WHAT: Pisgah Legal Services‘ fifth annual Poverty Forum with Rishi Manchanda
WHERE: Diana Wortham Theatre
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. (separately ticketed reception at 5:30 p.m.)
WHY: “Since 1978, the nonprofit law firm Pisgah Legal Services has been providing free, civil legal aid to low-income people who live in Western North Carolina,” says the organization’s communications manager, Evie Sandlin White. “The Poverty Forum is an important opportunity for us to draw attention to the problems of poverty and have a community conversation about working together to address these issues.”
To that end, Pisgah Legal has called upon the expertise of physician, author and public health activist Rishi Manchanda. During a speech titled “Getting Upstream of Poverty,” he’ll prompt discussion about the links between health and poverty, covering topics like primary care, social and environmental factors that make people ill, and health and human rights. The founder of socially geared healthcare organizations HealthBegins and RxDemocracy, Manchanda was recently recognized as one of the top 20 health care innovators in America by The Atlantic magazine.
Proceeds from the event will help the hosting legal firm continue to represent WNC citizens who cannot afford an attorney. “Last year, Pisgah Legal Services helped more than 14,000 people in our region,” White adds. “This includes preventing homelessness, stopping domestic violence, protecting senior citizens and consumers from fraud, accessing health care and assisting victims of abuse.”
Tickets to the forum are $15 per person. A separately ticketed cocktail reception ($50 per person) with the speaker takes place in the venue’s lobby at 5:30 p.m., with catered food from Chestnut and Corner Kitchen. Visit pisgahlegal.org for more information and tickets to both events.
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