Rev. Amy Cantrell Is Turning Passion Into Action

Written by Amanda Mathis

Spartanburg native and Converse alum Rev. Amy Cantrell ’94 loves to build community with her fellow neighbors and to create a community where everyone thrives. It has been her North Star for the past 30 years.

“My passion was spurred from my time at Converse—the immersion to bring out our time, talent, and skills.” She attributes her mentors, former Dean of Students Dr. Cynthia Greer, former President Ellen Wood Hall, and previous Converse Chaplain Susie Smith, as being instrumental in her success. 

As a young student at Converse, Cantrell traveled with her classmates to New York City and spent time building relationships with the area’s houseless population, learning about the impacts of poverty and systemic racism. 

“My time at Converse was essential,” she shared. “I attended a travel trip that was pivotal in my life. Meeting people on the street I encountered was life-altering, meeting Bell Hooks and focusing on systemic racism was powerful. As I returned to Spartanburg, I started to take a deeper dive into these systemic issues.” 

“My time at Converse was essential. I attended a travel trip that was pivotal in my life. As I returned to Spartanburg, I started to take a deeper dive into these systemic issues.” 

Rev. Amy Cantrell

Cantrell credits her time at Converse as a “power root” for her. The intimacy of the campus and its smaller class sizes allowed her to experience rigorous academics, work in the greater Spartanburg community, and develop long-lasting friendships with professors.

The idea of building community with impacted people and working to transform the world together morphed into a lifetime of direction. What started in Spartanburg continued to North Carolina when Cantrell moved to Asheville. Her passion was turned into action when she created BeLoved Asheville, a program focused on building community with people impacted by systemic racism, poverty, food and housing insecurity. 

An Intentional Community

BeLoved Asheville is not a typical 9-to-5 organization. Instead, it’s constant work to connect with the people in the community to create innovative solutions to our common struggles and put love into action; to be people with a purpose. Founded by Cantrell and coordinated by a team of Co-Directors including Cantrell, Ponkho Bermejo, and Adrienne Sigmon, BeLoved Asheville is an intentional community that helps tackle racial equity, Asheville’s current housing crisis, food insecurities, and bridging healthcare and community through community health work, and bringing community together for cultural celebrations and to work for racial equity. The nonprofit focuses on four pillars: deeply affordable housing, equity access, stability, and community. 

Cantrell’s remarkable organization is committed to providing solutions through deeply affordable homes with equity that break the cycle of poverty, food and health equity, and to create a place of belonging, purpose, and mutual support through connecting neighbors together in common cause. BeLoved’s Street Medics Training Program was created due to the passing of Janet Jones, who was found frozen to death one cold winter night. Without any connection to family or friends, local police asked Cantrell to identify the body. Janet’s death became a strong catalyst for the BeLoved organization to create the first homeless and formerly homeless street medic team in the nation where people trained with EMTs, RNs, Herbalists, ER nurses, and others learned to provide assessment and first aid on the streets of this popular mountain town. 

Everyone Is Worthy of a Home

Resourcefulness is part of Cantrell’s daily vocabulary. When faced with addressing Asheville’s growing homeless population, which saw an increase of over 100 percent from 2020 to 2023 based on Asheville’s Point-in-Time survey, the unsheltered count doubled from 65 to 171 individuals, according to the city of Asheville.

Realizing the considerable population growth in her city, Cantrell and her team creatively addressed the issue. Their answer was to become general contractors and build their community of 600-square-foot tiny homes for elders, working poor families, young people just entering the workforce, people on the streets, and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community members facing the impacts of gentrification. It is the first of its kind in the Western North Carolina area and is available to potential tenants who must earn 30 to 40 percent of the city’s area median income ($15,000). 

With the idea of creating such a village, BeLoved posted on their social media sites about the desire to create a community. Within 17 days, BeLoved had an offer of donated land near the bus line. BeLoved Asheville is building our first neighborhood of 12 homes on the acre of land. “Our lot is a bamboo field, and we’re learning each step of the process as we go,” said Cantrell when discussing the land gifted to the charity. “I’m passionate about deeply affordable housing.” She even sat for the contractor licensing exam; she and her team are building the homes themselves. We currently have 12 homes in the finishing stages and will welcome residents home this summer.

“She truly lives out Converse’s educational mission to see clearly, decide wisely, and act justly.”

Dr. Andrea Weatherman Kikkert

Community Service Award

During Converse’s Annual Reunion Celebration, Amy received Converse University’s Community Service Award at the 2024 Alumni Awards Brunch. “She truly lives out Converse’s educational mission to see clearly, decide wisely, and act justly,” said Dr. Andrea Weatherman Kikkert, Director of Alumni Relations. “Amy’s innovative and effective service to her local community through BeLoved Asheville demonstrates her insightful understanding of her neighbors’ needs and a commitment to bring together people to support one another.”

This unassuming community hero plans to do much more with her Asheville village. Realizing that people need people, BeLoved Asheville has incorporated a focus on community-building events after learning that North Carolina was the number-one state for disconnection in 2019. “We started by utilizing the power of community, which to me is the invisible glue that holds us together,” said Cantrell. “Creating a place for people to feel at home is what BeLoved Asheville is all about.”

To learn more about BeLoved Asheville, visit their website here.