Nonprofits recovered from a volunteer drop-off during COVID and found they can do more with less.
Author: Carmela Caruso
Showing 1-18 of 18 results
Recent and well-established roller-skating groups discuss WNC’s coasting community
“Part of our mission, our desire, is to really expose people to each other,” says Ashanti Ternoir, co-founder of AVLsk8. “And then to create a space that’s fun, that’s enjoyable through movement and skating and also through music.”
Creatives in the Crowd: Crislyn V’Soske Baughman creates adornments one link at a time
The self-taught artisan has spent years perfecting her craft, and her studio is filled with finished products.
No Mow May: Bees will thank you if you leave the mower in the shed
Letting your lawn get a little scruffy in early spring creates a smorgasbord of wild flowers on which pollinators can feast.
As costs soar, an end to federal support leaves students and families searching for food
Federal funding that allowed schools to provide free breakfasts and lunches to all students ended last year. Now, area families face rising meal costs and tight subsidy restrictions.
How Buncombe’s newly elected N.C. House members are settling into office
Lindsey Prather, Eric Ager and Caleb Rudow have a lot to learn over the state legislative session that started Jan. 25. All three Democrats won their first elections in November after the retirement of three multi-term representatives from Buncombe County.
Demystifying yoga with local teachers
Different yoga studios, styles and teachers can each offer completely different takes on the practice, each suited for different wellness needs. Xpress set out to explore some of the varieties of yoga available in the area and spoke to a number of local teachers about their yoga journeys.
Community groups discuss city advocacy
Asheville on Bikes has recently drawn attention for its successful advocacy at City Hall, but it’s just one of many community organizations that seek to pull the levers of political power in Asheville. Xpress spoke to several of these groups to learn more about how they pursue their agendas.
Local groups tackle gun violence
According to Capt. Joe Silberman of the Asheville Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division, there is “really no hard, hard definition” for a cold case because each one is “unique.” Accordingly, the department views its cases as either open or solved. In the last five years, there have been 52 homicides, and 16 remain open
Local entrepreneurs pitch business plans during annual Mountain Raise
This year, seven companies were ready to pitch. Xpress takes a look at them all.
APD and local retailers team up to fight shoplifting
After a reduction in the number of incidents reported to the Asheville Police Department in 2021, local shoplifting numbers are rising again.
How is Asheville addressing panhandling?
While current city ordinances place some restrictions on panhandling, in most instances it is a legal means of making money. Bill Davis, spokesperson for Asheville Police Department, says police had received 95 calls for panhandling this year as of Aug. 17, the majority of which were requests for wellness checks out of concern for those in need.
Riverfront commission hosts special session on water quality
About 100 people attended the Sept. 8 event — the first of its kind hosted by the Asheville Area Riverfront Redevelopment Commission — at New Belgium Brewing Co. The gathering was prompted by recent reports on the French Broad River’s economic importance and bacterial contamination.
Local nonprofits discuss hiring for leaders
Over the past several years, due in part to community changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, many local nonprofits have been thrust into hiring leadership positions. Most have not had the liberty of hiring qualified candidates from within and have had to conduct broader searches.
Buncombe County Schools enrollment drops as nontraditional options grow
Last school year, Buncombe County Schools saw an average daily membership drop of over 1,500 students, its biggest in the past six years and about 6.4% from its 2019-20 figure of 23,712, with nearly 450 students moving to home schools. At the same time, area private, parochial and charter schools have also seen gains in enrollment.
Enhanced French Broad monitoring highlights water safety issues
A $25,670 grant from The Community Foundation of WNC is helping MountainTrue continue testing begun last year; eventually, the group wants to be able to give rivergoers up-to-the-minute information about E. coli levels.
Cigar wrapper tobacco could revive disappearing tradition
The Asheville-based Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture project has found that the number of Western North Carolina tobacco farms declined by 97% between 1997 and 2012, largely due to the federal tobacco buyout. But Matthew Vann, extension specialist and assistant professor at N.C. State University, believes a different variety could make the crop more economically viable for local growers.
Light a Path helps incarcerated people take the next step
Sybriea Lundy counts herself lucky to have been able to participate in programs offered by Light a Path, an Asheville-based nonprofit that brings yoga and movement to underserved populations, while serving the final 2 ½ years of her sentence for drug trafficking at the Swannanoa Correctional Center for Women. The organization also helped Lundy reenter and connect with the Asheville community upon her release.