24/7 Confidential support for veterans & their Families
We envision a future where every individual has their basic needs met, is self-sufficient and stably housed. We believe that by working together as a community, we can move people that are in crisis and vulnerable to safe, stable, and thriving to ensure that every person has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
The first CEO of 90Works, Cate Jordan, began her tenure in October of 2003. Cate began her career as a case manager in 1992 to help reduce the infant morbidity and mortality rates in West Virginia. After seven years, Cate didn’t feel like she was making a difference in the lives of pregnant women and their children. The social issues were so profound that Cate didn’t know what to do or where to start. Cate headed West Virginia Family Magazine with a tangible product in hand every month to reflect her work. The magazine was an exciting entrepreneurial project with the Disney Corporation and Orlando Sentinel produced on Apple computers and distributed statewide. Cate then moved to Asheville, NC where she re-entered the helping profession as the Director of the Child and Family Division at the local Community Mental Health Center that was moving from a government entity to a private, nonprofit organization which prepared her for her next adventure as CEO of 90Works. In 2009, Cate met with staff asked for success stories and got deer in the head lights looks. She went home that night and thought we should just close our doors if no one even perceived that they were making a difference in their work with vulnerable populations. Cate also recognized that this was a very familiar feeling like she had in West Virginia. Cate pulled the team together and asked what are we doing in the field with our customers, and staff said “we are talking to the wall.” No one can focus on parent education for example because there is no food in the refrigerator, child welfare is knocking at the door, there is a utility shut off notice and eviction pending, and no adult has an income or transportation.
in the first 90 days of service because no one can do anything if their basic needs are not met. When we got into the business of homelessness in 2010, we also realized that no one could stay stably housed without meeting their basic needs. Housing someone in itself is not good enough because without income, transportation, healthcare, safety and support, they will be homeless again in two months. We set out to hone this innovative case management model with it's roots in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
