If trust is a function of time, an innovative approach to affordable housing may already be in trouble. On July 13, about 30 community stakeholders gathered in an echoey auditorium at the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center and took the first meandering steps toward establishing a community land trust. But the two-hour meeting produced […]
Just three days before Monday’s rally in Asheville’s Pack Square Park to oppose the U.S. Senate’s version of a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Lindsay Furst, a local teacher and activist, went to a coffee shop with her fellow organizers who shared her lack of sleep, she told the crowd in front of […]
“The case for investment in early childhood development is settled, really. Now, it becomes a matter of convincing state leaders to make the investment and to make it wisely.”
In an effort to emphasize the importance of access to affordable health insurance coverage for North Carolinians, Pisgah Legal Services held a press conference Tuesday in partnership with the North Carolina Justice Center. Speakers included political and legal advocates for the ACA, as well as residents who offered stories about their experiences with affordable care and health insurance.
A new federal regulation requiring employers to pay workers earning less than $47,476 per year time and a half for overtime could have an outsize impact on the nonprofit sector. Traditionally, many nonprofits have relied on folks who were more interested in following their passion than in earning top dollar or keeping track of hours.
Asheville City Council set itself up for a heavier workload with its decision to move forward on changing city ordinances to reduce the size of development projects Council will review. If the current pace of development continues, more projects will come before Council for approval. Council also signaled its intent to review all but the smallest hotel projects in response to concerns that hotel development has gotten out of hand.
Buncombe County’s new Family Justice Center will be a one-stop resource for victims of abuse. However, the Asheville area hasn’t always been as intentional about helping victims escape abuse.
Though more Buncombe County residents now have health insurance than ever before, many of the poorest are still falling through the cracks.
“This is a crisis of epic sadness that a city that supports tourism is not willing to support its residents!”
Proceeds from the fifth annual Poverty Forum — featuring healthcare innovator Rishi Manchanda as keynote speaker — will help Pisgah Legal Services continue to represent WNC citizens who cannot afford an attorney.
The quest for affordable housing: an introduction to the essay project and the Bowen study showing the problems Asheville and surrounding communities face on the affordable housing question, by Tracy Rose. The following essays are part of a series in which local experts were asked: “What would it take to solve the Asheville area’s affordable […]
“The solution to the affordable housing problem is political and community will.”
People in search of renewed opportunity flowed into the auditorium at Pack Memorial Library in Asheville on Wednesday, July 8, when lawyers and interns from Pisgah Legal Services and Legal Aid of North Carolina helped clients seek expungements of criminal records.
Volunteers come in all shapes and sizes, with skills ranging from data entry to hair and makeup design. Whatever your interests, talents or passion, there’s likely a nonprofit or community group in WNC that could use your help. To get you started, Xpress has rounded up 10 area groups seeking volunteers for 2015.
Activist, attorney, Roman Catholic nun and executive director of progressive Catholic lobbyist group Network, Sister Simone Campbell lead a discussion of “how poverty affects us all” as she delivered the keynote address at Pisgah Legal’s Poverty Forum in the Diana Wortham Theatre on Monday, Oct. 6.
Multiple complaints about mold, rot, and other woes at a Merrimon Avenue apartment complex earlier this year casts doubt on the ability of local governments to deal with what many see as a serious health issue, leaving tenants feeling powerless to get their grievances addressed. And with the Asheville area having some of the highest housing costs in the state and one-third of its working population earning low wages, many local renters face similar issues.
After months of debate, Buncombe County Commissioners are poised to give local nonprofits slightly more money overall than last year, but much less than they want.
A $330,000 reduction in Pisgah Legal Services’ state and federal funding could leave more than 2,200 local domestic-violence victims without legal assistance. The Asheville-based nonprofit is scrambling to close the gap but may reduce services.
As the economic downturn wears on, more and more people are finding they lack the money to access basic legal assistance in connection with issues ranging from foreclosure to domestic violence. Meanwhile, Pisgah Legal Services has seen its caseload increase massively, even as its funding has dried up. Since last year, the nonprofit law firm’s […]
In this edition of Local Matters — the Xpress weekly news podcast — reporter David Forbes talks about City Council member Bill Russell dropping out of his bid for re-election, Pisgah Legal Services efforts to increase access to legal help for the poor, and the recent claim by NC State Sen. James Forrester that Asheville is a “cesspool of sin.”
