Etowah County: East Broad, Valley Street and Wallace Drive campuses in Gadsden, Ala.
Tragedy leads to inspiration for EOC student
Hareem Averitte, a graduate of Oxford High School, had aspirations of playing football on the collegiate level. But, his plans – and life trajectory – changed in an instant in July 2018.
“The incident happened just two days before my 19th birthday,” he said. “Just two days.”
Averitte arranged to meet a girl in Gadsden but found himself in a setup. While heading down U.S. Highway 431, he noticed vehicles following him. An altercation ensued. He was trying to get away. Instead, he was shot in the face as his car left the highway.
"By the grace of God, a truck driver found me not too long after," he said.
Averitte was taken to the hospital and described the experience as an in-and-out-of-body encounter. He was airlifted to UAB Medical Center knowing he had to fight for his life.
“Right before I went into surgery, doctors were asking for pictures of my face from my family and sister,” said Averitte. “They needed to know what I looked like because they basically had to reconstruct my entire face.”
The gunshot wound shattered his eye sockets and nose and caused damage to his brain and skull. He was split from ear to ear and left without a nose. A portion of his hip bone was used to rebuild his nose.
“Unfortunately, as soon as I took the gunshot, my sight was taken from me instantly,” he said. “I knew at that point something was not right.”
Averitte underwent multiple surgeries and stayed in the hospital for a month. Once he was discharged, he suffered from depression while trying to cope with the situation. The realization that he would never see again weighed heavily on him.
“I knew I had to keep my faith,” he said. “Luckily, my family continuously supported me and kept my spirits up during this challenging phase in my life.”
Adjusting to numerous changes, Averitte still had a feeding tube and required assistance with everyday tasks. A major difficulty was the inability to bond with his daughter, A’lonni, as he normally would.
“I couldn’t play with her like I used to,” he said. “We couldn’t do things that we did before. This absence took a significant toll on me, but motivated me to cultivate a stronger mindset. I knew it was time to use all available resources and make my life as comfortable as possible.”
Averitte wanted to continue his education; to learn a vocation that would potentially lead to a career. He enrolled at E.H. Gentry, a full-service vocational and educational rehabilitation program serving adults who are deaf or blind and those with multiple accommodation needs. The program’s mission is to provide quality job skills, adjustment and academic services to individuals with disabilities. There, he enrolled in an entrepreneur program with a goal of selling his original clothing line in vending machines throughout the state.
“I originally came to Gentry to learn basic independent skills due to being a newly-blind person,” he said. “Overtime, I became an employee and a mentor.”
He also considered himself to be an entrepreneur thanks to his hard work and the training received at Gentry.
“I never really saw myself going to college if I couldn’t play a sport,” he said. “I changed that mindset when I started working at Gentry and created my own clothing brand called ‘Blind Limitless.’”
In addition to his work at Gentry, Averitte works at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind and is a mentor for children with disabilities.
“We just take care of them and assist them,” he said. “It’s all about interacting with them and being a good mentor.”
LEFT: Averitte with students and staff at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.
In 2023, the entrepreneur program was put on pause during a facility renovation. Averitte wasn’t ready to sit idly by and wait to continue his personal growth.
“I was pretty familiar with Gadsden State and all that it provided through the Cheaha Educational Opportunity Center,” he said. “I wanted to take advantage of any resource available to me.”
Averitte enrolled in the Marketing Management Program at Gadsden State in the fall of 2023.
“I didn’t want to just sit around doing nothing and I wanted to learn everything about running a business and be the best, so that’s when I decided to enroll at Gadsden State,” he said.
Averitte created an LLC for “Blind Limitless” and got to work creating styles and branding logos that fit his story.
“I have always wanted to create my own brand and have it stand out,” he said. “My designs make a reference to taking a journey through a jungle and coming out on the other side knowing that anything can still be achieved without any limits.”
One of his logos is the face of an ape representing strength and power. Another logo is a stick figure of himself complete with a mobility cane.
“It’s just a symbolization of blindness,” he said. “I wanted to uplift and shine a light on the blind community.”
Averitte’s future plans are to expand his business, build his own production company and graduate from Gadsden State.
“I’m also in the process of putting together a book to tell my story,” he said. “I’ve been talking with an author and it should be finished sometime this year.”
Averitte has a lot of dreams and goals for himself and his business.
“I am thankful to Gadsden State for expanding my mindset and making me think outside the box,” he said. “My education solidifies a good future for me. I’m doing my best to make a change; to make a difference. A lot of people who have sustained injuries like I have feel sorry for themselves. Not me. I feel blessed. I was going down the wrong path. This got me straight. It put me on the right path.”
Article written by Sydney Burns, an intern in the Gadsden State Public Relations and Marketing Department. She is a senior majoring in Communications Studies at Jacksonville State University.
Cheaha Educational Opportunity Center
The Cheaha Educational Opportunity Center assists students like Hareem Averitte; students who want to continue their educational journey but need some guidance and direction.
“The EOC provides opportunities for academic development and assists students with applying for college and financial aid,” said Dr. Cheryl Sington, director. “We motivate students toward successful completion of their high school equivalency and their postsecondary education.”
The EOC provides academic tutoring; advice and assistance in course selection; assistance in preparing for college entrance exams; help in completing college admissions application; assistance in applying for financial aid; guidance on secondary school re-entry or entry to a GED program; career workshops and counseling; academic counseling and financial literacy seminars.
“We help our students earn a credential that can be used to improve their employability chances,” she said.
Gadsden State’s EOC Project can serve up to 850 eligible participants each year during the grant’s lifecycle. It serves Calhoun, Cherokee, Celburne and Etowah counties. Gadsden State is only one out of two community colleges with an EOC in the state of Alabama. The $232,500 grant was awarded in October 2021 by the U.S. Department of Education.
The EOC is one of seven federal TRIO programs at Gadsden State. TRIO programs are federal outreach and student services programs designed to identify and provide services for individuals with disadvantaged backgrounds.
For more information, visit www.GadsdenState.edu/EOC.
