Person of the Week: Marsha Crites and Alice Mason
93 views · Published 19 January 2015 · 2:54 · Indexed 24 September 2026
Channel: WLOS News 13 · 2015 · News & Politics
JACKSON COUNTY, N.C. -- Our Persons of the Week are in the business of second chances. Clean Slate is a non-profit house and program where women in transition can go to get the help they need. The founders, Marsha Crites and Alice Mason, saw a need in Jackson County for women coming out of jail or prison who found getting a second chance in life was almost impossible. "Sometimes they can't get food stamps," Marsha said. "Sometimes their family has rejected them." "They have no place to go except the place they came from, which gets them right back into the same problems they had before," Alice said. Alice and Marsha work every day to help people like Melissa, a convicted felon. "I knew I couldn't go down that road again," Melissa said. Others like Stephanie also use the help, coming out of different kind of prison -- recovery or rehab. "I've been an alcoholic for 24 years," Stephanie said. "I ended up in the hospital with nowhere to go. My family is clean but they were tired of my shenanigans." When the two Jackson County Jail chaplains saw women ending up right back in jail, they realized a need wasn't being met in Jackson County. But trying to find a job when you've got a troubled past can be a real sticking point. The women in the program sew bags while looking for other jobs. Marsha and Alice have given them a place, purpose and a path leading to a better life. Through Clean Slate Enterprises, the women make non-toxic cleaning supplies and sell them in local markets. If you'd like to learn more about the product, or how you can help this non-profit, click here www.Cleanslatecoalition.org _______________ Follow WLOS on social media: WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/News13/ WLOS ABC 13 News on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WLOS_13 WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram: https://instagram.com/wlos_13 Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Channel/?sub_confirmation=1 Listen to AnchorMOMS, the Podcast: https://wlos.com/news/anchormoms/anchormoms-the-podcast Watch more top local news stories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk8Ge6UXHJs&list=PLkVbaoT-aYbIvnEpR0Ct5QQQqYaORUSUH For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit http://www.wlos.com Watch our live newscasts and other live video at https://wlos.com/watch Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: [email protected] Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340 WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.
