This story has been updated to add new information.
HENDERSONVILLE – The East Flat Rock nonprofit Only Hope WNC, which provides services to homeless youth, may have been operating for years without a license from the state.
That's according to letters that Amy Holt, a member of Henderson County’s Social Services Board, brought to the attention of the Henderson County Board of Commissioners in a meeting Aug. 20, where she called on commissioners to permanently halt county funding for Only Hope.
Holt also sits on the Henderson County School Board and served alongside former Only Hope CEO Michael Absher until he left that board in 2020, she told the Times-News Aug. 21.
Two cease and desist letters from North Carolina Child Welfare Services, from June 2017 and May 2019, assert that Only Hope WNC was operating as a foster home and care facility for minors, which requires a license from the Department of Health and Human Services that the organization didn't have.
Only Hope WNC cut ties last week with its former CEO, Michael Absher, who’s been held by the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office since his July 31 arrest on a $650,000 bond for 11 charges related to child sex abuse.
“The Division of Social Services has determined that Only Hope WNC is operating as an unlicensed Child Placing Agency as well as operating an unlicensed Residential Child Care Facility which is serving children under the age of 18 years old,” Kevin Kelley, then section chief of North Carolina Child Welfare Services, wrote to Absher in a letter provided to the Times-News by DHHS, dated June 20, 2017.
“If Only Hope WNC continues to operate as a Child Placing Agency and Residential Child Care Facility without obtaining appropriate licensure, the Division of Social Services will take legal action,” he wrote.
Lisa Cauley, then deputy director for Child Welfare Services, again threatened Absher with legal action in a letter viewed by the Times-News, dated May 21, 2019.
She referenced contemporary Times-News reporting that Only Hope’s “Dream House” housed five boys at a time, aged 15 to 18, for an average duration of four to five months.
Only Hope’s Dream House opened in 2016, according to previous Times-News reporting. Tax documents from 2023 show that the program had served 83 people, according to previous Asheville Citizen Times reporting.
Until his arrest, Absher lived at the East Flat Rock residence, where at least several of the assaults he is charged with allegedly occurred, according to Henderson County Sheriff’s Office arrest warrants.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services confirmed in an Aug. 26 email that Only Hope is not licensed by the state and said that it didn't take further action against the organization after sending the cease and desist letters.
"NCDHHS takes seriously its responsibility to ensure the health and well-being of children and families in North Carolina and shares a vision that every child can grow up healthy in a safe, nurturing family and community," it said.
In June, Henderson County approved $35,000 in nonprofit funding for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which began July 1, but paused that funding earlier this month when allegations against Absher came to light, according to previous Citizen Times reporting.
The county had already paid out a quarterly increment of $8,750 in July, the Citizen Times reported.
Then County Commission Chair Michael Edney told Absher in a Oct. 18, 2017, letter to inform the state when Only Hope was properly licensed or only providing services that didn’t require a license.
Edney said that he hadn’t been able to confirm with DHHS Absher’s assertions that DHHS' charges were inaccurate and that his organization wasn't under investigation.
Edney said in his 2017 letter that the county would continue to withhold funding for Only Hope until those points were confirmed.
He couldn’t be reached for comment Aug. 25.
"Henderson County funding for Only Hope WNC was based on the understanding that services were limited to youth 18+. NCDHHS twice investigated and issued cease and desist letters to Only Hope WNC for providing services to minors under the age of 18," Henderson County told the Times-News in an Aug. 25 statement.
According to Kelley’s 2017 letter, running an unlicensed foster home for children is a class 3 misdemeanor carrying a fine of $500 for each day the offender remains in violation.
“Although the board is unaware of these orders, we will cooperate with DHHS to our full capacity,” Only Hope WNC’s acting chair Kyle Barker told the Times-News in an Aug. 25 text message.
Asheville Citizen Times reporter Ryley Ober contributed to this report.
Henderson County pauses funds for youth shelter after CEO charged with child sex crimesEx-Henderson County school board member, local CEO charged with sex offenses with a minor
George Fabe Russell is the Henderson County Reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News. Tips, questions, comments? Email him at [email protected].