Mr. Jim Blyth
Visionary • Believer • Leader
Heart • Giver • Doer
PEOPLE
MAKEA
DIFFERENCE
Mr. Jim Blyth is the developer and builder of the brand new moms and kids
shelter, named the Myr-Ken building, in Waynesville. He is a pillar in this community and has
been a contributor to Haywood County for decades. He was recognized as Man of Year in 2018
and we are beyond honored to know him, work with him and to have this opportunity to recognize
him in this months feature of People Make A Difference.”
MOXXIE: So tell us how this all got
started.
JIM: Well, about four years ago, our
sheriff had a wonderful idea to start a
halfway house and a homeless shelter. In
the backdrop, right next to the sheriff's
office, there was an old jail that had been
closed for over four years and owned by the
State of North Carolina. The sheriff went to
the county commissioners and asked them
to apply for ownership through the surplus
property statute. The county was the recipient
of the old jail. From there, our group,
Hazelwood Pathway’s Center, was able to
obtain a 30-year lease from the county. We
came in and raised about $500,000 to build
out the old jail and turn it into a halfway
house and a homeless shelter. We won the
Ty Pennington Award that year. Ty and
his crew came to the Haywood County and
spent a day with us rehabbing the old jail,
and awarded us $10,000. We won that
award over 480 other cities.
MOXXIE: We remember that. It was a
tough competition that required people to
get on-line and vote for their favorite city.
There was incredible competition coming
from other cities around the country. I
remember it being a huge win for Haywood
County.
JIM: It was an incredible win for our community.
It was 2014 when we opened the
Pathways Center. Last year alone, we
served 40,000 meals. We typically feed
about 30 to 60 homeless people on campus
at any time. At our annual awards dinner,
our Pastor said that our next project was to
build a moms and kids shelter and figure
out how we were going to take care of
homeless moms and kids.
MOXXIE: So the moms and kids shelter
wasn’t even on the conversation table prior
to that annual dinner?
JIM: No, (laughing) it was literally just off
the cuff that night. We were all there
celebrating the Pathways Center and our
Pastor just dropped the ball on everyone
and said, this is what we need to take care
of next.
MOXXIE: Sounds like your pastor is quite
the visionary as well. Much like yourself.
JIM: He is an amazing man and pastor. He
keeps us all on our toes and constantly
W ll b t f
Hay
reha
10,0
d 480 th it