Press release from BeLoved Asheville:
On Monday, Oct. 14, at 4 p.m., BeLoved Asheville invites the community and local leaders to join together to celebrate the “home raising” of the first house of Asheville’s BeLoved Village, a community of 12 deeply affordable (30% AMI), sustainable micro-homes at 15 Overbrook Place in East Asheville.
BeLoved Asheville, a local nonprofit organization with a mission to “cultivate a transformational way of life, rooted in community, creativity, and equity,” has broken ground on the first house of the BeLoved Village, which the community hopes will be an innovative solution to the housing crisis in Asheville.
“In the wake of the death of Janet Jones, who froze to death on the streets of Asheville in October 2016, our community of people who are directly impacted by the housing crisis began to dream of creating our own homes. The community heard our dream and together, we will raise a home and begin building a village.” says Amy Cantrell, a Co-Director of BeLoved Asheville.
Monday’s celebration will feature an ice cream sundae buffet with ice cream donated by Ultimate Ice Cream* and speakers including BeLoved Co-Director Ponkho Bermejo; Sara Wilcox, Pastor of Land of Sky UCC; children who have participated in the Kids Build project; Thomas Wolfe of Lobo Builders; and more. The celebration will culminate in a ceremonial wall raising of the first house in the Village.
“The BeLoved Village is a housing solution for people on fixed incomes trying to stay in our local community including our elders, people without homes, people of color being gentrified out of our community, and workers who don’t make enough to afford housing in the community in which they work,” says Amy Cantrell. “It takes a village to raise a village and we are so amazed at the hundreds of people in our community who are being the change by helping to solve the housing crisis. From professionals to children, from retirees to companies, people are coming together to share their skills and gifts to make sure that local people can come home!” For sponsorship information, to help via donations of building materials, to volunteer, or for more information please email belovedasheville@gmail.com. To donate, supporters can visit the gofundme page.
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