Mountain City Public Montessori is projected to open for kindergarten through 6th grade in August.
Author: Jessica Wakeman
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Dr. William Hathaway marks one year at MAHEC
Hathaway spoke to Xpress about having an impact on the community’s health care, how the opioid epidemic affected him as a cardiologist and his excitement over becoming a grandparent.
Family shelter lands at church instead of vacant school
Although Asheville has numerous shelters for the homeless population, its organizers say this particular shelter fills gaps in the city’s current system. “The focus is on intact families,” explains shelter worker Gene Ettison.
Awkward conversation: How to talk to your kids about online pornography
No parent wants to talk about pornography with their child. No child wants to talk about porn with their parents. These are facts.
Yet John Van Arnam of Black Mountain has taken the Sisyphean task of making sure these conversations occur. Children’s mental and physical health depend on it, he says.
Wellness roundup: Detention center distributes hygiene products upon release
People who leave the Buncombe County Detention Facility now receive care kits containing toiletries and personal items upon their departure. The kits include a comb, HotHands hand warmers, sanitizing wipes, a toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, sunscreen and lip balm, and come in a reusable bag. The kit also includes contact information for food pantries and health […]
Year in Review: Not giving up
WNC’s citizens are deeply committed to making this small corner of the world a better place.
Year in Review: Health was more than metrics in 2022
Discussions about health and wellness have been dominated by COVID-19 for nearly three years, and that’s certainly been reflected in the media landscape nationwide. In Asheville, however, the effects of COVID-19 on physical health and mental health are just one story to be told.
Q&A: Justin Shytle on harm reduction, naloxone and recovery
Justin Shytle moved to Asheville when he was 7 years old and remembers a childhood attending Bele Chere and skating around the former Vance Monument. But at 14, their childhood came to an abrupt end when they discovered their father dead from an overdose. The experience “opened the door for my IV drug use and […]
Q&A: Sacred Fire Asheville fire keeper Patrick Hanaway
By day, Patrick Hanaway and his wife, Lisa Lichtig, are physicians at their integrative and functional medicine practice, Family to Family, in Weaverville. By night, the couple are stewards of a different type of healing practice: They are fire keepers with Sacred Fire Asheville, the local chapter of an international nonprofit. Since 2002, Hanaway says guests […]
Asheville’s Jewish community grows in trying times
“We’ve seen a steady flow of people who are Jewish who’ve come [here] because they see a vibrant Jewish community that they can be part of,” Rabbi Batsheva Meiri of Congregation Beth HaTephila tells Xpress. “And so Asheville becomes attractive to them.”
An inside look at local lingerie and sex shops
There’s no one-size-fits-all for our sexualities, explains Jenny Shealy, a licensed clinical social worker and certified sex therapist in Asheville. “It’s about having optimal wellness for each of us, which looks different for each of us.”
Beyond white squirrels: Specialty shops abound in Brevard
“Brevard has a uniqueness and a whole different vibe than existed 10 years ago in a really cool way,” says Dee Dee Perkins, owner of the outdoor supplies and gear shop D.D. Bullwinkel’s. She credits new breweries and Transylvania County Tourism’s focus on mountain biking.
Chamber of Commerce addresses water quality, development
On heels of a 2021 study that showed the power of the French Broad River as an economic driver, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce convened a panel to discuss the importance of keeping that engine clean.
Wellness roundup: AdventHealth approved for new hospital
AdventHealth has been approved to build a new hospital in Western North Carolina, the company announced on Facebook Nov. 22. Buncombe, Graham, Madison and Yancey counties will together have a projected need of 67 additional acute care beds by 2024, according to a plan published by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Health […]
Forensic nurses play key role after assaults
Few crimes are more personal than sexual assault. Unfortunately, collecting evidence that may lead to a conviction of an attacker can be traumatic and invasive as well. That’s where trained forensic nurses can make a difference. And now there are more of them in Western North Carolina, due to a new team at Harris Regional […]
Local dementia groups help individuals, caregivers
Navigating a dementia diagnosis in the family can be a confusing and lonely experience for both the patient and the caregiver. In Buncombe County, there are numerous nonprofits to provide education and support.
Pro bono lawyers assist Asheville’s Afghan evacuees
Jacob Oakes, who directs Pisgah Legal Services’ immigration program and manages its Afghan Asylum Project, calls the latest influx of evacuees an “unprecedented situation” and a “learning experience” due to its breadth and magnitude.
Outreach team seeks to address complex emergency calls
On any day of the week, first responders in Buncombe County might be dispatched to this common scenario: A business owner or a bystander sees a woman on the sidewalk who is agitated, yelling, screaming, and pacing back and forth. Concerned, a bystander calls 911 to get this person help; it’s unclear whether she’s injured, […]
Impact Health hires executive director
Laurie Stradley joined Impact Health as executive director Oct. 24.
New children’s book addresses parent’s death by suicide
Picture books are a way for caregivers to guide children through challenging topics, like new siblings and potty training. Asheville-based child psychotherapist Jillian Kelly-Wavering wrote a children’s book to guide children ages 7-12 through another challenge: a parent’s suicide.
My Grief Is Like the Ocean is written by Kelly-Wavering and illustrated by Jessica Biles, who is based in New York. The pair worked together on the book throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and relied on Google Docs and Zoom for their collaboration.
Asheville’s Code Purple program began Oct. 15
Code Purple will have nearly 100 beds available for emergency overnight shelter for Asheville’s unhoused population when the temperature is freezing or below. The program will also operate for two additional months in the winter and spring of 2022-23.