribbon being used to symbolize recovery. Cheers arose as McCoy held the giant scissors cutting the ribbon to celebrate the opening of Gadugi House.
RezHOPE is conducting a brick fundraiser for the house that will be used to build flower beds. For more information, email rezhope_recovery@icloud.com or call Ledford-McCoy at (828)788-5326.