Over 125 Afghans who were evacuated by the United States amid the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan this summer now call Buncombe County home. It’s been a long journey. On Aug. 29, President Joe Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate the resettlement as part of Operation Allies Welcome. While housed at military bases […]
When Wakina Robertson birthed her twins in Buncombe County 30 years ago, it was a harder experience than it should have been. The babies arrived nine weeks early. “I wasn’t listened to,” she tells Xpress. “Did I want to have my babies early? … If I could have pushed a little longer to carry them […]
Although abortion is technically legal in the U.S., access varies widely. State laws dictate which specific procedures are allowed, which health care providers can perform them and even who can get an abortion. Access is also shaped by how many facilities there are in a given area that are capable of providing this kind of […]
People who work on the issue in Western North Carolina agree that period poverty is more widespread than it may seem due to the cultural stigmas of both poverty and menstruation. And financial issues wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic have made menstrual hygiene products even more inaccessible for many.
Pharmacists in North Carolina can now dispense and administer certain medications, including some forms of hormonal birth control, without a prescription, according to a state law that went into effect Feb. 1. Both self-administered oral contraception (birth control pills) and transdermal contraception (birth control patches) are available. House Bill 96 also gives immunizing pharmacists expanded […]
Randy Tucker has a shadow, and her name is Star. With oversized ears and big paws that bear witness to her youth, the 3-year-old German shepherd mix was adopted three months ago from the Asheville Humane Society, which found her in mid-September, roaming as a stray in the Lees Creek area. Star now accompanies Tucker […]
When James Brinkmann was 17 years old, his friends started having children. He witnessed up close what parenting entailed and he knew he didn’t want it yet. “I saw the adjustments they were having to make,” he recalls. “It made me realize and appreciate and respect the amount of commitment and the loss of control […]
Public health is the science of improving health and safety within communities. Fabrice Julien, assistant professor of health and wellness at UNC Asheville, knows that it’s also an art. Julien teaches health communication and the theory of health promotion at UNCA. He thinks a lot about how to break through medical distrust and skepticism, as […]
Medical school did not teach Dr. Tiffany Sauls anything about psychedelics. “Not at all, other than to stay away,” she says with a laugh. But as she moved into her career as a psychiatrist, Sauls began to wonder about effective alternatives to exclusively treating mental health symptoms with pharmaceuticals. Over time, she became interested in […]
When Tiffany Schultz finally quit Facebook, it came after years of unease with the division and negativity she saw there. She joined the social network in 2006 but says she “had not been a very big fan of Facebook for a while. … I saw it as a necessary evil after moving from Wisconsin,” the […]
Deaths, injuries and fires are all in a day’s work for emergency service workers. They may also be part of a shift for Trauma Intervention Programs of WNC volunteers, who provide emotional first aid to family, friends and bystanders after traumatic events. This is the message that Hendersonville Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Justin Ward […]
Asheville is gearing up to conduct its annual Point-in-Time count of unhoused community members Tuesday-Wednesday, Jan. 25-26. But even without the official numbers, which are typically released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in June, it’s clear that the city is facing a new reckoning around homelessness. The Asheville Police Department has […]
In April, Tanya Ledford left a 22-year-long education career teaching history and English at public schools in Henderson and Polk counties. But Ledford’s new job hasn’t taken her far from the classroom. She is now assisting Hispanic high school students, many of them the first in their family to seek a college education, through the […]
Caitlin Rawlins, innovation specialist for the Western North Carolina Veteran Affairs Health Care System, remembers vividly the first time that a patient at the Charles George Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center long-term care facility used virtual reality. “She had cognitive impairment, a history of needing stays on our inpatient psychiatric ward because of agitation […]
Press release from Asheville Humane Society We are partnering with Appalachian Animal Hospital to provide low-cost pet vaccines on Sunday, January 16! Join us from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. at River Ridge Shopping Center, 800 Fairview Rd (behind Aarons). Cat and dog vaccines will range from $10-$15, and we will also have free supplies available […]
The COVID-19 pandemic shook up life for Robert Bennett when his job as a mechanical engineer disappeared — not that he was mad about it. “I didn’t like engineering; I just fell back on my degree,” the UNC Charlotte graduate recalls. Instead, he seized the opportunity to turn his gig hosting Robert’s Totally Rad Trivia, […]
When Xpress asked community members about safety and security in 2021, the questions were intentionally left very broad. After all, concepts like safety and risk can mean very different things to different people depending on their circumstances. Would respondents opine about public safety? Housing security? Financial security? Sexual assault? Homophobia? The resulting responses take the […]
While COVID-19 may have dominated WNC’s psyche in 2021, it was by no means the only health and wellness story Xpress told. Opioid abuse, mental health and self-care also emerged as major themes from the year.
Hospitals suspend COVID-19 vaccination requirements Earlier this month, AdventHealth Hendersonville, Pardee UNC Health Care and Mission Health suspended requirements that employees become fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as per a federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services memorandum. CMS had issued an emergency regulation on Nov. 4 mandating that all eligible workers at Medicaid and Medicare-certified […]
As a professor of environmental education at Warren Wilson College, Mallory McDuff is experienced in teaching the next generation about environmentalism. “Climate is front and center for them,” she says. With the Dec. 7 publication of her book Our Last Best Act: Planning for the End of Our Lives to Protect the People and Places […]
A $10,000 scholarship for local Black students is the subject of a lawsuit by a group headed by a former Asheville City Council member. Carl Mumpower, president of WNC Citizens for Equality Inc. and a former chair of the Buncombe County Republican Party, filed a civil suit Oct. 11. It names the city of Asheville, […]
