The task of establishing and/or re-establishing trust between vulnerable communities — especially people of color — and the Asheville Police Department will be a challenging one. And especially in the wake of controversial police use of force over the summer, there is vocal criticism of the department. But the way Chief Tammy Hooper sees it, the APD must rise to that challenge.
From the Get It! Guide: Green jobs, lush community gardens, community cookouts and water quality testing — these might not be things many in Asheville picture when they think of public housing. But residents says Asheville’s public housing neighborhoods are investing in their communities’ welfare and leading a growing interest in “greening” up the neighborhoods.
How does Asheville, one of the busiest tourist hubs in the state — a place where you can’t throw a rock without hitting a chef or a farmer — have so many people lacking access to good food or outright going to bed hungry?
Each week, Xpress highlights notable WNC crowdsourcing initiatives that may inspire readers to become new faces in the crowd. This week features Abby the Spoon Lady’s instructional DVD and an Asheville public housing documentary.
Working in collaboration with Housing Authority residents and the Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation, a group of Mars Hill University undergraduate social work students will spend a semester interviewing and filming public housing tenants before assembling their footage into a short film. The idea is to increase a sense of connection in a city where public housing communities are physically and socially isolated.
