BeLoved Asheville co-director Amy Cantrell speaks with Xpress about the health impacts of housing insecurity, combatting isolation and her role as the architect of an intentional community.
![Amy Cantrell](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/WELLNESS_1-330x248.jpg)
BeLoved Asheville co-director Amy Cantrell speaks with Xpress about the health impacts of housing insecurity, combatting isolation and her role as the architect of an intentional community.
“Asheville peace activists are guided by MLK and many others who were often threatened and imprisoned for their acts of civil resistance.”
While COVID-19 may have dominated WNC’s psyche in 2021, it was by no means the only health and wellness story Xpress told. Opioid abuse, mental health and self-care also emerged as major themes from the year.
National and local issues of injustice and imparity laid bare in 2020 guided planning for the 2021 Chow Chow reboot.
Community members took the opportunity to discuss the issues surrounding the tourism industry in Asheville and hear a presentation from the WNC Green Party about restructuring of hotel occupancy taxes during an April 24 “Re-Imagine the TDA” public meeting.
The event includes music by DJ Malinalli and light hors d’oeuvres at 5:30 p.m. followed the unveiling of the work “Rising of the Ancestors” by Harry Rivera, an artist talk by Ponkho Bermejo, a documentary film screening and a panel discussion featuring Rivera, Bermejo and Carmen Ramos-Kennedy.
Today, at least 17 faith communities in Buncombe County and Mars Hill are offering shelter and assistance to immigrants living here without legal papers, according to Melody Pajak of the nonprofit Faith Communities Organizing for Sanctuary.