Kelene, 19, laughs easily now with her mentor, Jackie Brown. But a few years ago, it was a struggle.

Problems led her to move away from family and search for a new place to stay.

“I told myself not to fall off in school with grades or start hanging out with the wrong kind of people or doing things that I didn't have to do to get by, because I knew there were other options,” Kelene said.

She found that option at Hazel Houston Cottage in Conover. The residential program offered by Sipe's Orchard Home takes in young people ages 17 to 21 and cares for them for free.

Program coordinator Jackie Brown said many of them are homeless or aging out of foster care without the tools to live on their own.

“They're our future and if we don't nurture that, we're going to be in a tough place in this society,” Brown said.

Counselors help them with tutoring, getting a driver's license and applying for college or for a job.

Without the assistance, Kelene said she doesn't know where she'd be.

“I know I wouldn't be where I want to be or need to be,” she said. “I wouldn't be on the right track.”

Right now, six young people live in the home, but the staff would like to help more.

“We have had to turn young people away because we don't have the funding,” Brown said.

It's an opportunity Kelene hopes more kids can have. As she heads off to college, she will forever call those she met there family.

“They've made me a successful person,” she said. “And I think I will continue to be successful because I know that when I leave, they will still have my back, like they're still going to be there.”

Houston Cottage takes in children not only from Catawba County, but from the entire region. They hope to raise funds to house twice as many.

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