Following the arrest of former executive director Gretta Worley, HERE of Jackson County is reassuring residents that it will continue to pursue its mission. 

On March 31, Worley was indicted on 10  felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. According to the indictment, Worley used her position as director of the nonprofit to “obtain and use multiple credit cards” that were used by her and her family for “person expenditures not authorized by her position.”

Gretta Worley, the former director of a Jackson County nonprofit established to help support the area’s homeless residents, has been charged with 10 felonies related to the alleged improper use of credit cards. 

Worley, 60, served as the director of HERE in Jackson County from 2022 until late last year. After her December departure, The Sylva Herald reported that Worley had chosen to “go in a different direction,” at which point she took a job with the domestic violence support agency Helpmate in Asheville. 

HERE of Jackson County, the county’s primary homeless services provider, is requesting half a million dollars from the county to purchase and renovate a facility that would become Jackson’s first and only permanent homeless shelter.