Green Opportunit­ies — profile

Green Opportunities, a nonprofit job training and employment program founded in 2008, works to ensure that all residents of the region have access to sustainable employment in our rapidly growing local economy. Operating out of the Arthur R. Edington Education & Career Center in Asheville’s Southside neighborhood, GO focuses on workforce development in selected growth […]

Dying and the possibilit­ies of awakening

What happens when we die? Maybe you have an answer, or maybe the question elicits bewilderment and uncertainty. Or perhaps both. Most agree at the very least that we won’t be bringing along any possessions or posterity, fame or fortune, people or places. And, though the details differ, many spiritual traditions concur that—at most—it’s only one’s consciousness or soul that will continue the journey […]

AVL Design Center’s DesignBuil­d Studio rolls out the U-LEAF Stage

When the first-ever LEAF Downtown festival took place on Aug. 1 and 2 in Pack Square Park, it wasn’t just the festival’s new location that was making its debut: This year, the organization was able to unveil its all-new U-LEAF stage — a mobile art stage recently completed by AVL DesignBuild Studio, a summer internship […]

Activist Bree Newsome and other ‘faith-driven agitators’ lead a charge for social justice at Wild Goose

The third annual Goose Festival brought together more than 2,000 people from various spiritual persuasions that fall under a very inclusive Christian umbrella. Featured speakers at this year’s event included Bree Newsome, the activist who gained national attention for removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina statehouse.

Third Messenger group explores the sacred art of being and dying

A growing movement in Asheville is seeking to make conversations about death more commonplace: Through an ever-evolving series of public art installments and performances that began in early 2014 , locally based Third Messenger has been offering Ashevilleans the chance to share their stories surrounding death and to contemplate their own mortality.

Straddling frontiers: Out to the Nations conference tries to reconcile Christian, LGBTQ community

It’s no secret that the Christian and LGBTQ communities have often found themselves at odds — each a thorn in the other’s side. But the Out to the Nations conference intends to reaches out to LGBTQ people in the Southeast who’ve felt ostracized or hurt by the church, offering them the possibility of finding a new path and personal connection with God.

The modern elder: Reclaiming what’s sacred in life’s later stages

From the Get It! Guide: As the boomer generation moves into elderhood, many are realizing what’s at stake when elders are lost from the social fabric. They’re aghast at the realities of our current model of care and are sparking a movement that seeks to redefine the later stages of life — not just for the benefit of elders but for the enrichment of all generations.